• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.291-297
• /
• 2019

Fluid flow through rock fractures has been quantified using equations such as Stokes equations, Reynolds equation (or local cubic law), cubic law, etc. derived from the Navier-Stokes equations under the assumption that linear flow prevails. Therefore, these simplified equations are limited to linear flow regime, and cause errors in nonlinear flow regime. In this study, causal mechanism of nonlinear flow and critical Reynolds number were presented by carrying out fluid flow modeling with both the Navier-Stokes equations and the Stokes equations for a three-dimensional rough-walled rock fracture. This study showed that flow regimes changed from linear to nonlinear at the Reynolds number greater than 10. This is because the inertial forces, proportional to the square of the fluid velocity, increased enough to overwhelm the viscous forces. This tendency was also shown for the unmated (slightly sheared) rock fracture. It was found that nonlinear flow was caused by the rapid increase in the inertial forces with increasing fluid velocity, not by the growing eddies that have been ascribed to nonlinear flow.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2004.09a
• /
• pp.159-163
• /
• 2004

This study was conducted to calculate the permeability coefficient in a single fracture while taking the true fracture geometry into consideration. The fracture geometry was measured using the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The CLSM geometry data were used to reconstruct a fracture model for numerical analysis using a homogenization analysis (HA) method. The HA is a new type of perturbation theory developed to characterize the behavior of a micro-inhomogeneous material that involves periodic microstructures. The HA permeability was calculated based on the local geometry and local material properties (water viscosity in this case). The results show that the permeability coefficients do not follow the theoretical relationship of the cubic law.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.9-16
• /
• 2010

Experimental examinations for evaluating fracutres were conducted by using transparent replicas of a single fracture in order to obtain the fracture data to contribute to the methodlogy on how to improve the definitaion of representative parameter values used for a parallel plate fracture model. Quantitative aperture distribution and quantitative tracer concentration data at each point in time were obtained by measuring the attenuation of transmitted light through the fracture in high spatial resolution. the representative aperture values evaluated from the multiple different measurement methods, such as arithmetic mean of aperture distribution measured by the optical method, transport aperture evaluated from the tracer test, and average aperture evaluated from the fracture void volume measurement converged to a unique value that indicates the accuracy of this experimental study. The aperture data was employed for verifying the numerical simulation under the assuption of Local Cubic Law and showed that the calculated flow rate through the fracture is 10%-100% larger than hydraulic test results. The quantitative tracer concentration data is also very valuable for validating existing numerical code for advection dispersion transport in-plane heterogeneous fractures.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.304-311
• /
• 2002

This study reports the influence of vocid geometry on fracture closure and permeability from numerical experiments. As the aperture distributions of rock fractures are characterized by statistical methods, synthetic fractures have successfully been simulated in this way. Based on the generated fracture models, models for fracture closure and flow calculation have been developed. A fracture closure model has been developed by considering the asperity compression and half-space deformation, and flow calculations have been performed using a finite difference method adopting a local cubic law. The results of numerical experiments have shown that the increase in the aperture spatial correlation leads the fracture closure and the decrease in fracture permeability to increase. Also, it has been indicated that there is an implicit relation between fracture normal stiffness and permeability. The importance of this study is to enhance the understanding the hydro-mechanical behavior of fractured rock massed due to engineering projects.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.43-52
• /
• 2012

To compute a permeability coefficient along a rough fracture that takes into account the fracture geometry, this study performed detailed measurements of fracture roughness using a confocal laser scanning microscope, a quantitative analysis of roughness using a spectral analysis, and a homogenization analysis to calculate the permeability coefficient on the microand macro-scale. The homogenization analysis is a type of perturbation theory that characterizes the behavior of microscopically inhomogeneous material with a periodic boundary condition in the microstructure. Therefore, it is possible to analyze accurate permeability characteristics that are represented by the local effect of the facture geometry. The Cpermeability coefficients that are calculated using the homogenization analysis for each rough fracture model exhibit an irregular distribution and do not follow the relationship of the cubic law. This distribution suggests that the permeability characteristics strongly depend on the geometric conditions of the fractures, such as the roughness and the aperture variation. The homogenization analysis may allow us to produce more accurate results than are possible with the preexisting equations for calculating permeability.