Shear induced fluid flow path evolution in rough-wall fractures: A particle image velocimetry examination

Naets, Isamu; Ahkami, Mehrdad; Huang, Po-Wei; Saar, Martin O.; Kong, Xiangwei

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.127793

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 55 publications

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“…The transport of fluids within the porous medium relies on the available pore space. However, flows through fractures or fractured media also receive great research attention since any fluid found in the subsurface could migrate through the fractures instead of travelling through the pore space [4,35,60,[70][71][72]. As a result, the groundwater characteristics vary based on induced fractures in the porous medium [73,74].…”

Section: Applicabilty Of the Findings In The Field Of Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Konstantinou

Biscontin

2022

Hydrology

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Fluid injection in a porous medium is the underlying mechanism for many applications in the fields of groundwater hydraulics, hydrology and hydrogeology, and geo-environmental engineering and in the oil and gas industry. Fluid flow experiments in porous media with a viscous fluid at varying injection rates were conducted in a modified Hele-Shaw setup. The granular media were three-dimensional bio-cemented sands of various grain sizes across various cementation levels, generating a matrix of various hydraulic conductivities, porosities, and strengths. The fluid injection experiments showed that a cavity-like fracture developed, which transitioned to crack-like fractures at higher cementation levels (hence, higher strength). As the flow rate increased, less infiltration was evident and higher breakdown pressure was observed, with propagation pressure reducing to zero. It was harder to induce an opening in cemented specimens with higher hydraulic conductivity and a larger pore network despite their lower strength due to excessive infiltration dominance, which inhibited the build-up of pressure required to generate a fracture. The results of this study suggest that, when designing fluid injection programs, the combined effects of hydraulic conductivity and strength need to be carefully considered.

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Section: Applicabilty Of the Findings In The Field Of Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Konstantinou

Biscontin

2022

Hydrology

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Thermal Effect Promotes Non-Darcian Flow in Heated Rock Fractures

Tan

Guan

et al. 2023

Rock Mech Rock Eng

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The Role of High-Permeability Inclusion on Solute Transport in a 3D-Printed Fractured Porous Medium: An LIF–PIV Integrated Study

Kong¹,

Ahkami²,

Naets³

et al. 2022

Transp Porous Med

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It is well-known that the presence of geometry heterogeneity in porous media enhances solute mass mixing due to fluid velocity heterogeneity. However, laboratory measurements are still sparse on characterization of the role of high-permeability inclusions on solute transport, in particularly concerning fractured porous media. In this study, the transport of solutes is quantified after a pulse-like injection of soluble fluorescent dye into a 3D-printed fractured porous medium with distinct high-permeability (H-k) inclusions. The solute concentration and the pore-scale fluid velocity are determined using laser-induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry techniques. The migration of solute is delineated with its breakthrough curve (BC), temporal and spatial moments, and mixing metrics (including the scalar dissipation rate, the volumetric dilution index, and the flux-related dilution index) in different regions of the medium. With the same H-k inclusions, compared to a H-k matrix, the low-permeability (L-k) matrix displays a higher peak in its BC, less solute mass retention, a higher peak solute velocity, a smaller peak dispersion coefficient, a lower mixing rate, and a smaller pore volume being occupied by the solute. The flux-related dilution index clearly captures the striated solute plume tails following the streamlines along dead-end fractures and along the interface between the H-k and L-k matrices. We propose a normalization of the scalar dissipation rate and the volumetric dilution index with respect to the maximum regional total solute mass, which offers a generalized examination of solute mixing for an open region with a varying total solute mass. Our study presents insights into the interplay between the geometric features of the fractured porous medium and the solute transport behaviors at the pore scale.

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Shear induced fluid flow path evolution in rough-wall fractures: A particle image velocimetry examination

Cited by 5 publications

References 55 publications

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Thermal Effect Promotes Non-Darcian Flow in Heated Rock Fractures

The Role of High-Permeability Inclusion on Solute Transport in a 3D-Printed Fractured Porous Medium: An LIF–PIV Integrated Study

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