Quantitative characterization of seepage behavior in rough fracture considering hydromechanical coupling effect: an experimental study

To study the effect of fracture morphology and in situ stress on the seepage behavior of rough fractures, hydraulic–mechanical experiments with different confining stresses, pore pressures and fracture geometry were carried out. The dimensionless parameter non-Darcy coefficient factor K and K-based critical Reynolds number model (KCRN) was proposed to characterize the behavior of rough-wall fracture and fluid seepage. The results show that the seepage flow of rough-wall fracture can be well described by Forchheimer equation. As the confining pressure increases from 1 to 31 MPa, the two walls of the rough fracture are compressed, and the fluid flow capacity is weakened, resulting in an increase of 2–3 orders of magnitude in Forchheimer viscosity coefficient A. Also affected by the increase in the confining pressure, the contact area between the two walls of the rough fracture increases, which makes the fluid channel become curved, increases the dissipation of water pressure in the inertial process and causes the inertial term coefficient B to increase by 2–3 orders of magnitude in general. In the whole range of test confining pressure (1 MPa–31 MPa), the flow state of rough fracture fluid is divided into zones based on the critical Reynolds number. The average hydraulic aperture decreases with the increase in the confining pressure, which can be perfectly fitted by hyperbolic function. The calculated critical Reynolds number of six rough fracture samples varies from 0.0196 to 1.0424. According to the experimental data, the K-based critical Reynolds number model (KCRN) is validated, and the validation results prove the accuracy and reliability of the model.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2024).