Open Access

ARTICLE

Effect of Stress on Flow and Transport in Fractured Rock Masses Using a Modified Crack Tensor Theory

Z. Wang^1,2, J. Rutqvist¹, Y. Wang³, Y. Dai^2,4

1 Earth Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
2 School of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
3 Hohai University, Nanjing, China.
4 Corresponding author. Tel.:+86 21 65983708; fax:+ 86 21 65983708. E-mail address: ydai@tongji.edu.cn

Structural Longevity 2012, 7(2), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.3970/sl.2012.007.105

Abstract

We used a slightly modified version of Oda’s crack tensor theory for developing and applying a modeling approach (that we characterize as a discrete continuum) to upscale the hydraulic and mechanical properties of fractured rock masses. The modified crack tensor theory was used to calculate the stress-dependent permeability tensor and compliance tensor for the individual grid block. By doing this, we transformed a discrete fracture network model into a grid-based continuum model. The methodology was applied to a benchmark test related to fluid flow and transport through a 20 × 20 m model domain of heavily fractured media. This benchmark test is part of the international DECOVALEX project, thus providing us with the opportunity to compare our results with the results of independent models. We conducted the hydromechanical analysis with TOUGH-FLAC, a simulator based on the TOUGH2 multiphase flow code and FLAC3D geomechanical code, using a multiple interacting continua (MINC) method to simulate the flow and transport of fractured rock. The results of our simulations were consistent with the results of the other independent modeling approaches.

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Keywords

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