Analysis on intersections between fractures by parallel computation

The discrete fracture network model is a powerful tool for fractured rock mass fluid flow simulations and supports safety assessments of coal mine hazards such as water inrush.Intersection analysis,which identifies all pairs of intersected fractures(the basic components composing the connectivity of a network),is one of its crucial procedures.This paper attempts to improve intersection analysis through parallel computing.Considering a seamless interfacing with other procedures in modeling,two algorithms are designed and presented,of which one is a completely independent parallel procedure with some redundant computations and the other is an optimized version with reduced redundancy.A numerical study indicates that both of the algorithms are practical and can significantly improve the computational performance of intersection analysis for large-scale simulations.Moreover,the preferred application conditions for the two algorithms are also discussed.

Mechanical properties of frozen rock mass with two diagonal intersected fractures

Based on previous research results, this paper investigated the influence of fracture morphology on mechanical properties and failure modes of rock mass with two diagonal intersected fractures. This study carried out a series of triaxial compression tests on rock-like specimens with two crossed fractures under negative temperature, concluded the following conclusions. The strength and failure modes of rock mass are significantly influenced by the dips of two crossed fractures. The strength of rock mass with two frac- tures cannot simply be estimated using the method that was developed for the rock mass with a single fracture. When the intersecting angle is less than 30~, the failure plane initiates at the tip of ＂artificial rup- tures＂ and extends to the upper and lower ends of the specimen. In case of a higher dip and intersecting angle ranging from 30° to 60°, the failure plane propagates along one of these two fractures. The mechan- lca! parameters of rock mass are not only related to the trace length, but also depend on the trace !ength ratio. One could roughly calculate the strength parameters using the approximation proposed in.this paper..For the rock mass with a trace length ratio 〈0.3 （short trace length/long trace length）, the failure mode is dependent on the fracture with a longer trace length. When the trace length becomes significant and the trace length ratio approximates to 1, the failure plane propagates along two fractures, where an X-shaped.failure pattern is presented： For the rock mass with moderate frac!ures and a trace length ratio of approxlmately 1, the failure mode Is.Independent on fractures, which is simllar to .the damage pattern of intact rock. The strength, and elastic .modulus of rock mass decrease with the increase of spacing between fractures, whl!e Polsson＇s ratio is Independent on the spacing. The failure mode can be deter- mined by the area. of triangle created by two fractures. Damage occurs at the smaller triangle area first, and propagates with the two sides of the larger triangle.

Convective heat transfer of water flow in intersected rock fractures for enhanced geothermal extraction

Numerous intersected rock fractures constitute the fracture network in enhanced geothermal systems.The complicated convective heat transfer behavior in intersected fractures is critical to the heat recovery in fractured geothermal reservoirs.A series of three-dimensional intersected fracture models is constructed to perform the flow-through heat transfer simulations.The geometry effects of dead-end fractures(DEFs)on the heat transfer are evaluated in terms of intersected angles,apertures,lengths,and the connectivity.The results indicate that annular streamlines appear in the rough DEF and cause an ellipse distribution of the cold front.Compared to plate DEFs,the fluid flow in the rough DEF enhances the heat transfer.Both the increment of outlet water temperatureΔToutand the ratio of heat production Qrpresent the largest at the intersected angle of 90°while decline with the decrease of the intersected angle between the main flow fracture(MFF)and the DEFs.The extension of the length of intersected DEFs is beneficial to heat production while enhancing its aperture is not needed.Solely increasing the number of intersected DEFs induces a little increase of heat extraction,and more significant heat production can be obtained through connecting these DEFs with the MFF forming the flow network.

Investigation of the Mechanism of Grout Penetration in Intersected Fractures

To study the penetration mechanism of cement-based slurry in intersected fractures during grouting and the related pressure distribution,we have used two different variants of cement,namely,basic cement slurry and fast-setting cement slurry.The influence of a retarder,time-varying viscosity,fracture width and location of injection hole is also considered.A finite element software is used to implement two and three-dimensional numerical models for grouting of intersected fractures in hydrostatic conditions.Results show that there are significant differences in the diffusion morphology and pressure distribution depending on the considered cement slurry.Retarder can effectively slow down the rising rate of injection pressure and extend the diffusion distance of grout.The influence of the branch fracture is more important when basic cement slurry is considered,indicating that the change of grout pressure is correlated with the slurry viscosity.The faster the viscosity increases,the less evident is the effect.

Experimental and numerical investigation of droplet flow mechanisms at fracture intersections

Understanding unsaturated flow behaviors in fractured rocks is essential for various applications.A fundamental process in this regard is flow splitting at fracture intersections.However,the impact of geometrical properties of fracture intersections on flow splitting is still unclear.This work investigates the combined influence of geometry(intersection angle,fracture apertures,and inclination angle),liquid droplet length,inertia,and dynamic wetting properties on liquid splitting dynamics at fracture intersections.A theoretical model of liquid splitting is developed,considering the factors mentioned above,and numerically solved to predict the flow splitting behavior.The model is validated against carefullycontrolled visualized experiments.Our results reveal two distinct splitting behaviors,separated by a critical droplet length.These behaviors shift from a monotonic to a non-monotonic trend with decreasing inclination angle.A comprehensive analysis further clarifies the impacts of the key factors on the splitting ratio,which is defined as the percentage of liquid volume entering the branch fracture.The splitting ratio decreases with increasing inclination angle,indicating a decrease in the gravitational effect on the branch fracture,which is directly proportional to the intersection angle.A non-monotonic relationship exists between the splitting ratio and the aperture ratio of the branch fracture to the main fracture.The results show that as the intersection angle decreases,the splitting ratio increases.Additionally,the influence of dynamic contact angles decreases with increasing intersection angle.These findings enhance our understanding of the impact of geometry on flow dynamics at fracture intersections.The proposed model provides a foundation for simulating and predicting unsaturated flow in complex fractured networks.

Deep learning for pore-scale two-phase flow:Modelling drainage in realistic porous media

This paper introduces a deep learning workflow to predict phase distributions within complex geometries during two-phase capillary-dominated drainage.We utilize subsamples from Computerized Tomography(CT)images of rocks and incorporate pixel size,interfacial tension,contact angle,and pressure as inputs.First,an efficient morphology-based simulator creates a diverse dataset of phase distributions.Then,two commonly used convolutional and recurrent neural networks are explored and their deficiencies are highlighted,particularly in capturing phase connectivity.Subsequently,we develop a Higher-Dimensional Vision Transformer(HD-ViT)that drains pores solely based on their size,with phase connectivity enforced as a post-processing step.This enables inference for images of varying sizes,resolutions,and inlet-outlet setup.After training on a massive dataset of over 9.5 million instances,HD-ViT achieves excellent performance.We demonstrate the accuracy and speed advantage of the model on new and larger sandstone and carbonate images.We further evaluate HD-ViT against experimental fluid distribution images and the corresponding Lattice-Boltzmann simulations,producing similar outcomes in a matter of seconds.In the end,we train and validate a 3D version of the model.