Influence of permeable matrix on non-Darcian flow in single rough-walled fracture

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  • 1. Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China 2. Badong National Observation and Research Station of Geohazards, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
ZHU Yin-bin, male, born in 1997, PhD candidate, mainly engaged in the research on rock fracture seepage. E-mail: zhuyinbin2022@163.com

Online published: 2024-04-01

Supported by

the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42090054, 41922055, 51909247) and the Key Research and Development Project of Hubei Province (2020BCB079).

Abstract

Single rough-walled fracture and surrounding rock matrix are the basic units that compose the discrete fracture network, so it is of great significance to study the fluid flow behaviors in it. A series of numerical simulations by directly solving the Navier- Stokes equation were carried out to study the influence of surface roughness, matching degree and matrix permeability on non- Darcian flow in three-dimensional single rough-walled fracture. The results review that the Forchheimer equation can accurately characterize the nonlinear relationship between the flow rate and pressure gradient in single fracture in fracture-matrix model. The increase of surface roughness and the degree of mismatch aggravates the inhomogeneity of aperture distribution, increases the flow resistance of the fracture and facilitates the non-Darcian flow. By contrast, the permeable matrix enhances the flow through the fracture, and the flow rate through the rough single fracture can be increased by up to 14%, which inhibits the non-Darcian flow. The influence level of matrix permeability on the growth of fracture flow capacity is positively correlated with surface roughness and degree of mismatch.

Cite this article

ZHU Yin-bin, LI Chang-dong, ZHOU Jia-qing, XIANG Lin-yu, JIANG Xi-hui, ZHU Wen-yu, . Influence of permeable matrix on non-Darcian flow in single rough-walled fracture[J]. Rock and Soil Mechanics, 2024 , 45(2) : 601 -611 . DOI: 10.16285/j.rsm.2023.5744

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