Fracture permeability normal to bedding in layered rock masses

Autor: M. Mauldon, David M. Doolin
Rok vydání: 2001
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences. 38:199-210
ISSN: 1365-1609
DOI: 10.1016/s1365-1609(00)00056-3
Popis: A two-dimensional model of fracture permeability normal to bedding in layered rock with orthogonal, bed-delimited fractures is investigated. Steady-state, saturated laminar flow is assumed. Permeability is assumed to be a function of apertures and flow path lengths in an otherwise impermeable matrix. Bedding planes or other separations between layers are modeled as fictitious interlayers to render a layered fractured rock mass equivalent to a layered porous medium. Layer, or bed-normal permeability is quantified in terms of readily available field data, using a probability model to represent fracture connectivity between layers. The bed-normal permeability is shown to depend on fracture spacing and aperture, layer spacing and bedding plane aperture, and to be scale-dependent. Numerical investigation and comparison with field data indicates that the derived expression is useful for estimating layer-normal permeability.
Databáze: OpenAIRE