Emergence of Nonlinear Laminar Flow in Fractures During Shear

Excerpt

The hydraulic properties of rock fractures are of great concern in many geophysical processes and rock engineering applications, including underground tunnel excavation, geothermal energy and hydrocarbon recovery, and nuclear waste disposal. Fluid flow in rock fractures is commonly described by the cubic law, where the discharge is assumed to be linearly proportional to the pressure gradient and the cube of fracture aperture (Wang et al. 2018; Witherspoon et al. 1980; Zhao et al. 2011; Zimmerman and Bodvarsson 1996). However, the cubic law is theoretically established based on the ideal parallel plate model where inertial effects diminish. This is not the case for naturally rough fractures where inertial effects are not negligible at high Reynolds numbers. Therefore, substantial research efforts have recently been focusing on nonlinear laminar flow behavior in rock fractures when the inertial effects become significant (Javadi et al. 2014; Zhang and Nemcik 2013; Zhou et al. 2015). …