Imperial College London
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Dr Adriana Paluszny

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Reader in Computational Geomechanics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7435apaluszn

 
 
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Location

 

RSM 2.48Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ebigbo:2016:10.1007/s11242-016-0685-z,
author = {Ebigbo, AOD and Lang, PS and Paluszny, A and Zimmerman, RW},
doi = {10.1007/s11242-016-0685-z},
journal = {Transport in Porous Media},
pages = {137--158},
title = {Inclusion-based effective medium models for the permeability of a 3D fractured rock mass},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0685-z},
volume = {113},
year = {2016}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Effective permeability is an essential parameter for describing fluid flow through fractured rock masses. This study investigates the ability of classical inclusion-based effective medium models (following the work of Sævik et al. in Transp Porous Media 100(1):115–142, 2013. doi:10.1007/s11242-013-0208-0) to predict this permeability, which depends on several geometric properties of the fractures/networks. This is achieved by comparison of various effective medium models, such as the symmetric and asymmetric self-consistent schemes, the differential scheme, and Maxwell’s method, with the results of explicit numerical simulations of mono- and poly-disperse isotropic fracture networks embedded in a permeable rock matrix. Comparisons are also made with the Hashin–Shtrikman bounds, Snow’s model, and Mourzenko’s heuristic model (Mourzenko et al. in Phys Rev E 84:036–307, 2011. doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036307). This problem is characterised by two small parameters, the aspect ratio of the spheroidal fractures, αα , and the ratio between matrix and fracture permeability,  κκ . Two different regimes can be identified, corresponding to  α/κ<1α/κ<1  and  α/κ>1α/κ>1 . The lower the value of  α/κα/κ , the more significant is flow through the matrix. Due to differing flow patterns, the dependence of effective permeability on fracture density differs in the two regimes. When  α/κ1α/κ1 , a distinct percolation threshold is observed, whereas for  α/κ1α/κ1 , the matrix is sufficiently transmissive that such a transition is not observed. The self-consistent effective medium methods show good accuracy for both mono- and polydisperse isotropic fracture networks. Mourzenko’s equation is very accurate, particularly for monodisperse networks. Finally, it is shown that Snow’
AU  - Ebigbo,AOD
AU  - Lang,PS
AU  - Paluszny,A
AU  - Zimmerman,RW
DO  - 10.1007/s11242-016-0685-z
EP  - 158
PY  - 2016///
SN  - 1573-1634
SP  - 137
TI  - Inclusion-based effective medium models for the permeability of a 3D fractured rock mass
T2  - Transport in Porous Media
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0685-z
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/30870
VL  - 113
ER  -
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