Numerical Simulation of Laboratory Coupled Shear-Flow Tests for Rock Fractures

Abstract

The fluid flow in rock fractures during shearing processes was investigated in this paper considering the evolutions of aperture (void geometry) with shear displacement histories under constant normal stress. The distribution of fracture aperture and its evolution during shear were calculated from the initial aperture and shear dilations measured in the laboratory coupled shear-flow tests. For the fluid flow simulations, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes (NS) and two-dimensional Reynolds (local cubic law) were solved numerically and simulation results were compared.