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A physically-based three dimensional fracture network modeling technique

Masihi, M ; Sharif University of Technology

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.scient.2012.01.008
  3. Abstract:
  4. In poorly developed fractured rocks, the contribution of individual fracture on rock conductivity should be considered. However, due to the lack of data, a deterministic approach cannot be used. The conventional way to model discrete fractures is to use a Poisson process, with prescribed distribution, for fracture size and orientation. Recently, a stochastic approach, based on the idea that the elastic energy due to fractures follows a Boltzmann distribution, has been used to generate realizations of correlated fractures in two dimensions. The elastic energy function has been derived by applying the appropriate physical laws in an elastic medium. The resulting energy function has been used in the simulated annealing algorithm to generate the realizations of two dimensional fracture networks. The main contribution of this work is to extend this technique to 3D, and to better incorporate geological field observations. In 3D, the method has adjusted the orientation of fractures to three orthogonal sets. Moreover, we investigate the effects of boundary condition, fracture size distribution, and the anisotropy of the medium. We have observed that far field stress can control the orientation of fractures. As a result, this fracture modeling technique can be used to stochastically generate sub-seismic fractures
  5. Keywords:
  6. Model ; Boltzmann distribution ; Deterministic approach ; Discrete fracture network ; Discrete fractures ; Elastic energy ; Elastic medium ; Energy functions ; Far-field stress ; Fracture modeling ; Fracture size ; Fractured rock ; Geological fields ; Physical laws ; Poisson process ; Rock conductivity ; Simulated annealing algorithms ; Stochastic ; Stochastic approach ; Three dimensional fracture network ; Three dimensions ; Two-dimension ; Boltzmann equation ; Elasticity ; Models ; Optimization ; Poisson distribution ; Stochastic models ; Stochastic systems ; Three dimensional ; Fracture ; Algorithm ; Anelasticity ; Conductivity ; Discrete element method ; Fracture network ; Fractured medium ; Geological structure ; Poisson ratio ; Rock mechanics ; Stochasticity ; Three-dimensional modeling
  7. Source: Scientia Iranica ; Volume 19, Issue 3 , 2012 , Pages 594-604 ; 10263098 (ISSN)
  8. URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S102630981200065X