Stress Influence on Fracture Aperture and Permeability of Fragmented Rocks

Abstract

The influence of far-field stresses on fracture apertures in a fragmented rock layer is investigated using finite element analysis of a three-dimensional mechanical model. The model implements realistic boundary conditions, interactions between the fragmented layer and neighboring plastic rock layers, and frictional interfaces between the rock blocks. Stress-strain analysis is conducted to obtain stress variations within the fragmented rock layer and the block displacements and rotations. The fracture apertures are calculated using the local stress states instead of the far-field stresses simply being projected on the fractures. It is observed that fracture apertures can vary for the fractur..