Latest revision as of 09:34, 1 July 2024

Abstract

To comprehensively understand the influence of the contact area on the flow characteristics of rough single fractures, a rough fracture surface is initially constructed using a spatial frequency domain approach. Subsequently, rough single fractures with varying contact ratios are derived by translating and displacing the fracture surface. The Navier- Stokes equation and Mass-conservation equation are solved by utilizing the laminar flow module integrated within the COMSOL software. The simulation results show that the nonlinear correlation between fluid flow velocity and pressure gradient can be described by using Forchheimer equation. Under the same flow velocity, a higher contact rate will exacerbate the nonlinear characteristics of fluid flow. In contrast to non-contact fractures, the streamlines within contact fractures exhibit increased tortuosity, accompanied by an elongation of flow pathways. Furthermore, with an expanding contact area, the complexity of the streamline pattern amplifies. The overall pressure field distinctly exhibits non-uniform characteristics, with larger pressure gradient observed within localized contact regions, consequently facilitating an increase in flow velocity.

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