Heterogeneous fracture

T-H-M-C processes are significantly affected by subsurface heterogeneity, which results in scale-dependence of the related parameters. To handle this scale-dependent behavior, we need to characterize this heterogeneity and consider its effects at different scales. In this study, we demonstrate that the measured permeability data from Sellafield site, UK, are very well described by fractional Levy motion (fLm), a stochastic fractal. This finding has important implications for modeling large-scale coupled processes in heterogeneous fractured rocks. 

Stress-induced changes in fracture aperture can give rise to significant changes in the rock mass permeability, through a sensitive cubic relationship between fracture aperture and fracture flow. This section discusses how to determine this relationship for large-scale heterogeneous fractured media (characterized by fLm) from small-scale laboratory measurements. The determination is based on the assumptions that an equivalent... 

Feature A is conceptualised as a single planar heterogeneous fracture with variable spatial apertures. The distribution of the apertures is approximated to be lognormal with an exponential correlation structure. The porosity is assumed to be constant. 

Tsang C. F. 1. Neretnieks. 1998. Flow channeling in heterogeneous fractured tocks. Reviews of geophysics, 36(2) pp. 

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