Linear and nonlinear fluid flow responses of connected fractures subject to shearing under constant normal load and constant normal stiffness boundary conditions

Abstract Linear and nonlinear fluid flow behaviors of connected fractures during shearing under constant normal load and constant normal stiffness boundary conditions are numerically characterized solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The model consists of three fractures having an identical length of 200 mm and a width of 100 mm, among which the bridge fracture is sheared. Both smooth and rough-walled fracture surfaces are generated to investigate the effect of surface roughness on flow streamline distributions and the ratio of flow rate to hydraulic gradient. The results show that the permeability monotonically increases during shearing under constant normal load conditions, due to the shear-induced dilation of fractures. Under constant normal stiffness conditions, the permeability either increases or decreases during shearing, controlled by the competing role played by the shearing fracture and nearby fractures. As shear advances, the shearing fracture dilates and increases the permeability, whereas the surrounding fractures are compressed that decrease the permeability. The flow rate of rough-walled models is overestimated by approximately 45 ∼ 80% comparing to the smooth parallel plate model. For smooth models, the critical hydraulic gradient dramatically decreases with increasing the shear strain from 0.015 to 0.025 and then slightly fluctuates with the increment of shear strain from 0.025 to 0.05. The critical hydraulic gradient monotonically decreases during the shearing process for rough-walled models. The range of critical hydraulic gradient is between 0.001 and 0.02.