Speaker
Description
Fractured rock masses consist of both matrix and fractures, with the latter often serving as the primary pathways for unsaturated fluid flow. Fracture apertures are highly sensitive to mechanical loading, while unsaturated flow modifies effective stress through matric suction and saturation-dependent capillary forces, resulting in strongly coupled hydro-mechanical behavior. Variations in saturation can therefore significantly influence deformation, strength, and permeability, which remains insufficiently understood. This study presents a three-dimensional numerical modelling framework for simulating coupled hydro-mechanical processes in unsaturated fractured rock. Unsaturated flow is modelled by solving Richards’ equation with Brooks–Corey relations, while mechanical behavior is described using linear poroelasticity with stress-dependent fracture aperture accounting for compression-induced closure and shear-induced dilation. Three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFNs) with varying fracture densities and power law length exponents are considered, with fractures represented as lower-dimensional interfaces embedded within an otherwise isotropic rock. We perform direct numerical simulations to compute saturation-dependent upscaled mechanical properties, including bulk Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. The results illustrate the evolution of bulk mechanical properties as a function of suction pressure, revealing systematic changes associated with fracture closure. Overall, our research provides new insights into hydro-mechanical coupling mechanisms in unsaturated fractured rocks with important implications for many geoscience and geoengineering problems.
| Country | Sweden |
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