Experimental and numerical study of the geometrical and hydraulic characteristics of a single rock fracture during shear

Coupled shear-flow tests were conducted on two artificial rock fractures with natural rock fracture characteristics under constant normal loading boundary conditions. Numerical simulations using the 3-D Navier–Stokes equations taking account of the inertial effects of fluid were conducted using the void space geometry models obtained from the coupled shear-flow tests. The test and numerical simulation results show that the evolutions of geometrical and hydraulic characteristics of rock fracture exhibit a three-stage behavior. Transmissivity of a certain void space geometry within a fracture is related to the Reynolds number of fluid flow due to the inertial effects of fluid, which can be represented by the Navier–Stokes equations, but cannot be represented by some simplified equations, such as the cubic law, the Reynolds equation or the Stokes equations. The mechanical aperture is usually larger than the hydraulic aperture back-calculated from measured flow rate, and the difference between them is found strongly related to the geometrical characteristics of the fractures. A mathematical equation is proposed to describe the relation between hydraulic aperture and mechanical aperture by means of the ratio of the standard deviation of local mechanical aperture to its mean value, the standard deviation of local slope of fracture surface and Reynolds number.

► We conduct coupled shear-flow tests on rock fractures and numerical simulations.
► We examine the influences of surface roughness and inertial effects on flow.
► Standard deviation of local aperture is strongly related to the transmissivity.
► A new model is proposed using standard deviation of local aperture and Re.