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Approaching A Universal Scaling Relationship Between Fracture Stiffness And Fluid Flow, David Nolte, Laura Pyrak-Nolte
Approaching A Universal Scaling Relationship Between Fracture Stiffness And Fluid Flow, David Nolte, Laura Pyrak-Nolte
David D Nolte
A goal of subsurface geophysical monitoring is the detection and characterization of fracture
alterations that affect the hydraulic integrity of a site. Achievement of this goal requires a link
between the mechanical and hydraulic properties of a fracture. Here we present a scaling
relationship between fluid flow and fracture-specific stiffness that approaches universality.
Fracture-specific stiffness is a mechanical property dependent on fracture geometry that can
be monitored remotely using seismic techniques. A Monte Carlo numerical approach
demonstrates that a scaling relationship exists between flow and stiffness for fractures with
strongly correlated aperture distributions, and continues to hold for fractures deformed …