Modelling DC responses of 3D complex fracture networks

Beskardes, Gungor Didem; Weiss, Chester Joseph

doi:10.1093/gji/ggy234

Modelling DC responses of 3D complex fracture networks

Journal Article · Thu Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Geophysical Journal International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy234· OSTI ID:1452664

Beskardes, Gungor Didem ^[1]; Weiss, Chester Joseph ^[2]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Here, the determination of the geometrical properties of fractures plays a critical role in many engineering problems to assess the current hydrological and mechanical states of geological media and to predict their future states. However, numerical modeling of geoelectrical responses in realistic fractured media has been challenging due to the explosive computational cost imposed by the explicit discretizations of fractures at multiple length scales, which often brings about a tradeoff between computational efficiency and geologic realism. Here, we use the hierarchical finite element method to model electrostatic response of realistically complex 3D conductive fracture networks with minimal computational cost.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1452664

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1465193

Report Number(s):: SAND--2018-2316J; 661130

Journal Information:: Geophysical Journal International, Journal Name: Geophysical Journal International Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 214; ISSN 0956-540X

Publisher:: Oxford University PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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