Wetting front instability in an initially wet unsaturated fracture
Conference
·
OSTI ID:145412
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Experimental results exploring gravity-driven wetting from instability in a pre-wetted, rough-walled analog fractures such as those at Yucca Mountain are presented. Initial conditions considered include a uniform moisture field wetted to field capacity of the analog fracture and the structured moisture field created by unstable infiltration into an initially dry fracture. As in previous studies performed under dry initial conditions, instability was found to result both at the cessation of stable infiltration and at flux lower than the fracture capacity under gravitational driving force. Individual fingers were faster, narrower, longer, and more numerous than observed under dry initial conditions. Wetting fronts were found to follow existing wetted structure, providing a mechanism for rapid recharge and transport.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, IL (United States); American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 145412
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930408--Vol.2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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