Effect of Shear Displacement and Stress Changes on Fracture Hydraulic Aperture and Flow Anisotropy

Welch, Nathan James; Carey, James William; Frash, Luke Philip; Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven; Hicks, James W.; Meng, Meng; Li, Wenfeng; Menefee, Anne Holland

doi:10.1007/s11242-021-01708-w

Effect of Shear Displacement and Stress Changes on Fracture Hydraulic Aperture and Flow Anisotropy

Journal Article · Wed Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Transport in Porous Media

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-021-01708-w· OSTI ID:1865007

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Hicks, James W. ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Fluid flow in fractures has the potential to drastically change the economic, environmental, and safety risks associated with a subsurface operation. This work focuses on the analysis of experimental shear fracturing and subsequent shear displacement of a shale specimen that contains multiple pre-existing natural fractures. A triaxial direct shear apparatus with concurrent µCT imaging allowed continuous monitoring of sample permeability and changes in fracture geometry during fracture creation, displacement, and changes in stress. Steady-state, low Reynolds number fluid flow simulations were used to determine the changes of each individual fracture’s hydraulic aperture due to displacement and effective stress. The development of anisotropy in the hydraulic aperture of a generated shear fracture was determined for shear displacements of 0.38, 0.74, and 2.04 mm. At high confining stress (30 MPa), shear displacement significantly reduced the hydraulic aperture of the shear fracture to below flow detectable limits and X-ray imaging resolution (23 × 23 × 23 µm³). The shear generated fracture was found to be more sensitive to changes in effective stress compared to the pre-existing natural fractures. Existing models derived from fluid flow equations accounting for stochastic fracture roughness were able to partially fit the simulated flow properties of the pre-existing fractures, but no model was found to fit the flow properties of the newly formed shear fracture. These results are the first report of simultaneous changes in the geometry and flow properties of surrounding, parallel natural fractures as a shear fracture is generated with varying stress and shear displacement conditions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1865007

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-21-24336

Journal Information:: Transport in Porous Media, Journal Name: Transport in Porous Media Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 141; ISSN 0169-3913

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (70)

Micro-CT Imaging and Fluid Flow Simulations of Fractures in MSEEL Shale Welch, Nathan; Frash, Luke; Carey, Bill National Energy Technology Laboratory - Energy Data eXchange; LANL https://doi.org/10.18141/1774635	dataset	January 2022
Beyond-laboratory-scale prediction for channeling flows through subsurface rock fractures with heterogeneous aperture distributions revealed by laboratory evaluation: Scale dependencies for fracture flows Ishibashi, Takuya; Watanabe, Noriaki; Hirano, Nobuo Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 120, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB011555	journal	January 2015
High-stress triaxial direct-shear fracturing of Utica shale and in situ X-ray microtomography with permeability measurement: SHALE FRACTURE, μCT, AND PERMEABILITY Frash, Luke P.; Carey, J. William; Lei, Zhou Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 121, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB012850	journal	July 2016
Frictional stability-permeability relationships for fractures in shales: Friction-Permeability Relationships Fang, Yi; Elsworth, Derek; Wang, Chaoyi Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 122, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013435	journal	March 2017
The influence of Preslip Sealing on the Permeability Evolution of Fractures and Faults Im, Kyungjae; Elsworth, Derek; Fang, Yi Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076216	journal	January 2018
Hydraulic conductivity of rock fractures Zimmerman, RobertW.; Bodvarsson, GudmundurS. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 23, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00145263	journal	April 1996
Geometric Effect of Asperities on Shear Mechanism of Rock Joints Fathi, Ali; Moradian, Zabihallah; Rivard, Patrice Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 49, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-015-0799-6	journal	August 2015
A High-Resolution Contact Analysis of Rough-Walled Crystalline Rock Fractures Subject to Normal Stress Zou, Liangchao; Li, Bo; Mo, Yangyang Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 53, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-02034-w	journal	December 2019
Shear-Induced Flow Channels in a Single Rock Fracture and Their Effect on Solute Transport Vilarrasa, Victor; Koyama, Tomofumi; Neretnieks, Ivars Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 87, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-010-9698-1	journal	December 2010
Conductivity and Transmissivity of a Single Fracture Mourzenko, V. V.; Thovert, J. -F.; Adler, P. M. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 123, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1037-y	journal	March 2018
Fundamentals of rock joint deformation Bandis, S. C.; Lumsden, A. C.; Barton, N. R. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 20, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(83)90595-8	journal	December 1983
Lubrication theory analysis of the permeability of rough-walled fractures Zimmerman, R. W.; Kumar, S.; Bodvarsson, G. S. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 28, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(91)90597-F	journal	July 1991
Hydromechanical response of a fracture undergoing compression and shear Olsson, W. A.; Brown, S. R. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 30, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(93)90034-B	journal	December 1993
Aperture measurements and flow experiments on a single natural fracture Hakami, Eva; Larsson, Erik International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 33, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-9062(95)00070-4	journal	June 1996
Effect of shear displacement on the aperture and permeability of a rock fracture Yeo, I. W.; de Freitas, M. H.; Zimmerman, R. W. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 35, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-9062(98)00165-X	journal	December 1998
Development of a shear-flow test apparatus and determination of coupled properties for a single rock joint Esaki, T.; Du, S.; Mitani, Y. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 36, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-9062(99)00044-3	journal	July 1999
Stress-dependent permeability of a de-mineralised fracture in shale Gutierrez, M.; Øino, L. E.; Nygård, R. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 17, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8172(00)00027-1	journal	September 2000
An improved model for hydromechanical coupling during shearing of rock joints Olsson, R.; Barton, N. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 38, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1365-1609(00)00079-4	journal	April 2001
Anisotropy of flow in a fracture undergoing shear and its relationship to the direction of shearing and injection pressure Gentier, S.; Lamontagne, E.; Archambault, G. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 34, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1365-1609(97)00085-3	journal	April 1997
Single fractures under normal stress: The relation between fracture specific stiffness and fluid flow Pyrak-Nolte, L. J.; Morris, J. P. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 37, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1365-1609(99)00104-5	journal	January 2000
On the influence of boundary conditions when determining transport coefficients from digital images of heterogeneous media. Thovert, Jean-François; Mourzenko, Valeri V. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 141 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103612	journal	July 2020
X-ray CT based numerical analysis of fracture flow for core samples under various confining pressures Watanabe, Noriaki; Ishibashi, Takuya; Ohsaki, Yutaka Engineering Geology, Vol. 123, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.09.010	journal	November 2011
Direct measurement of contact area and stress dependence of anisotropic flow through rock fracture with heterogeneous aperture distribution Nemoto, Katsumi; Watanabe, Noriaki; Hirano, Nobuo Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 281, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.02.005	journal	April 2009
Faults smooth gradually as a function of slip Brodsky, Emily E.; Gilchrist, Jacquelyn J.; Sagy, Amir Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 302, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.12.010	journal	February 2011
Stress-dependent fracture permeability measurements and implications for shale gas production Li, Wenfeng; Frash, Luke P.; Welch, Nathan J. Fuel, Vol. 290 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119984	journal	April 2021
Caprock integrity susceptibility to permeable fracture creation Frash, Luke P.; Carey, J. William; Ickes, Timothy International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 64 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.06.010	journal	September 2017
Roughness decomposition and nonlinear fluid flow in a single rock fracture Zou, Liangchao; Jing, Lanru; Cvetkovic, Vladimir International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 75 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2015.01.016	journal	April 2015
Shear-enhanced nonlinear flow in rough-walled rock fractures Zou, Liangchao; Jing, Lanru; Cvetkovic, Vladimir International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 97 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2017.06.001	journal	September 2017
CT scanning and flow measurements of shale fractures after multiple shearing events Crandall, Dustin; Moore, Johnathan; Gill, Magdalena International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 100 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2017.10.016	journal	December 2017
Transition from non-Fickian to Fickian longitudinal transport through 3-D rough fractures: Scale-(in)sensitivity and roughness dependence Wang, Lichun; Bayani Cardenas, M. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 198 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2017.02.002	journal	March 2017
Fault activation and induced seismicity in geological carbon storage – Lessons learned from recent modeling studies Rutqvist, Jonny; Rinaldi, Antonio P.; Cappa, Frederic Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 8, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2016.09.001	journal	December 2016
Fracture-permeability behavior of shale Carey, J. William; Lei, Zhou; Rougier, Esteban Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, Vol. 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juogr.2015.04.003	journal	September 2015
Determination of the continuous stress-dependent permeability, compressibility and poroelasticity of shale Gutierrez, Marte; Katsuki, Daisuke; Tutuncu, Azra Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 68 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.12.002	journal	December 2015
Fault reactivation potential of an offshore CO 2 storage site, Pohang Basin, South Korea Lee, Hikweon; Shinn, Young Jae; Ong, See Hong Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 152 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2017.03.014	journal	April 2017
Comparisons of water and argon permeability in natural clay-bearing fault gouge under high pressure at 20°C Faulkner, D. R.; Rutter, E. H. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 105, Issue B7 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JB900134	journal	July 2000
Permeability anisotropy induced by the shear displacement of rough fracture walls: PERMEABILITY ANISOTROPY Auradou, H.; Drazer, G.; Hulin, J. P. Water Resources Research, Vol. 41, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR003938	journal	September 2005
Determination of aperture structure and fluid flow in a rock fracture by high-resolution numerical modeling on the basis of a flow-through experiment under confining pressure: DETERMINATION OF APERTURE STRUCTURE Watanabe, Noriaki; Hirano, Nobuo; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi Water Resources Research, Vol. 44, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005411	journal	June 2008
Navier-Stokes flow and transport simulations using real fractures shows heavy tailing due to eddies Cardenas, M. Bayani; Slottke, Donald T.; Ketcham, Richard A. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030545	journal	January 2007
Influence of shear and deviatoric stress on the evolution of permeability in fractured rock: PERMEABILITY IN FRACTURED ROCKS Faoro, Igor; Niemeijer, Andre; Marone, Chris Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 114, Issue B1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JB005372	journal	January 2009
Geometric and rheological asperities in an exposed fault zone Sagy, Amir; Brodsky, Emily E. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue B2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005701	journal	January 2009
Diversity of channeling flow in heterogeneous aperture distribution inferred from integrated experimental‐numerical analysis on flow through shear fracture in granite Watanabe, Noriaki; Hirano, Nobuo; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005959	journal	January 2009
Injection-Induced Shear Slip and Permeability Enhancement in Granite Fractures Ye, Zhi; Ghassemi, Ahmad Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 123, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016045	journal	October 2018
Scalable En Echelon Shear‐Fracture Aperture‐Roughness Mechanism: Theory, Validation, and Implications Frash, Luke P.; Carey, J. William; Welch, Nathan J. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016525	journal	January 2019
Friction‐Stability‐Permeability Evolution of a Fracture in Granite Ishibashi, Takuya; Elsworth, Derek; Fang, Yi Water Resources Research, Vol. 54, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR022598	journal	December 2018
Spatial Mapping of Fracture Aperture Changes With Shear Displacement Using X‐ray Computerized Tomography Wenning, Quinn C.; Madonna, Claudio; Kurotori, Takeshi Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB017301	journal	July 2019
Rapid Mineral Precipitation During Shear Fracturing of Carbonate‐Rich Shales Menefee, Anne H.; Welch, Nathan J.; Frash, Luke P. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 125, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB018864	journal	June 2020
Stress‐Induced Anomalous Transport in Natural Fracture Networks Kang, Peter K.; Lei, Qinghua; Dentz, Marco Water Resources Research https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR024944	journal	May 2019
No‐Flow Fraction (NFF) Permeability Model for Rough Fractures Under Normal Stress Javanmard, Hoda; Ebigbo, Anozie; Walsh, Stuart D. C. Water Resources Research, Vol. 57, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029080	journal	March 2021
The effect of anisotropic surface roughness on flow and transport in fractures Thompson, Mollie E.; Brown, Stephen R. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 96, Issue B13 https://doi.org/10.1029/91jb02252	journal	December 1991
On the relationship between mechanical and hydraulic apertures in rough-walled fractures Renshaw, Carl E. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 100, Issue B12 https://doi.org/10.1029/95jb02159	journal	December 1995
Fluid percolation through single fractures Pyrak-Nolte, Laura J.; Cook, Neville G. W.; Nolte, David D. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/GL015i011p01247	journal	October 1988
Laboratory Studies of Gas Flow Through a Single Natural Fracture Schrauf, T. W.; Evans, D. D. Water Resources Research, Vol. 22, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR022i007p01038	journal	July 1986
An interpretation of the difference between aperture estimates derived from hydraulic and tracer tests in a single fracture Silliman, S. E. Water Resources Research, Vol. 25, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR025i010p02275	journal	October 1989
closure of rock joints Brown, Stephen R.; Scholz, Christopher H. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 91, Issue B5 https://doi.org/10.1029/jb091ib05p04939	journal	January 1986
Evaluation Of Fluid Flow Field In Single Rock Fracture During Frictional Sliding Nemoto, K.; Watanabe, N.; Tsuchiya, N. 2007, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2896957	conference	January 2008
Effects of fracture aperture and roughness on hydraulic and mechanical properties of rocks: implication of seismic characterization of fractured reservoirs Liu, Enru Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-2132/2/1/006	journal	February 2005
Fracture deformation and influence on permeability Mourzenko, V.; Galamay, O.; Thovert, J. -F. Physical Review E, Vol. 56, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.56.3167	journal	September 1997
Heterogeneities of flow in stochastically generated porous media Hyman, Jeffrey D.; Smolarkiewicz, Piotr K.; Winter, C. Larrabee Physical Review E, Vol. 86, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.056701	journal	November 2012
Transport properties of a Bentheim sandstone under deformation Jasinski, L.; Sangaré, D.; Adler, P. M. Physical Review E, Vol. 91, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.013304	journal	January 2015
Laboratory observations of fault transmissibility alteration in carbonate rock during direct shearing Giwelli, A.; Delle Piane, C.; Esteban, L. Geofluids, Vol. 16, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/gfl.12183	journal	June 2016
An Average Flow Model for Determining Effects of Three-Dimensional Roughness on Partial Hydrodynamic Lubrication Patir, Nadir; Cheng, H. S. Journal of Lubrication Technology, Vol. 100, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3453103	journal	January 1978
Seismicity triggered by fluid injection-induced aseismic slip Guglielmi, Y.; Cappa, F.; Avouac, J. -P. Science, Vol. 348, Issue 6240 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab0476	journal	June 2015
Fault-surface geometry controlled by faulting mechanisms: Experimental observations in limestone faults Sagy, Amir; Tesei, Telemaco; Collettini, Cristiano Geology, Vol. 45, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1130/G39076.1	journal	July 2017
The transition from planar to en echelon morphology in a single vein in shale: Insights from X-ray computed tomography scanning Andrews, Graham D. M.; Brown, Sarah R.; Moore, Johnathan Geosphere, Vol. 16, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1130/ges02191.1	journal	February 2020
Hydraulic conductivity of bedding-parallel cracks in shale as a function of shear and normal stress Rutter, Ernest H.; Mecklenburgh, Julian Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol. 454, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1144/SP454.9	journal	January 2017
The relation between stimulated shear fractures and production in the Barnett Shale: Implications for unconventional oil and gas reservoirs Hakso, Alex; Zoback, Mark GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 84, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2018-0545.1	journal	November 2019
Depositional Environment and Impact on Pore Structure and Gas Storage Potential of Middle Devonian Organic Rich Shale, Northeastern West Virginia, Appalachian Basin Song, Liaosha; Paronish, Thomas; Agrawal, Vikas Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference https://doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2017-2667397	conference	January 2017
Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory: Subsurface Reservoir Characterization and Engineered Completion Carr, Timothy R.; Carney, B. J.; Akin, Josiah Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference https://doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2017-2670437	conference	January 2017
Induced seismicity in geologic carbon storage Vilarrasa, Víctor; Carrera, Jesus; Olivella, Sebastià Solid Earth, Vol. 10, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-871-2019	journal	January 2019
Hydraulic conductivity of bedding-parallel cracks in shale as a function of shear and normal stress Rutter, E. H.; Mecklenburgh, J. Geological Society of London https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4769638.v1	dataset	January 2017

Similar Records

Scalable En Echelon Shear‐Fracture Aperture‐Roughness Mechanism: Theory, Validation, and Implications

Journal Article · Fri Jan 18 19:00:00 EST 2019 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth · OSTI ID:1491416

Experimental study of fracture slip due to stress perturbation in fractured geo-resources

Journal Article · Sun Dec 04 19:00:00 EST 2022 · Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment · OSTI ID:2446662

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Marcellus shale
flow in fractures
fracture aperture
fracture flow anisotropy
shear fractures

Effect of Shear Displacement and Stress Changes on Fracture Hydraulic Aperture and Flow Anisotropy

Citation Formats

References (70)

Similar Records

Related Subjects