Impact of fracture sealing on their hydraulic and mechanical properties

Author(s):  
Qinglin Deng ◽  
Jean Schmittbuhl ◽  
Guido Bloech ◽  
Mauro Cacace

<p>In deep tight reservoirs like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), the fracture flow often plays a dominant role. The hydraulic and mechanical behaviors of the fracture are affected by a couple of factors such as the sealing deposits owing to mineral cementation. Here we aimed to investigate the impact of the sealing material on the hydro-mechanical properties of a rough fracture using a well-established self-affine rough fracture model. We developed finite element model based on the MOOSE/GOLEM framework dedicated to modeling coupled Hydraulic-Mechanical (HM) process of the rock-fracture system. We conducted numerical flow through a granite reservoir hosting one single large and partly sealed fracture of size 512x512 m<sup>2</sup>. Navier-Stokes flow and Darcy flow are solved in the 3-dimensional rough aperture and in the embedding poro-elastic matrix, respectively. In order to mimic the impact of the fracture sealing material on the physical properties of the rock-fracture system, we sequentially increased the amount of the fracture-filling material in the rough fracture by changing the thickness of the sealing deposits.  The evolution of the contact area, fracture permeability, fracture diffusivity and normal fracture stiffness, is monitored up to the percolation threshold of the fluid flow. We show that sealing induces strong permeability anisotropy, significant decrease of hydraulic diffusivity and increase of fracture stiffness. The results have strong implications for optimizing the stimulation strategy like chemical stimulation of fractured reservoirs, as well as understanding the fluid-induced seismicity.</p>

2016 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 51-55
Author(s):  
Zhi Ling Wang ◽  
Xiang Li

In this paper, the mechanical properties of welded joints of Q345R/304 stainless steel clad plates after high temperature ageing were studied. E309Nb welding rod, ER310 welding wire, and ER309L welding wire were used as cladding filling materials, and ER50-6 welding wire was used as base-layer filling material. The mechanical properties of welded joints were characterized by micro-hardness measurement and mechanics performance testing respectively, after ageing treatment at 600°C for 100 hours. Test results showed that there was lower carbon diffusion in the ER309L joint-base layer and transition layer than those of other two joints after high temperature ageing, and the hardness value had little change around ER309L joint-fusion zone. The microstructure of ER309L joint-fusion zone was different from that of other two joints. The impact test after high temperature ageing indicateed the impact toughness of three welding joints decreased obviously, and the weld zone of ER309L joint presented a worst toughness, which leded to the occurrence of brittle fracture.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Blöcher ◽  
Christian Kluge ◽  
Mauro Cacace ◽  
Harald Milsch ◽  
Jean Schmittbuhl

<p>The fluid flow in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) is dominated by hydraulically stimulated fractures and faults which are the key elements of their hydraulic performance and sustainability. At the fault scale, the flow performance is influenced by the aperture distribution which is strongly dependent on the fault roughness, the geological fault sealing, the relative shear displacement, and the amount of flow exchange between the matrix and the fault itself. On the mechanical side, stiffness and strength of partly sealed fault might alter or reinforced the mechanical behavior of the fault zone in particular with respect to new stimulations. In order to quantify the impact of chemical soft stimulation in EGS reservoir on the hydro-mechanical properties of a fault-rock system that includes fault-filling material, we conducted numerical flow through experiments of a granite reservoir hosting one single partly sealed fault of size 512x512 m². In order to mimic the chemical alteration of the fault-rock system we sequentially changed the distribution pattern of the fault-filling material by means of a hydro-poro-elastic coupled simulation. Navier-Stokes flow is solved in the 3-dimensional rough aperture and Darcy flow in the related poro-elastic matrix. By means of this model, an evaluation of the local channeling effect through the fault for various degrees of sealing was performed. Based on the obtained results, we derived a macroscopic change of the hydraulic-mechanical behavior of the fault-rock system, e.g. permeability change, fracture stiffness modulus.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 6734-6742
Author(s):  
A. Syamsir ◽  
S. M. Mubin ◽  
N. M. Nor ◽  
V. Anggraini ◽  
S. Nagappan ◽  
...  

This study investigated the combine effect of 0.2 % drink cans and steel fibers with volume fractions of 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% and 3% to the mechanical properties and impact resistance of concrete. Hooked-end steel fiber with 30 mm and 0.75 mm length and diameter, respectively was selected for this study.  The drinks cans fiber were twisted manually in order to increase friction between fiber and concrete. The results of the experiment showed that the combination of steel fibers and drink cans fibers improved the strength performance of concrete, especially the compressive strength, flexural strength and indirect tensile strength. The results of the experiment showed that the combination of steel fibers and drink cans fibers improved the compressive strength, flexural strength and indirect tensile strength by 2.3, 7, and 2 times as compare to batch 1, respectively. Moreover, the impact resistance of fiber reinforced concrete has increase by 7 times as compared to non-fiber concretes. Moreover, the impact resistance of fiber reinforced concrete consistently gave better results as compared to non-fiber concretes. The fiber reinforced concrete turned more ductile as the dosage of fibers was increased and ductility started to decrease slightly after optimum fiber dosage was reached. It was found that concrete with combination of 2% steel and 0.2% drink cans fibers showed the highest compressive, split tensile, flexural as well as impact strength.    


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2323
Author(s):  
Yubing Du ◽  
Zhiqing Zhao ◽  
Qiang Xiao ◽  
Feiting Shi ◽  
Jianming Yang ◽  
...  

To explore the basic mechanical properties and size effects of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) with different substitution ratios of coarse recycled concrete aggregates (CRCAs) to replace natural coarse aggregates (NCA), the failure modes and mechanical parameters of RAC under different loading conditions including compression, splitting tensile resistance and direct shear were compared and analyzed. The conclusions drawn are as follows: the failure mechanisms of concrete with different substitution ratios of CRCAs are similar; with the increase in substitution ratio, the peak compressive stress and peak tensile stress of RAC decrease gradually, the splitting limit displacement decreases, and the splitting tensile modulus slightly increases; with the increase in the concrete cube’s side length, the peak compressive stress of RAC declines gradually, but the integrity after compression is gradually improved; and the increase in the substitution ratio of the recycled aggregate reduces the impact of the size effect on the peak compressive stress of RAC. Furthermore, an influence equation of the coupling effect of the substitution ratio and size effect on the peak compressive stress of RAC was quantitatively established. The research results are of great significance for the engineering application of RAC and the strength selection of RAC structure design.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3140
Author(s):  
Kamil Dydek ◽  
Anna Boczkowska ◽  
Rafał Kozera ◽  
Paweł Durałek ◽  
Łukasz Sarniak ◽  
...  

The main aim of this work was the investigation of the possibility of replacing the heavy metallic meshes applied onto the composite structure in airplanes for lightning strike protection with a thin film of Tuball single-wall carbon nanotubes in the form of ultra-light, conductive paper. The Tuball paper studied contained 75 wt% or 90 wt% of carbon nanotubes and was applied on the top of carbon fibre reinforced polymer before fabrication of flat panels. First, the electrical conductivity, impact resistance and thermo-mechanical properties of modified laminates were measured and compared with the reference values. Then, flat panels with selected Tuball paper, expanded copper foil and reference panels were fabricated for lightning strike tests. The effectiveness of lightning strike protection was evaluated by using the ultrasonic phased-array technique. It was found that the introduction of Tuball paper on the laminates surface improved both the surface and the volume electrical conductivity by 8800% and 300%, respectively. The impact resistance was tested in two directions, perpendicular and parallel to the carbon fibres, and the values increased by 9.8% and 44%, respectively. The dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis showed higher stiffness and a slight increase in glass transition temperature of the modified laminates. Ultrasonic investigation after lightning strike tests showed that the effectiveness of Tuball paper is comparable to expanded copper foil.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1128
Author(s):  
Sylwia Członka ◽  
Anna Strąkowska ◽  
Agnė Kairytė

In this study, coir fibers were successfully modified with henna (derived from the Lawsonia inermis plant) using a high-energy ball-milling process. In the next step, such developed filler was used as a reinforcing filler in the production of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foams. The impact of 1, 2, and 5 wt % of coir-fiber filler on structural and physico-mechanical properties was evaluated. Among all modified series of PUR composites, the greatest improvement in physico-mechanical performances was observed for PUR composites reinforced with 1 wt % of the coir-fiber filler. For example, on the addition of 1 wt % of coir-fiber filler, the compression strength was improved by 23%, while the flexural strength increased by 9%. Similar dependence was observed in the case of dynamic-mechanical properties—on the addition of 1 wt % of the filler, the value of glass transition temperature increased from 149 °C to 178 °C, while the value of storage modulus increased by ~80%. It was found that PUR composites reinforced with coir-fiber filler were characterized by better mechanical performances after the UV-aging.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilde Tiennot ◽  
Davide Iannuzzi ◽  
Erma Hermens

AbstractIn this investigation on the mechanical behaviour of paint films, we use a new ferrule-top nanoindentation protocol developed for cultural heritage studies to examine the impact of repeated relative humidity variations on the viscoelastic behaviour of paint films and their mechanical properties in different paint stratigraphies through the changes in their storage and loss moduli. We show that the moisture weathering impact on the micromechanics varies for each of these pigment-oil systems. Data from the nanoindentation protocol provide new insights into the evolution of the viscoelastic properties dsue to the impact of moisture weathering on paint films.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 779
Author(s):  
Mohamed Gomah ◽  
Guichen Li ◽  
Salah Bader ◽  
Mohamed Elkarmoty ◽  
Mohamed Ismael

The awareness of the impact of high temperatures on rock properties is essential to the design of deep geotechnical applications. The purpose of this research is to assess the influence of heating and cooling treatments on the physical and mechanical properties of Egyptian granodiorite as a degrading factor. The samples were heated to various temperatures (200, 400, 600, and 800 °C) and then cooled at different rates, either slowly cooled in the oven and air or quickly cooled in water. The porosity, water absorption, P-wave velocity, tensile strength, failure mode, and associated microstructural alterations due to thermal effect have been studied. The study revealed that the granodiorite has a slight drop in tensile strength, up to 400 °C, for slow cooling routes and that most of the physical attributes are comparable to natural rock. Despite this, granodiorite thermal deterioration is substantially higher for quick cooling than for slow cooling. Between 400:600 °C is ‘the transitional stage’, where the physical and mechanical characteristics degraded exponentially for all cooling pathways. Independent of the cooling method, the granodiorite showed a ductile failure mode associated with reduced peak tensile strengths. Additionally, the microstructure altered from predominantly intergranular cracking to more trans-granular cracking at 600 °C. The integrity of the granodiorite structure was compromised at 800 °C, the physical parameters deteriorated, and the rock tensile strength was negligible. In this research, the temperatures of 400, 600, and 800 °C were remarked to be typical of three divergent phases of granodiorite mechanical and physical properties evolution. Furthermore, 400 °C could be considered as the threshold limit for Egyptian granodiorite physical and mechanical properties for typical thermal underground applications.


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