We present a new type of transducer capable of measuring local pore fluid pressure in jacketed rock samples under elevated confining pressure conditions. The transducers are passive (strain-gauge based), of small size (7 mm in diameter at the contact with the rock and around 10 mm in length), and have minimal dead volume (a few mm$^3$). The transducers measure the differential pressure between the confining fluid and the internal pore pressure. The design is easily adaptable to tune the sensitivity and working pressure range up to several hundred megapascals. An array of four such transducers was tested during hydrostatic pressurisation cycles on Darley Dale sandstone and Westerly granite. The prototypes show very good linearity up to 80 MPa with maximum deviations of the order of 0.25 MPa, regardless of the combination of pore and confining pressure. Multiple internal pore pressure measurements allow us to quantify the local decrease in permeability associated with faulting in Darley Dale sandstone, and also prove useful in tracking the development of pore pressure fronts during transient flow in low permeability Westerly granite.
In a porous rock, the spatial distribution of the pore space induces a strong heterogeneity in fluid flow rates and in the stress distribution in the rock mass. If the rock microstructure evolves through time, for example by dissolution, fluid flow and stress will evolve accordingly. Here, we consider a core sample of porous limestone that has undergone several steps of dissolution. Based on 3D X-ray tomography scans, we calculate numerically the coupled system of fluid flow in the pore space and stress in the solid. We determine how the flow field affects the stress distribution both at the p…
Effects of heterogeneity of mineral distribution and reaction rate on the rock dissolution process are investigated using a pore-scale reactive transport model based on the lattice Boltzmann method. Coupled fluid flow, species transport, chemical reaction and solid structure alternation due to dissolution are simulated. Effects of mineral distributions and chemical heterogeneity on the dissolution behaviors and evolutions of hydrologic properties are studied under different reactive transport conditions. Simulation results show that the coupling between advection, diffusion and reaction as wel…
Rock properties are environment- and condition-dependent which render field-laboratory comparisons ambiguous for a number of known and unknown reasons that constitute the upscaling problem. Unknowns are first transformed into knowns in a controlled environment (laboratory) and second in a volatile environment (field). Causality-bound dispersion and attenuation are respectively defined as rock properties that are frequency- and distance-dependent: dispersion implies non-zero attenuation and vice versa. Forced-Oscillation (FO), Resonant-Bar (RB), and Pulse-Transmission (PT). are the customary te…
In this study, over different scenarios we will simulate a week coupling of hydromechanical loads in a long term CO2 injection with a hypothetical reservoir while the effect of pore water pressure and then multi-phase flow procedure has been ignored. In the first basic case the homogenous case has been considered when the theory of poroelasticity was employed. Second case covers the effects of directional heterogeneity, constructed by random faults, on the flow paths of gas and other attributes of the system. Also, in the latter case the impact of stress state as an active loads (body loads) h…
Elastic strain energy released during shear failure in rock is partially spent as fracture energy $Γ$ to propagate the rupture further. $Γ$ is dissipated within the rupture tip process zone, and includes energy dissipated as off-fault damage, $Γ_\mathrm{off}$. Quantifying off-fault damage formed during rupture is crucial to understand its effect on rupture dynamics and slip-weakening processes behind the rupture tip, and its contribution to seismic radiation. Here, we quantify $Γ_\mathrm{off}$ and associated change in off-fault mechanical properties during and after quasi-static and dynamic ru…
The paper presents an electronic self-oscillation acoustic system (SAS) destined to measure of stresses variations in the elastic media. The system consists of piezoelectric detector, amplifier-limiter, pass-band filter, piezoelectric exciter and the frequency meter. The mass rock plays a role of delaying element, in which variations in stresses causing the variations of acoustic wave velocity of propagation, and successive variation in frequency of oscillations generated by system. The laboratory test permitted to estimate variations in frequency caused by variations in stresses of elastic me…
Laboratory experiments in which synthetic, partially molten rock is subjected to forced deformation provide a context for testing hypotheses about the dynamics and rheology of the mantle. Here our hypothesis is that the aggregate viscosity of partially molten mantle is anisotropic, and that this anisotropy arises from deviatoric stresses in the rock matrix. We formulate a model of pipe Poiseuille flow based on theory by Takei and Holtzman [2009a] and Takei and Katz [2013]. Pipe Poiseuille is a configuration that is accessible to laboratory experimentation but for which there are no published r…
This paper deals with the formulation, calibration, and validation of a Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) for the simulation of the pressure-dependent inelastic response of granular rocks. LDPM is formulated in the framework of discrete mechanics and it simulates the heterogeneous deformation of cemented granular systems by means of discrete compatibility/equilibrium equations defined at the grain scale. A numerical strategy is proposed to generate a realistic microstructure based on the actual grain size distribution of a sandstone and the capabilities of the method are illustrated with …
Rock is a complicated material because of the inherent heterogeneity in mineral phases and composition, even when extracted from the same rock mass. The spatial variability in compositional and structural features prevent reproducible measurements of deformation, fracture formation and other physical and chemical properties. Here, we use geo-architected 3D printed synthetic gypsum rock to show that mineral texture orientation governs the isotropy or anisotropy in fracture surface roughness and volumetric flow rate through tensile fractures. Failure load is governed by the orientation of deposi…
Complex coupled thermo-hydromechanical (THM) loading paths are expected to occur in clay rocks which serve as host formations for geological radioactive waste repositories. Exothermic waste packages heat the rock, causing thermal strains and temperature induced pore pressure build-up. The drifts are designed in such a way as to limit these effects. One has to anticipate failure and fracturing of the material, should pore pressures exceed the tensile resistance of the rock. To characterise the behaviour of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone (COx) under effective tension and to quantify the tensile…
Negative defect activation volumes are extremely rare in solids. Here, we report for the first time that this holds in a couple of hydrated rocks for dielectric relaxation by exploring the complex impedance spectra at various pressures and temperatures. The present findings mean that the relaxation time of the relevant relaxation mechanisms decreases upon increasing pressure, thus it may become too short at higher pressure and hence lead to the emission of transient electric signals before fracture. This may constitute the long-standing laboratory confirmation for the explanation of the genera…
In the framework of research into radioactive waste disposal, it was decided to investigate the thermally induce pore pressure occurring in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone, a possible host rock in which the ANDRA underground laboratory of Bure (East of France) has been excavated. Thermal pore pressures appear in low permeability soils and rocks because the thermal expansion coefficient of water is significantly higher than that of the solid grains (Campanella and Mitchell; 1968 [1], Ghabezloo and Sulem; 2009 [2]). This phenomenon has clearly been observed in various in-situ heating tests condu…
The surface roughness of several stylolites in limestones was measured using high resolution laser profilometry. The 1D signals obtained were statistically analyzed to determine the scaling behavior and calculate a roughness exponent, also called Hurst exponent. Statistical methods based on the characterization of a single Hurst exponent imply strong assumptions on the mathematical characteristics of the signal: the derivative of the signal (or local increments) should be stationary and have finite variance. The analysis of the measured stylolites show that these properties are not always veri…
Failure and fault slip in crystalline rocks is associated with dilation. When pore fluids are present and drainage is insufficient, dilation leads to pore pressure drops, which in turn lead to strengthening of the material. We conducted laboratory rock fracture experiments with direct in-situ fluid pressure measurements which demonstrate that dynamic rupture propagation and fault slip can be stabilised (i.e., become quasi-static) by such a dilatancy strengthening effect. We also observe that, for the same effective pressures but lower pore fluid pressures, the stabilisation process may be arre…
Geomechanical monitoring of a rock massif is an actively developing branch of geomechanics. It is almost impossible to single out a methodology and approaches for data collection and analysis in developing seismic monitoring systems. In the process of mining in rock massif, changes in the state of structural inhomogeneities are most clearly manifested. Existing natural structural inhomogeneities are revealed, there are movements in discontinuous disturbances, and new technogenic disturbances are formed, which are accompanied by a change in the natural stress state of various blocks of the mass…
Suspension-colloidal-nano transport in porous media encompasses the detachment of detrital fines against electrostatic attraction and authigenic fines by breakage, from the rock surface. While much is currently known about the underlying mechanisms governing detachment of detrital particles, including detachment criteria at the pore scale and its upscaling for the core scale, a critical gap exists due to absence of this knowledge for authigenic fines. Integrating 3D Timoshenkos beam theory of elastic cylinder deformation with CFD-based model for viscous flow around the attached particle and wi…
The Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone is considered as a candidate host rock for a deep geological radioactive waste repository in France. Due to the exothermic waste packages, the rock is expected to be submitted to temperatures up to 90 °C. The temperature rise induces deformations of the host rock, together with an increase in pore pressures, involving complex thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) couplings. This study aims to better characterize the THM response of the COx claystone to temperature changes in the laboratory. To this end, claystone specimens were tested in a temperature controlled, …
We present a model of the hydraulic fracturing of heterogeneous poroelastic media. The formalism is an effective continuum model that captures the coupled dynamics of the fluid pressure and the fractured rock matrix and models both the tensile and shear failure of the rock. As an application of the formalism, we study the geomechanical stress interaction between two injection points during hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) and how this interaction influences the fracturing process. For injection points that are separated by less than a critical correlation length, we find that the fracturin…
In thermally enhanced recovery processes like cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) or steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), continuous steam injection entails changes in pore fluid, pore pressure and temperature in the rock reservoir, that are most often unconsolidated or weakly consolidated sandstones. This in turn increases or decreases the effective stresses and changes the elastic properties of the rocks. Thermally enhanced recovery processes give rise to complex couplings. Numerical simulations have been carried out on a case study so as to provide an estimation of the evolution of pressure, …
Flow-rate controls on trapped hydrogen redistribution in a heterogeneous sandstone: a synchrotron X-ray micro-CT study
Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；Ghent University（根特大学）；University of Edinburgh（爱丁堡大学）；University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；Diamond Light Source（钻石光源）；University of Southampton（南安普顿大学）；Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA)（环境评估与水资源研究所）；Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)（西班牙科学研究委员会）
Spontaneous Potentials associated with volcanic activity are often interpreted by means of the electrokinetic potential, which is usually positive in the flow direction (i.e. Zeta potential of the rock is negative). The water-rock interactions in hydrothermal zones alter the primary minerals leading to the formation of secondary minerals. This work addresses the study of calcite precipitation in a sand composed of 98% quartz and 2% calcite using streaming potential measurements. The precipitation of calcite as a secondary mineral phase, inferred by high calcite saturation indices and by a fall…
Direct pore scale simulations of two-fluid flow on digital rock images provide a promising tool to understand the role of surface wetting phenomena on flow and transport in geologic reservoirs. We present computational protocols that mimic conventional special core analysis laboratory (SCAL) experiments, which are implemented within the open source LBPM software package. Protocols are described to simulate unsteady displacement, steady-state flow at fixed saturation, and to mimic centrifuge experiments. These methods can be used to infer relative permeability and capillary curves, and otherwis…
A new and fast Matlab algorithm for predicting absolute permeability is presented. The developed tool relies on measuring the connectivity of pores in a given three-dimensional (3D) micro-CT rock image. An index of pore connectivity is introduced. After a calibration step, the developed index is used to estimate permeability in a variety of rocks with challenging pore structures (e.g. complex carbonate formations). The developed algorithm was tested on sandstone and carbonate rock samples. It offers large computational and memory savings when compared with algorithms based on the Lattice Boltz…
The work which we present takes place within the framework of mission SMOS of the ESA which will consist to send a radiometer (1.4 GHz) in space. The goal of the research which we propose is the improvement of the comprehension of the effects of structure soil and litter. The effects of the litter and heterogeneities of the ground are probably important but still are very ignored. So we developed an experimental approach in laboratory and in situ. That makes it possible to take measurements for various configurations (frequency, temporal, polarization, incidence, Bi-statics, Brewster effect...…
An accurate understanding of the relationship between the impact conditions and the degree of shock-induced thermal metamorphism in meteorites allows the impact environment in the early Solar System to be understood. A recent hydrocode has revealed that impact heating is much higher than previously thought. This is because plastic deformation of the shocked rocks causes further heating during decompression, which is termed post-shock heating. Here we compare impact simulations with laboratory experiments on the impact devolatilization of calcite to investigate whether the post-shock heating is…
Acoustic emission (AE) is a widely used technology to study source mechanisms and material properties during high-pressure rock failure experiments. It is important to understand the physical quantities that acoustic emission sensors measure, as well as the response of these sensors as a function of frequency. This study calibrates the newly built AE system in the MIT Rock Physics Laboratory using a ball-bouncing system. Full waveforms of multi-bounce events due to ball drops are used to infer the transfer function of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) sensors in high pressure environments. Uncerta…
Reservoir rocks are usually composed of a coherent heterogeneous porous matrix saturated by multiple fluids. At long wavelength limit, the composite material of solid skeleton is usually regarded as homogeneous media. However, at grain scale or high loading rate, non-uniform fluid flow at internal interface of heterogeneity plays essential role in wave dispersion and attenuation. Formulating wave propagation in partially saturated and fractured rocks is challenging and of great interests in geoscience. Here we raise a Biot-patchy-squirt (BIPS) model to characterize wave dispersion/attenuation …
