Modeling Rock Fracture Intersections and Application to the Boston Area
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 11
Abstract
An algorithm for determining the intersections between fractures is presented in this paper. The algorithm is implemented in GEOFRAC, a stochastic fracture pattern-modeling program. Previously, GEOFRAC allowed one to subdivide a fracture network into isolated subnetworks to assess connectivity. A new GEOFRAC feature can be used to analyze length and orientation distributions of the fracture intersections. Connectivity parameters such as the number of intersections per unit volume, , and the intersection length per unit volume can be calculated. Intersections and connectivity are important because they govern the fluid flow and stability behavior of rock masses. The program is used to model fracture intersections in the Boston area. The simulations show that for fractures in the Boston area, the mean fracture intersection length ranges from 0.5 to 0.7 m. The results also show that the relative frequency of long intersections (>2.0 m) increases with increasing modeling volume size. In contrast to these effects of volume, it appears that intersection orientation is not affected by the volume being considered.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research underlying this publication was sponsored by the Army Research Office under Award No. 007452-001, “Fracture Flow Research.” The authors would like to thank ARO for their support and, particularly, Dr. R. Harmon for the beneficial technical interaction.
References
Billings, M. P. (1976). “Geology of the Boston basin.” Studies in New England geology, J. W. Skehanand D. P. Murray, eds., Vol. 146, Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, 5–30.
Dershowitz, W. S. (1984). “Rock joint systems.” Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Dershowitz, W. S., Foxford, T., and Doe, T. (1998). Research report on fracture data analysis technology, Golder Associates, Redmond, WA.
Dershowitz, W. S., and Herda, H. H. (1992). “Interpretation of fracture spacing and intensity.” Proc., 33rd U.S. Symp. on Rock Mechanics, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 757–766.
Ivanova, V. M. (1998). “Geologic and stochastic modeling of fracture systems in rocks.” Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Ivanova, V. M., and Einstein, H. H. (2004). “Three-dimensional hierarchical stochastic modeling of rock fracture systems: an example for the Yates Field.” Proc., NARMS/Gulfrock, American Rock Mechanics Association, Houston, TX.
LaForge, L. (1932). “Geology of the Boston area, Massachusetts.” U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 839, U.S. Geological Survey National Center, Reston, VA.
Meyer, T., and Einstein, H. H. (2002). “Geologic stochastic modeling and connectivity assessment of fracture systems in the Boston area.” Rock Mech. Rock Eng., 35(1), 23–44.
Meyer, T., Einstein, H. H., and Ivanova, V. (1999). “Geologic stochastic modeling of fracture systems related to crustal faults.” Proc., Int. Congress of the ISRM, Vol. 1, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 493–497.
National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council (NAS-NRC). (1996). Rock fractures and fluid flow: Contemporary understanding and applications, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Warburton, P. M. (1980). “A stereological interpretation of joint trace data.” Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., 17(6), 181–190.
Woodhouse, D., and Barosh, P. J., eds. (1991). Geology of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America: Bulletin of the Association of Engineering Geologists, Vol. 28, Dept. of Geology, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX, 375–512.
Zhang, L., and Einstein, H. H. (2000). “Estimating the intensity of rock discontinuities.” Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci., 37(5), 819–837.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 11 • November 2012
Pages: 1415 - 1421
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 27, 2011
Accepted: Jan 25, 2012
Published online: Jan 28, 2012
Published in print: Nov 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.