Relating hydro-mechanical and elastodynamic properties of
dynamically-stressed tensile-fractured rock in relation to fracture
aperture and contact area
Abstract
We exploit nonlinear elastodynamic properties of fractured rock to probe
the micro-scale mechanics of fractures and understand the relation
between fluid transport and fracture aperture and area, stiffness proxy,
under dynamic stressing. Experiments are conducted on rough,
tensile-fractured Westerly granite specimen subject to triaxial
stresses. Fracture permeability is measured from steady-state fluid flow
with deionized water. Pore pressure oscillations are applied at
amplitudes ranging from 0.2 to 1~MPa at
1~Hz frequency. During dynamic stressing we transmit
acoustic signals through the fracture using an array of piezoelectric
transducers (PZTs) to monitor the evolution of fracture interface
properties. We examine the influence of fracture aperture and contact
area by conducting measurements at effective normal stresses of 10,
12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20~MPa. Additionally, the evolution
of contact area with stress is characterized using pressure sensitive
film. These experiments are conducted separately with the same fracture
and they map contact area at stresses from 9 to 21~MPa.
The resulting ‘true’ area of contact measurements made for the entire
fracture surface and within the calculated PZT sensor footprints,
numerical modeling of Fresnel zone. We compare the elastodynamic
response of the the fracture using the stress-induced changes ultrasonic
wave velocities for a range of transmitter-receiver pairs to image
spatial variations in contact properties, which is informed by fracture
contact area measurements. These measurements of the nonlinear
elasticity are related to the fluid-flow, permeability, in response to
dynamic stressing and similar comparisons are made for the
slow-dynamics, recovery, of the fracture interface following the stress
perturbations.