Abstract The geometric properties of fractures influence whether they propagate, arrest, or coalesce with other fractures. Thus, quantifying the relationship between fracture network characteristics may help predict development, and perhaps precursors to catastrophic failure. To constrain predictability characteristics, we deform eight one centimeter tall rock cores under triaxial compression w...

Generation of naturally fractured reservoir subsurface fracture maps and prediction its production potential are considered complex process due to insufficient data available such as bore hole images, core data and proper reservoir simulator model. To overcome such shortcomings, the industry has relied on geo-statistical analyses of hard and soft data, which are often referred to as static data...

Due to geological reasons, fractured reservoirs are extremely heterogeneous. Modelling of these reservoirs has so far been considered complex and progress is still inadequate. This paper presents a novel and hybrid method to model discrete fracture networks in naturally fractured reservoirs. It involves investigation and systematic integration of tasks spanning cross-disciplinary areas: geologi...

      Many large oil and gas fields in the most productive world regions happen to be fractured. The exploration and development of these reservoirs is a true challenge for many operators. These difficulties are due to uncertainties in geological fracture properties such as aperture, length, connectivity and intensity distribution. To successfully address these challenges, it is paramount to im...

Dual three-dimensional networks of structural and transport elements were combined to model the effect of fracture on mass transport in quasi-brittle geomaterials. Element connectivity of the structural network, representing elasticity and fracture, was defined by the Delaunay tessellation of a random set of points. The connectivity of transport elements within the transport network was defined...

Fractured reservoirs account for a majority of the oil production worldwide and often have low recovery rate. Fracture characterization is important in building reservoir flow models for enhanced oil recovery. Information about fracture orientation, fracture spacing, and fracture compliances is essential. When a fracture network consisting of multiple sets of fractures with variable fracture sp...

Nowadays, numerical modelings play a key role in analyzing hydraulic problems in fractured rock media. The discrete fracture network model is one of the most used numerical models to simulate the geometrical structure of a rock-mass. In such media, discontinuities are considered as discrete paths for fluid flow through the rock-mass while its matrix is assumed impermeable. There are two main pa...

A study of the e€ects of grid discretization on the migration of DNAPL within a discrete-fracture network embedded in a porous rock matrix is presented. It is shown that an insuciently ®ne discretization of the fracture elements can lead to an overprediction of the volume of DNAPL that continues to migrate vertically at the intersection of a vertical and horizontal fracture. Uniform discretiza...