Effects of surface roughness and shear processes on solute transport through 3D crossed rock fractures

The influences of surface roughness and shear processes on fluid flow and solute transport through three-dimensional (3D) crossed rock fractures, a vital element of fracture networks, were systematically investigated. Surfaces of tensile fractures created by splitting granite and sandstone samples along its two orthogonal central axes were optically scanned to generate rough-walled crossed fracture models. Shearing processes on the models were realized by assigning experimentally measured normal and shear displacements to one fracture while fixing the other. Fluid flow and solute transport through the models were numerically simulated taking into account different combinations of inlets and outlets, in which distilled water and solution are injected into the two inlets, respectively. The results show that compared to the parallel-plate model, the rough-walled crossed fracture model exhibits obvious flow channelization and fluid redistribution at the intersection, significantly promoting the mixing. The shear process affects the mixing at the intersection as it induces dilation and geometric change of the intersection. Increasing shear displacement can either enhance or reduce the mixing depending on combinations of the inlets and outlets, and the mixing ratio is controlled by the aperture difference between two outlet branches and the surface roughness. Effects of surface roughness, shear displacement and shear-induced dilation on the mixing ratio are quantified, upscaling of which can be potentially useful for field-scale characterization of solute transport in fractured systems.