Abstract
Fluid flow through rock joints is greatly influenced by tortuosity and surface roughness, which cause a deviation from the cubic law of joint permeability. In this paper, in order to consider the combined effects of tortuosity and surface roughness on flow rate through a rough joint, a semi-empirical equation is first presented. In this equation, the impacts of tortuosity and surface roughness are represented by three quantitative parameters i.e., the tortuosity τ, surface tortuosity coefficient Ts and relative roughness Δ/2d, all of which can be computed based on surface topography data. Furthermore, the empirical constant A in the equation is determined according to the results of flow tests on three artificial joint specimens. Then the validity of the semi-empirical equation is confirmed by use of previously published experimental and numerical results. The obtained semi-empirical equation can predict the fluid flow rates through a rough joint well, and will be helpful to investigate the permeability of rock masses.
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