Abstract
Seepage problems of the fractured rock mass have always been a heated topic within hydrogeology and engineering geology. The equivalent porous medium model method is the main method in the study of the seepage of the fractured rock mass and its engineering application. The key to the method is to determine a representative elementary volume (REV). The FractureToKarst software, that is, discrete element software, is a main analysis tool in this paper and developed by a number of authors. According to the standard of rock classification established by ISRM, this paper aims to discuss the existence and the size of REV of fractured rock masses with medium tractility and provide a general method to determine the existence of REV. It can be gleaned from the study that the existence condition of fractured rock mass with medium tractility features average fracture spacing smaller than 0.6 m. If average fracture spacing is larger than 0.6 m, there is no existence of REV. The rationality of the model is verified by a case study. The present research provides a method for the simulation of seepage field in fissured rocks.
Highlights
Seepage problems of the fractured rock mass have always been a heated topic within hydrogeology and engineering geology
A fractured network can be approximately viewed as a porous medium, which was if the equivalent porous media of fractures are existent, the permeability coefficients can be expressed by a symmetric second-order tensor
This paper uses discrete fracture network (DFN) software, according to the standard of rock classification established by ISRM, and discusses the existence of representative elementary volume (REV) of fractured rock masses with medium tractility
Summary
Seepage problems of the fractured rock mass have always been a heated topic within hydrogeology and engineering geology. The study of the seepage problems of the fractured rock mass is still in its preliminary stage at present. The study on rock mass model is always one of the important problems in rock mechanics. The REV of a fractured rock mass is the smallest volume in during the study of parameter when the hydraulic conductivity is a constant value. As the fracture network was the same as the porous media, the permeability can be expressed by a permeability tensor. A fractured network can be approximately viewed as a porous medium, which was if the equivalent porous media of fractures are existent, the permeability coefficients can be expressed by a symmetric second-order tensor. Long and Witherspoon [39] proposed that if the representative elementary volume of the fractured rock mass (REV) existed, the following two conditions must be met:.
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