Granite microcracks: Structure and connectivity at different depths

Abstract

Granite is one rock type used to host high-level radioactive waste repositories, and the structure of microcracks in the rock can influence its hydraulic characteristics. Thus, a quantitative analysis of granite microcracks is relevant for understanding the hydrogeological characteristics of the rocks surrounding geological repositories. The analysis can also contribute scientific data to a seepage model for low permeability rocks and materials with microscopic pores. In this study, seven granite core samples were drilled from different depths up to 600m in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, China. Using a grid survey method and image processing technology, micrographs were converted into binary images of microcracks. The geometric parameters of the microcracks, including their quantity, width, cranny ratio, crack intersections and dimensional parameters of the fracture network, were analyzed in order to fully describe their spatial distribution. In addition, the morphological characteristics and elemental compositions of the microcracks were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDS), and the natural moisture content was also determined through heated. Finally, two-dimensional microcrack network seepage models of the granite samples were simulated using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which revealed the influence of the microcrack structure on their connectivity. The results show that the growth and development of microcracks in the granite samples generally decreases as sampling depth increases in this study area. Connectivity is positively correlated with a number of the geometric parameters: the quantity of microcracks, the cranny ratio, the number of crack intersections and dimensional parameters of the fracture network, which is revealed in the two-dimensional microcrack network seepage models for these granite samples.