Abstract
A single fracture is the basic unit of fracture medium, and the roughness of the fracture surface is an important factor influencing hydraulic characteristics of the flow in bedrock fracture. However, effects of the shape and density of roughness elements (various bulges/pits on rough fracture wall surfaces) on water flow in a single fracture have not been thoroughly understood. Thus the water flow in a single fracture with different shapes and densities of roughness elements was simulated by using Fluent software in this study. The results showed that the existence of roughness elements could enhance the flow resistance and cause nonlinear flow. The shape difference of roughness elements, i.e. the value variation of the included angle between the tangent direction of the beginning of roughness element and the streamline direction, could change their influence degree on the flow regime. Increasing the density of roughness elements could bring more violent turbulent, reduce the relative aperture of fracture, and decrease the discharge per unit width correspondingly. With the increase of flow velocity, Forchheimer equation could fit the relationship between average velocity and hydraulic gradient better than Izbash equation. In addition, the variation of flow regime in rough fracture from laminar flow to turbulent flow was a process of the gradual dominance of inertial force.
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