Influence of inertial and centrifugal forces on rate and flow patterns in natural fracture networks

Fluid production from fractured rock masses readily induces fracture flow velocities of meters per second. Yet, most discrete fracture flow models treat flow as laminar creeping flow or account for inertia effects only by single-fracture constitutive relationships.

This numeric simulation study investigates water flow patterns and spatial velocity variations in a natural fracture network with mm-wide open fractures, studying the transition from laminar creeping to turbulent flow. After verification with a fracture intersection model, a Reynolds-time-averaged Navier Stokes solver serves to analyse flow regimes and velocity distribution. Our results show that for fracture flow velocities greater than $\sim$1-cm/s, fluid inertia begins to markedly alter flow patterns and the overall velocity distribution in the network. The pressure-gradient-flow relationship therefore becomes non-linear long before the flow in straight fractures enters the weak inertia regime. This prominence of inertia effects highlights the need to improve fracture network flow models.