Elastic characteristics for naturally-fractured reservoirs using an integrated LSM-DFN scheme with rough contact deformation

TL;DR

This paper introduces an integrated LSM-DFN numerical scheme that incorporates rough contact deformation to accurately predict the elastic properties of naturally fractured rocks, considering micro-geometries and surface roughness effects.

Contribution

It develops a novel coupled LSM-DFN model with rough contact deformation, enhancing the simulation of fractured rock elastic behavior with micro-scale surface roughness considerations.

Findings

Model accurately predicts elastic properties of fractured rocks.

Surface roughness significantly influences mechanical response.

Framework validated against classic equivalent medium theories.

Abstract

Crack micro-geometries and tribological properties pose an important impact on the elastic characteristics of fractured rocks. Numerical simulation as a promising way for this issue still faces some challenges. With the rapid development of computers and computational techniques, discrete-based numerical approaches with desirable properties have been increasingly developed, but few attempts to consider the particle surface roughness in a lattice type model. For this purpose, an integrated numerical scheme accounting rough contact deformation is developed by coupling modified LSM and DFN modeling for predicting the effective mechanical properties of a realistic outcrop. Smooth joint logic is introduced to consider contact and slip behaviors at fracture surfaces and a modified contact relation to estimating the normal force-displacement from rough contact deformation. Improved constitutive laws are developed and employed for rock matrix and rough fracture surface and implemented in the modified LSM. Complex fracture networks presented by DFNs are automatically extracted based on the gradient Hough transform algorithm. This developed framework is validated by classic equivalent medium theories. It shows the model could be used to emulate naturally-fractured media and to quantitatively investigate the effects of fracture attributes and micro-scale surface roughness on the compression mechanism.