Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures

The morphological properties of rock fractures are intimately linked with its hydro-mechanical behaviours. In this paper, the relationship between the two properties for a real rock like fracture is studied using geostatistical analysis techniques. Surface morphology of the fracture is modelled thro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kosasih, W., Rasouli, Vamegh
Other Authors: Prof Fuad Khoshnaw
Format: Conference Paper
Published: WITS Press 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31828
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author Kosasih, W.
Rasouli, Vamegh
author2 Prof Fuad Khoshnaw
author_facet Prof Fuad Khoshnaw
Kosasih, W.
Rasouli, Vamegh
author_sort Kosasih, W.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The morphological properties of rock fractures are intimately linked with its hydro-mechanical behaviours. In this paper, the relationship between the two properties for a real rock like fracture is studied using geostatistical analysis techniques. Surface morphology of the fracture is modelled through variograms for different directions to determine the anisotropy extent of the fracture’s roughness. The results are then compared to the results of a fluid flow simulation undertaken for a separate study to determine whether any correlation exists between the two properties. Observations suggest a clear correlation between directional dependence of the asperity elevations of a fracture surface and fluid pressure drop. Thus, geostatistical modelling of surface morphology can potentially be used to predict and understand the hydro-mechanical properties of a fracture which can prove to be valuable in real applications such as minimising the negative impacts of fractures to hydrocarbon production.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-318282017-09-13T15:51:05Z Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures Kosasih, W. Rasouli, Vamegh Prof Fuad Khoshnaw geostatistical analysis fracture morphology fluid flow variogram modelling anisotropy The morphological properties of rock fractures are intimately linked with its hydro-mechanical behaviours. In this paper, the relationship between the two properties for a real rock like fracture is studied using geostatistical analysis techniques. Surface morphology of the fracture is modelled through variograms for different directions to determine the anisotropy extent of the fracture’s roughness. The results are then compared to the results of a fluid flow simulation undertaken for a separate study to determine whether any correlation exists between the two properties. Observations suggest a clear correlation between directional dependence of the asperity elevations of a fracture surface and fluid pressure drop. Thus, geostatistical modelling of surface morphology can potentially be used to predict and understand the hydro-mechanical properties of a fracture which can prove to be valuable in real applications such as minimising the negative impacts of fractures to hydrocarbon production. 2012 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31828 10.2495/PMR120191 WITS Press restricted
spellingShingle geostatistical analysis
fracture morphology
fluid flow
variogram modelling
anisotropy
Kosasih, W.
Rasouli, Vamegh
Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title_full Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title_fullStr Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title_full_unstemmed Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title_short Geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
title_sort geostatistical analysis of surface morphology and its relationship with hydro-mechanical properties of natural fractures
topic geostatistical analysis
fracture morphology
fluid flow
variogram modelling
anisotropy
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31828