A CLUSTERED FRACTAL DISCRETE FRACTURE NETWORK MODEL FOR FRACTURED COAL

Xin Liang, Peng Hou, Guannan Liu, Yi Xue, Jia Liu, Feng Gao and Zhizhen Zhang
Additional contact information
Xin Liang: State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China†School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China
Peng Hou: ��School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China
Guannan Liu: �State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics & Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221116, P. R. China
Yi Xue: State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China†School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China
Jia Liu: State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China†School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, P. R. China
Feng Gao: �State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics & Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221116, P. R. China
Zhizhen Zhang: �State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics & Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221116, P. R. China

FRACTALS (fractals), 2024, vol. 32, issue 02, 1-16

Abstract: The fracture network in fractured coal is the main channel of coal seam gas flow. Not only the geometric topology properties (such as fractal characteristics) of a single fracture but also the connection topology properties (interconnection characteristics between fractures) of the fracture network have an important impact on the fluid flow in fracture networks. In this study, the connection topology properties of the fracture network in the fractured coal are explored based on the complex network theory for the first time. The property parameters such as the fracture node degree, the clustering coefficient, and the average path length are analyzed. It shows that the average clustering coefficient of the fracture network in fractured coal is larger, and the average path length is smaller. The connection property of the fracture network in the fractured coal presents a typical “small-world†clustering model. Further, by considering the fractal characteristics of the single fracture and the clustering characteristics of the fracture network, an improved clustered fractal discrete fracture network (DFN) model is developed. Then, based on the lattice Boltzmann method, the permeability properties of the generated clustered fractal DFNs are analyzed. The results show that the permeability of DFNs is positively correlated with the average clustering coefficient of fracture network, and negatively correlated with the fractal dimension of fracture. Therefore, the topological clustering characteristics of fracture networks and the fractal characteristics of fractures cannot be ignored in describing the fluid flow in the fracture network, and our clustered fractal DFN model provides a new idea for guiding the optimization design in DFN engineering.

Keywords: Fractured Coal; Topological Characteristics; Fractal Fracture; Discrete Fracture Network; Fluid Flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218348X2450035X
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:fracta:v:32:y:2024:i:02:n:s0218348x2450035x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0218348X2450035X

Access Statistics for this article

FRACTALS (fractals) is currently edited by Tara Taylor

More articles in FRACTALS (fractals) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().