Concept

Joint (geology)

Related publications (22)

Three-dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation in homogeneous and heterogeneous media

Hydraulic fractures are tensile fractures that occur in solid materials due to the natural intrusion or anthropogenic injection of a viscous fluid into a fracture channel. The deliberate creation of hydraulic fractures is part of an industrial technology h ...

EPFL2023

Reactivation of variably sealed joints and permeability enhancement in geothermal reservoir rocks

Michael Heap, Alexandra Roma Larisa Kushnir

Hydraulic stimulation of enhanced deep geothermal reservoirs commonly targets pre-existing joint networks with the goal of increasing reservoir permeability. Here, we study the permeability and strength of joint-free and jointed Buntsandstein sandstones fr ...

2023

Physical characterization of fault rocks within the Opalinus Clay formation

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Luis Felipe Orellana Espinoza, Christophe Nussbaum

Near-surface disposal of radioactive waste in shales is a promising option to safeguard the population and environment. However, natural faults intersecting these geological formations can potentially affect the long-term isolation of the repositories. Thi ...

Nature Research2022

On the scale dependence in the dynamics of frictional rupture: Constant fracture energy versus size-dependent breakdown work

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, François Xavier Thibault Passelègue, Fabian Barras, Mathias Alexandre David Lebihain, Federica Paglialunga

Potential energy stored during the inter-seismic period by tectonic loading around faults is released during earthquakes as radiated energy, frictional dissipation and fracture energy. The latter is of first importance since it is expected to control the n ...

2022

Hydraulic fracture growth in quasi-brittle materials

Dong Liu

Hydraulic fracturing is a technique often used in the oil and gas industry to enhance the production of wells in low-permeability reservoirs. It consists of fluid injection at a sufficiently large injection rate to create and propagate tensile fractures in ...

EPFL2021

Rock strength properties of granitic rocks in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California

Federica Sandrone

Yosemite National Park, located in the central part of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, is a glacially carved landscape filled with iconic rock formations such as Cathedral Peak, El Capitan, and Half Dome. Igneous rocks, consisting primarily of variat ...

U.S. Geological Survey2020

Bifurcations at the Stability Transition of Earthquake Faulting

Carolina Giorgetti

Tectonic faults typically break in a single rupture mode within the range of styles from slow slip to dynamic earthquake failure. However, in increasingly well-documented instances, the same fault segment fails in both slow and fast modes within a short pe ...

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION2020

Hydraulic stimulation of pre-existing discontinuities in tight rocks

Federico Ciardo

Hydraulic stimulation is an engineering technique whose aim is to enhance the permeability of fractured rock masses at depths ranging from one to five kilometers. It consists in the injection of fluid at sufficiently high pressure in order to shear pre-exi ...

EPFL2020

3-D micro-architecture and mechanical response of soil cemented via microbial-induced calcite precipitation

Lyesse Laloui, Dimitrios Terzis

We introduce the application of microbial-induced calcite precipitation via the ureolytic soil bacterium Sporosarcina Pasteurii in freeze-dried form, as a means of enhancing overall MICP efficiency and reproducibility for geotechnical engineering applicati ...

Nature Research2018

Modelling landslides in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using material point method

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Samila Sanjeevanie Bandara

This paper presents a dynamic fully coupled formulation for saturated and unsaturated soils that undergo large deformations based on material point method. Governing equations are applied to porous material while considering it as a continuum in which the ...

Wiley-Blackwell2016

Analysis and estimation of gripper TBM performances in highly fractured and faulted rocks

Jian Zhao, Federica Sandrone, Erika Paltrinieri

This paper focuses on performance analysis of Tunnel Boring Machine (in particular gripper TBMs) in highly jointed rock masses and fault zones. In order to investigate possible relationships between these difficult excavation conditions and TBM performance ...

Elsevier2016

Evolution of the hydromorphodynamics of mountain river confluences for varying discharge ratios and junction angles

Anton Schleiss, Mário Jorge Rodrigues Pereira Da Franca, Sebastián Guillén Ludeña

Mountain river confluences are characterized by narrow and steep tributaries that supply abundant sediment load to a main channel that, in turn, provides the dominant flow discharge. In addition, bed sediments consist of poorly sorted mixtures that promote ...

Elsevier2016

Analysis of TBM tunnelling performance in faulted and highly fractured rocks

Erika Paltrinieri

The thesis focuses on the study of the performance of TBMs in highly jointed and faulted rocks. Despite the great production rates recorded in favourable ground conditions, the TBM advance can be significantly slowed down in limiting geological situations ...

EPFL2015

Laboratory and in situ simulation tests of the Excavation Damaged Zone around galleries in Opalinus Clay

Vincent Labiouse

In the context of nuclear waste disposal in clay formations, laboratory and in situ simulation experiments were performed to study at reduced scale the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) around tunnels in the indurated Opalinus Clay at Mont Terri, Switzerland. ...

Springer Verlag2014

Laboratory Investigation on Seismic Response of Rock Fractures Filled with Granular Materials

Wei Wu

Filling materials may exist in all scales of rock fractures, not only influencing seismic wave attenuation, but controlling rock mass instability. The objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the seismic response of rock fractures filled wi ...

EPFL2013

Seismic response of adjacent filled parallel rock fractures with dissimilar properties

Jian Zhao, Wei Wu

The purpose of this study is to analytically predict and to experimentally investigate the seismic response of adjacent filled parallel rock fractures with dissimilar properties (e.g., fracture thickness and stiffness). The time-domain recursive method is ...

Elsevier2013

A further study on seismic response of a set of parallel rock fractures filled with viscoelastic materials

Jian Zhao, Jianbo Zhu, Wei Wu

The purpose of this study is to further investigate the seismic response of a set of parallel rock fractures filled with viscoelastic materials, following the work by Zhu et al. Dry quartz sands are used to represent the viscoelastic materials. The split H ...

Wiley-Blackwell2013

Study of wave attenuation across parallel fractures using propagator matrix method

Jian Zhao, Jianbo Zhu

Stress wave attenuation across fractured rock masses is a great concern of underground structure safety. This paper presents an analytical study on wave attenuation across parallel fractures at arbitrary incidence angles, where multiple reflections occurri ...

Wiley-Blackwell2012

Laboratory and in Situ Simulation Tests of the Fracturing in the EDZ around Galleries in Opalinus Clay

Vincent Labiouse

Within the framework of the TIMODAZ project laboratory and in-situ experiments have been performed to study the failure processes around tunnels in laminated clay rich sedimentary rocks at reduced scale. The fracture patterns observed in the hollow cylinde ...

European Commission2012

Micromechanical Study of Rock Fracture and Fragmentation under Dynamic Loads using Discrete Element Method

Tohid Kazerani

The study presented in this thesis aims to numerically explore the micro-mechanisms underlying rock fracture and fragmentation under dynamic loading. The approach adopted is based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM) coupled to the Cohesive Process Zone (C ...

EPFL2011