Fractal and geostatistical methods for modeling of a fracture network

Abstract

The modeling of fracture networks is useful for fluid flow and rock mechanics studies. About 6600 fracture traces were recorded on drifts of a uranium mine in a granite massif. The traces have an extension of 0.20-20 m. The network was studied by fractal and by geostatistical methods but can be considered neither as a fractal with a constant dimension nor a set of purely randomly located fractures. Two kinds of generalization of conventional models can still provide more flexibility for the characterization of the network: (a) a nonscaling fractal model with variable similarity dimension (for a 2-D network of traces, the dimension varying from 2 for the 10-m scale to 1 for the centimeter scale, (b) a parent-daughter model with a regionalized density; the geostatistical study allows a 3-D model to be established where: fractures are assumed to be discs; fractures are grouped in clusters or swarms; and fracturation density is regionalized (with two ranges at about 30 and 300 m). The fractal model is easy to fit and to simulate along a line, but 2-D and 3-D simulations are more difficult. The geostatistical model is more complex, but easy to simulate, even in 3-D. © 1988 International Association for Mathematical Geology.