As well as flow through joints, 3DEC 5.2 is capable of simulating fluid flow through the blocks or the matrix (i.e., between the joints). It is assumed that the blocks represent a saturated, permeable solid, such as soil or fractured rock mass.
A tutorial showing how to create an unstructured mesh in FLAC3D 7.0 using the extruder pane.
This video demonstrates filling the empty space between key model elements and out to the far field boundary using Building Blocks in FLAC3D 6.
A geochemical model was developed to predict future water quality of the Cove pit lake in support of site closure and regulatory permitting.
The challenges of mining economically have never been greater than under current global financial conditions.
Injection testing conducted in 2017 and 2019 at the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy site in Utah evaluated flowback as an alternative to prolonged shut-in periods to infer closure stress, formation compressibility, and formation permeability. Flowback analyses yielded lower inferred closure stresses than traditional shut-in methods and indicated high formation compressibility, suggesting an extensive fractured system. Numerical simulations showed rebound pressure is not necessarily the lower bound of minimum principal stress. Stiffness changes can be identified as depletion transitions from hydraulic to natural fractures. The advantage if flowback is reduced time to closure.