2008/10/02 by Alejandro Boschan, Boschan, Alejandro, Harold Auradou +7
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Environmental Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Geophysics (physics.geo-ph) #Groundwater flow and contamination studies #Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis #Seismic Imaging and Inversion Techniques
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0810.0519
openalex publication_date 2008/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Dispersion experiments are compared for two transparent model fractures with identical complementary rough walls but with a relative shear displacement δ parallel (δ∥ U) or perpendicular (δ ⊥ U) to the flow velocity U. The structure of the mixing front is characterized by mapping the local normalized local transit time t(x,y) and dispersivity α(x,y). For δ ⊥ U, displacement fronts display large fingers: their geometry and the distribution of t(x,y)U/x are well reproduced by assuming parallel channels of hydraulic conductance deduced from the aperture field. For δ ∥ U, the front is flatter and α(x,y) displays a narrow distribution and a Taylor-like variation with Pe.