EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATED PERMEABILITY OF CONTROLLED, 3D PRINTED ROCK MICROSTRUCTURES

Rocks are naturally heterogeneous; two rock samples with identical bulk properties can vary widely in microstructure. Understanding how the microstructure and bulk properties of rocks then evolve during experiments and computations simulating diagenesis is inherently a multiscale problem in complex adaptive systems. Pore space deforms chemo-mechanically as the fluid reacts and flows through a deforming porous medium. Thus, linking pore scale attributes to the evolution of macroscopic bulk properties requires multiple scales of observation.

Traditionally, this problem has been addressed using two different approaches - experimental and numerical analysis. Each individual approach, however, faces limitations and correspondence between physical and digital experiments still remains technically challenging to assess as solutions inherently do not refer to the same rock volumes.

The advent of modern 3D printing has provided an unprecedented opportunity to link those scales by combining the strengths of digital and experimental rock physics. In this study we take a CT-scanned model of a natural carbonate pore space, then iteratively digitally manipulate, 3D print, and measure the flow properties in the laboratory. This approach allows us to access multiple scales digitally and experimentally and test hypotheses about how changes in rock microstructure due to processes such as compaction and dissolution affect bulk transport properties in a repeatable manner.