DEFINING NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN COMPLEX, THREE-DIMENSIONAL FRACTURE NETWORKS

Natural rock fracture networks exhibit complex, multiscaling relationships for definable attributes, such as radius, location of fracture centers, orientation, and density. The movement and retention of solutes within fracture networks is profoundly impacted by network connectivity, which represents the integration of definable fracture attributes, yet remains more of an abstractive construct than an easily definable parameter. We propose a novel approach for understanding network connectivity in complex three-dimensional networks based on the migration of non-reactive particles originating from a spherical source towards a pumping well located in the center of the domain. Model boundaries and particle input locations uniquely promote high resolution sampling of a continuum of flow paths within a radially-convergent flow field. dfnWorks, a state-of-the-art computational suite, is utilized to generate and solve for fluid flow and conservative particle transport through multiple, statistically-equivalent DFNs generated using power-law distributions of fracture radii, three different fracture orientations, and various values of fracture density. The numerical data produced by these simulations are then used to study network connectivity as a function of initial particle location and arrival times to the pumping well.