Learning

Software Tutorials

An Introduction to Python Scripting: Part 1

Introduction to Python scripting by reviewing key concepts and through demonstrations. Part 1 focuses on installing Python, variables and types, conditions and loops, and functions.

Proppant in Fluid Filled Joints

The transport and placement of proppant within fractures is modeled in 3DEC by representing the proppant and fracturing fluid as a mixture.

MINEDW Tutorial (Part 1: Menu Options)

In this tutorial we will briefly cover the MINEDW user interface, its components, and the MINEDW Menu with the different options and tools it provides to build numerical models.

Technical Papers

GPR-inferred fracture aperture widening in response to a high-pressure tracer injection test at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden

We assess the performance of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method in fractured rock formations of very low transmissivity (e.g. T ≈ 10−9–10−10 m2/s for sub-mm apertures) and, more specifically, to image fracture widening induced by high-pressure injections. A field-scale experiment was conducted at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden) in a tunnel situated at 410 m depth. The tracer test was performed within the most transmissive sections of two boreholes separated by 4.2 m. The electrically resistive tracer solution composed of deionized water and Uranine was expected to lead to decreasing GPR reflections with respect to the saline in situ formation water.

Depressurising an Underground Ore Body at the McArthur River Mine in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Pre-mining depressurising of a deep ore body at the McArthur River mine in northern Saskatchewan was considered to decrease the risk associated with mining near 5 MPa water pressure and increasing the amount of ore that can be extracted.

Elastic Properties of Fractured Rock Masses With Frictional Properties and Power Law Fracture Size Distributions

We derive the relationships that link the general elastic properties of rock masses to the geometrical properties of fracture networks, with a special emphasis to the case of frictional crack surfaces.

We extend the well-known elastic solutions for free-slipping cracks to fractures whose plane resistance is defined by an elastic fracture (shear) stiffness ks and a stick-slip Coulomb threshold.