ISSN: 0149-6115
Page Count: 8

The Application of Computer-Assisted Tomography in the Analysis of Fracture Geometry

Walters, DA
Duke Engineering & Services (Canada), Inc.,Alberta,

Wong, RCK
The University of Calgary,Alberta,

Kantzas, A
The University of Calgary,Alberta,

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the surface characteristics of an oil sand fracture. The oil sand fracture was induced in core samples along the axis of the sample using the Brazilian tension test. A computer-assisted tomography scanning analysis was performed to determine the fracture geometry. The fracture was shown to be a variable aperture system that would have significant effects of the permeability of the fracture. The aperture distributions of the fractures were found to follow a log-normal distribution, similar to that of previously studied rock fractures.

Keywords:
fracture, X-ray, aperture, experimental measurement, roughness, surface characteristics, computer-assisted tomography, CAT

Paper ID: GTJ11372J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11372J
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