Characterisation of hydraulic fractures in limestones using X-ray microtomography

Francois Renard (1, 2) , Dominique Bernard (3) , Jacques Desrues (4) , Erwan Plougonven (3) , Audrey Ougier-Simonin (1)

1 LGIT - Laboratoire de Géophysique Interne et Tectonophysique
2 PGP - Physics of Geological Processes [Oslo]
3 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
4 3S - Laboratoire Sols, Solides, Structures

Hydraulic tension fractures were produced in porous limestones using a specially designed hydraulic cell. The 3D geometry of the samples was imaged using X-ray computed microtomography before and after fracturation. Using these data, it was possible to estimate the permeability tensor of the core samples, extract the path of the rupture and compare it to the heterogeneities initially present in the rock.

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]; Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

Francois Renard, Dominique Bernard, Jacques Desrues, Erwan Plougonven, Audrey Ougier-Simonin. Characterisation of hydraulic fractures in limestones using X-ray microtomography. Advances in x-ray tomography for geomaterials, ISTE, pp.221-227, 2006. ⟨hal-00201782⟩