Numerical Simulation of Flow in a Single Rough Joint

It is known that fracture is the important factor which controls the Hydro-Mechanical behavior of rock mass. Research on deformation and seepage behavior of fracture is a key component of performance assessment for rock mass engineering. Study on the flow law in a single joint is the basis of research on permeability of rock mass. It is proved that flow law in joints is related to joint roughness, joint connectivity, aperture, dip, trace length and so on. To study the flow law in rough joints, the numerical modeling method call SAW method is used to generate a single rough joint with variable aperture distributed according to the in-situ measurements. After the generation of rough joint, the DEM method is adopted to do the numerical seepage test on a rock mass with a single rough joint. Through the numerical seepage test, the relationships among equivalent hydraulic aperture, mean mechanical aperture and JRC is obtained. At the end, the modified cubic law is proposed to simulate the flow law in single rough joint. Theoretical basis is provided for Hydro-Mechanical calculation of fractured rock mass.