FRICTION AND PERMEABILITY EVOLUTION OF FRACUTRES AND FAULTS DURING STATIC REPOSE AND DYNAMIC REACTIVATION

Im, Kyungjae

FRICTION AND PERMEABILITY EVOLUTION OF FRACUTRES AND FAULTS DURING STATIC REPOSE AND DYNAMIC REACTIVATION

Open Access

Author:: Im, Kyungjae
Graduate Program:: Energy and Mineral Engineering
Degree:: Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:: Dissertation
Date of Defense:: January 09, 2019
Committee Members:: Derek Elsworth, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Derek Elsworth, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Chris Marone, Committee Member
Demian Saffer, Committee Member
Shimin Liu, Outside Member
Keywords:: Fault permeability
Fault Friction
Rate and State Friction
Fault Reactivation
Abstract:: The co-evolution of fault/fracture friction and permeability represent important science/engineering challenges impacting natural and engineered systems. Friction directly controls the characteristics of natural fault slip, including inter-seismic healing, slow creep and earthquake rupture. Permeability evolution during fault slip and repose illuminates our understanding of perturbations to the earthquake-modulated natural hydraulic system and of subsurface engineering in recovering both shale gas and geothermal energy and in the safe subsurface sequestration of CO2. However, mechanisms controlling the evolution of friction and permeability during slow slip, fast rupture and inter-event repose are not clearly understood. For instance, the evolution of stick-slip amplitudes and recurrence, the role of inertia and its influence on frictional stability and the interdependence of these processes remain unclear. Furthermore, mechanisms of permeability evolution during the earthquake cycle (repose through rupture) are also poorly understood since they are influenced in a complex way by chemo-mechanical effects such as elastic/plastic compaction, shear comminution, mechanical dilation, pressure solution and stress corrosion. In this study, we explore fracture friction and permeability evolution during static and dynamic reactivation using both numerical and experimental approaches. This is described in the four chapters of this dissertation.

Tools