Permeability Evolution of Thermally Cracked Granite with Different Grain Sizes

The permeability of thermally cracked granites is crucial information for understanding and modeling a number of processes in the earth’s crust, such as folding, geothermal activity, magmatic intrusions, and nuclear waste disposal. Factors, including the coefficient of thermal expansion, elastic mod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRock mechanics and rock engineering Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 1953 - 1967
Main Authors Feng, Zi-jun, Zhao, Yang-sheng, Liu, Dong-na
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Vienna Springer Vienna 01.04.2021
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Civil Engineering
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth crust
Earth Sciences
Exponential functions
Geophysics/Geodesy
Grain size
Granite
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Mechanical properties
Minerals
Modulus of elasticity
Original Paper
Particle size
Permeability
Radioactive waste disposal
Radioactive wastes
Room temperature
Temperature
Thermal expansion
Waste disposal
Grain size
Elastic modulus
Permeability
Linear thermal expansion coefficient
Thermal cracking
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Summary:The permeability of thermally cracked granites is crucial information for understanding and modeling a number of processes in the earth’s crust, such as folding, geothermal activity, magmatic intrusions, and nuclear waste disposal. Factors, including the coefficient of thermal expansion, elastic modulus, grain size, and bonding stress, have a significant impact on thermal cracking and induced permeability. We performed thermal cracking experiments on granite with different grain sizes to determine the effect of grain size on permeability. The results indicated that permeability increased with temperature up to 700 °C for all samples. The ratio of permeability at the target temperature to that at room temperature is an exponential function of temperature. Coarse-grained granite has a higher increase in permeability than fine-grained granite. A mathematical model was presented to explain the effect of grain size on thermal cracking and induced permeability. In addition, the model can also quantitatively describe the influence of the linear thermal expansion coefficient and elastic modulus of minerals on thermal cracking.
ISSN:0723-2632
1434-453X
DOI:10.1007/s00603-020-02361-3