Fractured rocks play a crucial role in countless engineered systems that relate to energy
recovery, water resources, waste injections, and infrastructure designs. This dissertation
investigates coupled physical processes in fractured rocks from the continuum to the pore
scale using novel experimental designs and numerical techniques. The research comprises
three main topics: 1- large-scale geophysical testing of fractured rocks, 2- coupled hydro
chemo-mechanical processes in fractured rocks at the pore and contact scale, and 3- the
development of a novel Finite Element Method wellbore stability numerical tool. The
large-scale testing of rocks includes the design and construction of a large-scale true
triaxial loading frame and the study of long-wavelength propagation in three fractured rock
fabrics under true-triaxial conditions. The pore-scale investigation of coupled hydro
chemo-mechanical processes consists of contact-scale rock deformation in a reactive flow
environment and a pore-scale study of dissolution in real rock microfluidic chips. Finally,
this dissertation details the development of a robust, multiphysics, user-friendly finite
element method software for wellbore stability analysis. The multiphysics models rely on
the fundamental understanding of coupled physical processes in geomaterials.
| Date of Award | May 2020 |
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| Original language | English (US) |
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| Awarding Institution | - Physical Sciences and Engineering
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| Supervisor | J. Carlos Santamarina (Supervisor) |
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