BBAuthors: Shigorina, E.; Advisor: -; Participants: Tartakovsky, A.M.; Kordilla, J. (2019)
We study the influence of roughness and injection rate on fluid flow modes and flow velocity. Three types of fractures are considered with different degrees of roughness, including a smooth fracture. Both the rough and smooth fractures exhibit flow instabilities, fingering, and intermittent flow regimes for low infiltration rates. In agreement with theoretical predictions, a flat fluid front is achieved when the flux q supplied to a fracture is larger than the gravitationally driven saturated flux [q > kρg/μcos(φ), where k is the intrinsic permeability of the fracture, ρ is a density, μ is the viscosity, and φ is the fracture inclination angle measured from the vertical direction]. To... 
