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Laboratory Investigation on the Permeability Variation of Fractured Inada Granite by Multiple Transient Axial Stress Disturbances

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Abstract

A persistent increase in the permeability of rock mass caused by transient stress disturbances could explain the variation in groundwater level caused by earthquakes in the far-fields, increase in petroleum production due to artificial vibrations, induction of small earthquakes by seismic waves in intermediate and far-fields, etc. However, the effect of transient stress disturbances on rock permeability has not yet been fully clarified. In this study, the permeability of triaxially fractured Inada granite under multiple transient disturbances in axial stress was measured to clarify the effects of the transient stress disturbances on the fractured rock permeability. In the experiments, the permeability of fractured Inada granite decreased with time. However, the permeability increased with each series of axial stress disturbances whose amplitude was 3 MPa or larger. The degree of increase in permeability increased with the axial stress disturbance amplitudes. The increased permeability decreased with time and the duration in which the permeability decreased to its value before the disturbances was longer for larger axial stress disturbance amplitudes. The increase in permeability could be employed to enhance oil and gas productions, prevent large earthquakes, reroute underground water flow, etc.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) under the AUN/SEED-Net program (J16-10145).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit of Materials Science and Structure, Institute of Technology of Cambodia, Building H, Russian Federation Blvd., P.O. Box 86, Phnom Penh, 12156, Cambodia

    Sophea Boeut

  2. Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13W8, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan

    Yoshiaki Fujii, Jun-Ichi Kodama & Daisuke Fukuda

  3. Department of Earth Resources Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, 10400, Sri Lanka

    Anjula Dassanayake

  4. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka, 1216, Bangladesh

    Badrul A. K. M. Alam

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  1. Sophea Boeut
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  2. Yoshiaki Fujii
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  3. Jun-Ichi Kodama
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  4. Daisuke Fukuda
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  5. Anjula Dassanayake
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  6. Badrul A. K. M. Alam
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Correspondence to Sophea Boeut.

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Boeut, S., Fujii, Y., Kodama, JI. et al. Laboratory Investigation on the Permeability Variation of Fractured Inada Granite by Multiple Transient Axial Stress Disturbances. Pure Appl. Geophys. 177, 5385–5396 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-020-02565-2

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