Influence of Fracture Roughness on Aperture Fracture Surface and in Fluid Flow on Coarse-Grained Marble, Experimental Results

Wetting fluid flow through rock discontinuities influence a great number of project among others: dam construction, underground projects, CO2 storage in underground schemes, geological dispos-al of radioactive wastes; Hydrocarbon storage caverns. Flow through fractures is considered to be laminar due to small aperture of the fracture walls and slow velocity. The fluid model called “Cubic law ” describes the flow assuming parallel infinite plates. However, natural discontinuities on rock have roughness. In this experimental study an induced fracture on a sample of medium-grained marble was used, to determine the influence of roughness in water flow. This study is a prelimi-nary part of research funding program for flow of CO2 through rocks (AUTH-GEOMechanics an