{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/144642"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/144642","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Experimental Investigations on Flow and Mass Transport in Stressed Rough Fractures","abstract":"The study of flow and transport in rough, fractured media is essential in the development of new energy technologies including enhanced geothermal systems, EGS, and CO2 sequestration. This is a complex problem, mostly due to the number of interacting physical processes in the fractured environment. In this thesis I introduce a novel pressure-controlled Hele-Shaw cell to investigate different physical processes in rough fractures using 3D-printed rock analogs. This system can measure high-resolution fracture aperture and tracer concentration maps under relevant field stress conditions. Using a series of hydraulic and visual measurements, combined with numerical simulations, I investigate the evolving fracture geometry characteristics, pressure-dependent hydraulic transmissivity, and the nature of mass transport as a function of normal stress. The experimental results show that as the fracture closes and deforms under increasing normal loading: (1) the contact areas grow in number and size; (2) the flow paths become more focused and tortuous; and (3) the transport dynamics of conservative tracers evolve towards a higher dispersive regime. Moreover, under the applied experimental conditions, I observed excellent agreement between the simulated- and the experimentally measured- hydraulic behavior.","abstract_html":"The study of flow and transport in rough, fractured media is essential in the development of new energy technologies including enhanced geothermal systems, EGS, and CO2 sequestration. This is a complex problem, mostly due to the number of interacting physical processes in the fractured environment. In this thesis I introduce a novel pressure-controlled Hele-Shaw cell to investigate different physical processes in rough fractures using 3D-printed rock analogs. This system can measure high-resolution fracture aperture and tracer concentration maps under relevant field stress conditions. Using a series of hydraulic and visual measurements, combined with numerical simulations, I investigate the evolving fracture geometry characteristics, pressure-dependent hydraulic transmissivity, and the nature of mass transport as a function of normal stress. The experimental results show that as the fracture closes and deforms under increasing normal loading: (1) the contact areas grow in number and size; (2) the flow paths become more focused and tortuous; and (3) the transport dynamics of conservative tracers evolve towards a higher dispersive regime. Moreover, under the applied experimental conditions, I observed excellent agreement between the simulated- and the experimentally measured- hydraulic behavior.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Villamor Lora, Rafael"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Doctoral","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Einstein, Herbert H."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05","date_published":"2022-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:37Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/144642","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Einstein, Herbert H."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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This is a complex problem, mostly due to the number of interacting physical processes in the fractured environment. In this thesis I introduce a novel pressure-controlled Hele-Shaw cell to investigate different physical processes in rough fractures using 3D-printed rock analogs. This system can measure high-resolution fracture aperture and tracer concentration maps under relevant field stress conditions. Using a series of hydraulic and visual measurements, combined with numerical simulations, I investigate the evolving fracture geometry characteristics, pressure-dependent hydraulic transmissivity, and the nature of mass transport as a function of normal stress. The experimental results show that as the fracture closes and deforms under increasing normal loading: (1) the contact areas grow in number and size; (2) the flow paths become more focused and tortuous; and (3) the transport dynamics of conservative tracers evolve towards a higher dispersive regime. Moreover, under the applied experimental conditions, I observed excellent agreement between the simulated- and the experimentally measured- hydraulic behavior."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Experimental Investigations on Flow and Mass Transport in Stressed Rough Fractures"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Einstein, Herbert H."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Villamor Lora, Rafael"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-08-29T16:01:43Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-08-29T16:01:43Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["The study of flow and transport in rough, fractured media is essential in the development of new energy technologies including enhanced geothermal systems, EGS, and CO2 sequestration. This is a complex problem, mostly due to the number of interacting physical processes in the fractured environment. In this thesis I introduce a novel pressure-controlled Hele-Shaw cell to investigate different physical processes in rough fractures using 3D-printed rock analogs. This system can measure high-resolution fracture aperture and tracer concentration maps under relevant field stress conditions. Using a series of hydraulic and visual measurements, combined with numerical simulations, I investigate the evolving fracture geometry characteristics, pressure-dependent hydraulic transmissivity, and the nature of mass transport as a function of normal stress. The experimental results show that as the fracture closes and deforms under increasing normal loading: (1) the contact areas grow in number and size; (2) the flow paths become more focused and tortuous; and (3) the transport dynamics of conservative tracers evolve towards a higher dispersive regime. Moreover, under the applied experimental conditions, I observed excellent agreement between the simulated- and the experimentally measured- hydraulic behavior."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/144642"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Experimental Investigations on Flow and Mass Transport in Stressed Rough Fractures"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctoral","Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:37Z"}