Dynamic Model of Fracture Normal Behaviour and Application to Prediction of Stress Wave Attenuation Across Fractures

Summary.  The purpose of this paper is to establish a dynamic constitutive model of fracture normal behaviour, based on laboratory tests of artificial fractures cast by cement mortar. A series of tests are systematically carried out under quasi-static (10⁻¹ MPa/s) up to highly dynamic (10³ MPa/s) monotonic loading conditions. The normal stress-fracture closure response is measured at different loading rates. Based on the measured curves, a nonlinear (hyperbolic) dynamic model of fracture normal behaviour, termed as dynamic BB model, is proposed. The dynamic model is modified from the existing BB model of static normal behaviour of fractures by taking into account the loading-rate effect. Two important dynamic parameters of fractures, FSC _d (dynamic fracture stiffness constant, which describes the incremental ratio of dynamic initial stiffness) and FCC _d (dynamic fracture closure constant, which describes the decremental ratio of dynamic maximum allowable closure), are identified. They indicate the quantitative degree of loading-rate effect on fracture normal behaviour subjected to dynamic loads. For practical application, the new model is incorporated into the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) and subsequently, UDEC modelling of normally incident P-wave transmission across single fractures with the dynamic BB model is conducted. Wave transmission coefficient is obtained for various combinations of fracture dynamic parameters, as well as different wave amplitudes and frequencies. The numerical results show that wave transmission coefficient for a fracture with the dynamic BB model is greater than that for a fracture with the static BB model. In addition, a fracture with higher values of FSC _d and FCC _d leads to higher transmission (lower attenuation). Author’s address: J. Zhao, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Rock Mechanics Laboratory, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland     

安棚油田储层裂缝特征及其形成期次分析

安棚油田深层系储层属扇三角洲相沉积,储层岩石的成分成熟度和结构熟度均较低,岩性胶结致密,具有特低孔隙度和特低渗透率特征.储层中天然裂缝较发育,以高角度或垂直裂缝为主,裂缝中常有部分次生方解石充填,该类破裂成组出现.裂缝性质包括张性破裂和剪切破裂,裂缝成因类型是与区域拉张应力有关的区域性裂缝.与局部构造变形作用无关.通过对裂缝充填物——次生方解石进行稳定同位素测定,对储层岩石进行声发射实验,确定了储层岩石的破裂期次,研究得到安棚油田储层的天然破裂期次有4期,第二期是主要的破裂期.分析了影响裂缝发育程度的两个方面因素:一为区域构造应力场强度;二为储层岩石的力学性质及厚度.并建立了储层厚度与裂缝间距的相关方程,该关系式可应用于裂缝预测.     

内蒙古西部额济纳旗及邻区石炭系-二叠系的储集条件——石炭系-二叠系油气地质条件研究之二

通过对研究区石炭系-二叠系碎屑岩沉积相纵向演化与平面展布特征、岩石学特征、成岩作用、孔隙类型的研究,认为研究区石炭系-二叠系碎屑岩砂砾岩的发育程度、成分成熟度、结构成熟度等均受阿拉善古陆和马鬃山-拐子湖中间隆起带2个沉积物源的控制.南部以阿拉善古陆为主要沉积物源,砂砾岩发育,成分成熟度和结构成熟度均较高.由南向北阿拉善古陆作为物源的影响逐渐降低,砂砾岩发育程度逐渐变差,成分成熟度和结构成熟度亦逐渐变差.以粘土矿物及其相对含量、自生矿物特征等为主要依据,对成岩作用阶段进行划分,多数剖面以中成岩A期为主,研究区北部、北山地区和受阿尔金走滑断裂影响的雅干一带,受构造动力变质作用或岩浆热接触变质作用的影响进入中成岩B期.碎屑岩储集层孔隙演化受成岩作用的控制,多数以溶蚀孔(缝)为主,少数具有残余粒间孔,总体来看孔隙发育较差.除碎屑岩储集层外,各类碳酸盐岩、火山岩,以及华力西期风化壳的各类岩石均可能成为重要的储集层类型.     

Implications of principal stress axes and eigenvalue ratios on critical orientation of fractures. Application to two tectonic regions in Alaska

The principal stress axes and eigenvalue ratios of the stress tensors from two active seismic regions in Alaska (eastern Aleutian Arc and eastern Gulf of Alaska) are computed. These results are obtained using focal mechanisms of earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 5.5 to 8.2 and show for both regions slightly different compressional states with an orientation of the pressure axis of N26°W for the eastern Gulf of Alaska and N27°W for the east Aleutian Arc. The eigenvalue ratios for the eastern Gulf of Alaska and east Aleutian Arc are 0.84 and 0.99, respectively. The algorithm used in computations allows us to detect some focal mechanisms which are incoherent with respect to the obtained stress tensors. These incoherences are explained in terms of some tectonic features of the region. The orientations of possible pre-existing fractures which would need an unrealistically high maximum shear stress to start a slip on their fault planes are also investigated. These critical orientations depend on a constitutive frictional law as well as on eigenvalue ratios and eigenvectors of the stress tensors. The orientation, which is given in our case by the angle between the normal vector to a fracture and the regional tensional axis, is approximately 59° for the eastern Aleutian Arc. This angle ranges from 49° to 59° for the eastern Gulf of Alaska. It must be pointed out that fractures which need unrealistically high shear stress to start slip on their fault planes are defined by a very narrow band of possible angles between tensional direction and the normal vector to fault plane.     

Structures and facies associated with the flow of subaerial basaltic lava into a deep freshwater lake: The Sulphur Creek lava flow, North Cascades, Washington

The ca. 8800 ¹⁴C yrs BP Sulphur Creek lava flowed eastward 12 km from the Schriebers Meadow cinder cone into the Baker River valley, on the southeast flank of Mount Baker volcano. The compositionally-zoned basaltic to basaltic andesite lava entered, crossed and partially filled the 2-km-wide and > 100-m-deep early Holocene remnant of Glacial Lake Baker. The valley is now submerged beneath a reservoir, but seasonal drawdown permits study of the distal entrant lava. As a lava volume that may have been as much as 180 × 10⁶ m³ entered the lake, the flow invaded the lacustrine sequence and extended to the opposite (east) side of the drowned Baker River valley. The volume and mobility of the lava can be attributed to a high flux rate, a prolonged eruption, or both. Basalt exposed below the former level of the remnant glacial lake is glassy or microcrystalline and sparsely vesicular, with pervasive hackly or blocky fractures. Together with pseudopillow fractures, these features reflect fracturing normal to penetrative thermal fronts and quenching by water. A fine-grained hyaloclastite facies was probably formed during quench fragmentation or isolated magma-water explosions. Although the structures closely resemble those developed in lava-ice contact environments, establishing the depositional environment for lava exhibiting similar intense fracturing should be confirmed by geologic evidence rather than by internal structure alone. The lava also invaded the lacustrine sequence, forming varieties of peperite, including sills that are conformable within the invaded strata and resemble volcaniclastic breccias. The peperite is generally fragmental and clast- or matrix-supported; fine-grained and rounded fluidal margins occur locally. The lava formed a thickened subaqueous plug that, as the lake drained in the mid-Holocene, was exposed to erosion. The Baker River then cut a 52-m-deep gorge through the shattered, highly erodible basalt.     

Ice-melt collapse pits and associated features in the 1991 lahar deposits of Volcán Hudson,Chile: criteria to distinguish eruption-induced glacier melt

In subaerial volcaniclastic sequences structures formed by ice blocks can provide information about a volcano's history of lahar generation by glacier melt. At Volcán Hudson in Chile, catastrophic lahars were initiated by eruption-induced melting of glacier ice in August and October 1991. They transported large ice blocks 50 km down the Rio de los Huemules valley to the sea. Large current crescents with lee-side lenses were formed where ice blocks were deposited during waning stages of the flood. When stranded blocks of ice melted, they left cone-shaped and ring-shaped heaps of ice-rafted debris on the sediment surface. Several hundred ice blocks were completely buried within the aggrading lahar sediment, and when these melted circular collapse pits formed in the sediment. Collapse types included subsided coherent blocks of sediment bounded by an outward-dipping ring-fracture, trapdoor structures with horseshoe-shaped fractures, downsag pits with centroclinal dips locally up to 60°, pits with peripheral graben and crevasses, piecemeal (highly fragmented) collapse structures and funnel-shaped pits containing disaggregated sediment. A sequence of progressive collapse is inferred in which initial downsag and subsidence on an outward-dipping ring fracture produces a small diameter pit. This is followed by widening of the pit by progressive development of concentric ring fractures and downsag outside the early formed pit, and by collapse of overhanging pit walls to produce vertical to inward-dipping walls and aprons of collapse debris on the pit floor. The various structures have potential for preservation even in regions prone to high rainfall and flooding, and they can be used to indicate that former lahars contained abundant blocks of ice.     

Development of subcracks betweenen echelon fractures in rock plates

Uniaxial compression tests on marble plates containing two prefabricateden echelon fractures were performed in this study. Photographs showing the typical characteristics of subcrack development were taken under direct scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation during the test. From these photographs, the effects of the lengthL of a single fracture, the separation distanced and overlapping proportiona/L between two prefabricateden echelon fractures on the development of subcracks were analyzed. The results show that the interaction betweenen echelon fractures strengthened with decreasingd. FordL, there was little interaction and the development of subcracks near one of theen echelon fractures was unaffected by the existence of the other. Whereas ford, the number of subcracks in the area intermediate betweenen echelon fractures tended to increase with increasinga and decreasingd. In order to ascertain whether the experiment can furnish some implications for research on earthquake prediction and neotectonic activity, the test results were compared with the spatial-temporal development of foreshocks and ground-water anomalies before the 1975 Haicheng earthquake and the structural framework of the Ganzi pull-apart basin. The results of the comparison are encouraging. According to the similarity between the test results in the laboratory and the natural phenomena in the field, the fault on which the Haicheng earthquake would occur, could be inferred immediately from the relative geometry of the two sub-parallel active faults in the area. Thus, it is considered that the test results would advance our understanding of the process of neotectonic activities and give us inspiration for earthquake prediction.     

Mechanisms for ground-surface fracturing and incipient slope failure associated with the 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna, Italy: analysis of ephemeral field data

During the July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna development of extensional fractures/faults and grabens accompanied magma intrusion and subsequent volcanic activity. During the first days of the eruption, we performed an analysis of attitude, displacement and propagation of fractures and faults exposed on the ground surface in two sites, Torre del Filosofo and Valle del Leone, located along the same fracture system in the region surrounding the Valle del Bove depression on the eastern flank of Mt. Etna. Fractures and faults formed as the consequence of a shallow intruding dyke system that fed the several volcanic centres developed along the fracture system. The investigated sites differ in slope attitude and in geometrical relationships between fractures and slopes. In particular, the fracture system propagated parallel to the gentle slope (<7° dip) in the Torre del Filosofo area, and perpendicular to the steep slope (25° dip) in the Valle del Leone area. In the Torre del Filosofo area, slight graben subsidence and horizontal extension of the ground surface by about 3 m were recorded. In the Valle del Leone area, extensional faulting forming a larger and deeper graben with horizontal extension of the ground surface by about 10 m was recorded. For the Valle del Leone area, we assessed a downhill dip of 14° for the graben master fault at the structural level beneath the graben where the fault dip shallows. These results suggest that dyke intrusion at Mount Etna, and particularly in the region surrounding the Valle del Bove depression, may be at the origin of slope failure and subsequent slumps where boundary conditions, i.e. geometry of dyke, slope dip and initial shear stress, amongst others, favour incipient failures.     

探讨基于卷积神经网络对颅底骨折CT图像精准诊断的应用价值

目的：探讨卷积神经网络（CNN）在颅底骨折CT诊断的应用价值。方法：回顾性搜集3 100例颅底骨折患者及2 467例正常患者的颅骨CT图像数据,经纳排标准筛选,最终选用2 488例颅底骨折及1 628例正常患者的颅底CT图像数据。对CT图像进行骨折标注后,随机分配训练集和测试集后。通过CNN构建颅骨区域识别算法模型和颅骨骨折检测算法模型,随后在测试中以颅底骨折区域识别和头颅骨折、颅底骨折对模型进行验证,验证指标为精准率（precision）、召回率（recall）、平均诊断耗时;与人工组（低年资放射科医师）测试进行诊断效能对比。结果：通过CNN运算获得的稳定模型后进行测试对比,结果显示全颅底区域骨折、前、中、后颅底骨折精准度均<0.5,低于人工组（均>0.63）;召回率>0.89,均优于人工组（均<0.8）;平均诊断时间为（3.12±2.67）s,明显少于人工组诊断时间。分别在颅底骨折区域测试中,精准度率：前颅底>中颅底>后颅底,召回率：中颅底>后颅底>前颅底。结论：基于CNN颅底骨折算法模型对于颅脑外伤患者CT诊断颅底骨折在召回率、诊断耗时均优于人工测试结果,在辅助临床诊断、降低漏诊及诊断耗时方面具有一定的价值。     

Scattering of elastic waves in cracked media using a finite difference method

This paper presents a simple, flexible way of introducing stress-free boundary conditions for including cracks and cavities in 2D elastic media by a finite difference method (FDM). The surfaces of cracks and cavities are discretized in a staircase on a rectangular grid scheme. When zero-stress is applied to free surfaces, the resulting finite difference schemes require a set of adjacent fictitious points. These points are classified based on the geometry of the free surface and their displacement is computed as a prior step to later calculation of motion on the crack surface. The use of this extra line of points does not involve a significant drain on computational resources. However, it does provide explicit finite difference schemes and the construction of displacement on the free surfaces by using the correct physical boundary conditions. An accuracy analysis compares the results to an analytical solution. This quantitative analysis uses envelope and phase misfits. It estimates the minimum number of points per wavelength necessary to achieve suitable results. Finally, the method is employed to compute displacement in various models with cavities in the P-SV formulation. The results show suitable construction of the reflected P and S waves from the free surface as well as diffraction produced by these cavities.