Sensitivity of the active fracture model parameter to fracture network orientation and injection scenarios

Active fractures refer to the portions of unsaturated, connected fractures that actively conduct water. The active fracture model parameter accounts for the reduction in the number of fractures carrying water and in the fracture–matrix interface area in field-scale simulations of flow and transport in unsaturated fractured rocks. One example includes the numerical analyses of the fault test results at the Yucca Mountain site, Nevada (USA). In such applications, the active fracture model parameter is commonly used as a calibration parameter without relating it to fracture network orientations and infiltration rates. A two-dimensional, multiphase lattice-Boltzmann model was used in this study to investigate the sensitivity of the active fracture model parameter to fracture network orientation and injection scenarios for an unsaturated, variable dipping, and geometrically simple fracture network. The active fracture model parameter differed by as much as 0.11–0.44 when the effects of fracture network orientation, injection rate, and injection mode were included in the simulations. Hence, the numerical results suggest that the sensitivity of the active fracture model parameter to fracture network orientation, injection rates, and injection modes should be explored at the field-scale to strengthen the technical basis and range of applicability of the active fracture model.