Laboratory and Field Studies of Fracture Flow and Its Extension in Underground Settings

Basic studies of fracture flow, such as the cubic law, were widely cited for over four decades and used in understanding processes in fractured media. We evaluate the fracture flow law implications and its extensions. The understanding of fluid flow through fractured rocks is important for progress in the many existing and proposed engineering projects dedicated to the support of mankind. Moreover, the characterization of this understanding is crucial during the use of the supporting computer modeling—which is becoming evermore ambitious and ubiquitous. The calculations and resultant outputs need to be validated, both in order to ensure appropriate engineering decisions and because there is increasing emphasis on the use of the Earth's resources, their sustainability and more accountability of engineers' decisions. Within this context, there remain many unknowns: how do we establish the geometrical and hydro-geological properties of fractures in a specific rock mass?; how do we establish the link between the hydro-geological fracture properties and other variables such as the in situ stress state?; and how do we validate the results at the full scale? Concurrently with the laboratory and numerical studies of fracture flows, we have made progresses in developing underground research laboratories (URLs) in both hard and soft rocks, in housing large halls for particle detections at great depths, and in testing the energy and resource recovery capacities and the waste disposal potentials through borehole complexes. In addition to existing worldwide networks for radioactive wastes, we initiate comparisons of different underground laboratories and facilities, including also physics laboratories and borehole complexes. The 2011-2012 findings of a Commission for the International Society for Rock Mechanics on URL Networking are summarized. Side drifts of roadway tunnels, dedicated facilities with tunneling and shafting to reach desired depths, and levels in active and recently de-activated mines, are well-established examples of URLs for radioactive assessments and for rare-event detector housings. Many dedicated facilities have boreholes drilled for site characterization. Examples for borehole complexes for energy and environment research and development are included in our comparisons. The fracture flow cubic law and its extensions in fracture media and coupled processes play important roles in our studies at different underground settings.