TY - JOUR
T1 - Minimum Scanline-to-Fracture Angle and Sample Size Required to Produce a Highly Accurate Estimate of the 3-D Fracture Orientation Distribution
AU - Huang, Lei
AU - Tang, Huiming
AU - Wang, Liangqing
AU - Juang, C. H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/3/8
Y1 - 2019/3/8
N2 - Accurate estimates of the three-dimensional (3-D) rock fracture orientation distribution are crucial for generating a reliable fracture system model. Although an earlier method by Fouché and Diebolt allows one to estimate such distributions from one-dimensional (1-D) samples, this method does not typically produce highly accurate estimates of the 3-D orientation distribution (HAE3DOD). In this study, the minimum scanline-to-fracture angle (minimum θ) and the minimum orientation sample size (minimum n) required to produce HAE3DOD are investigated. Firstly, the factors significantly influencing minimum θ and minimum n are identified, and the influence clarified. For minimum θ, the possible influencing factors include the orientation concentration parameter (к) and n, while for minimum n, the possible influencing factors include к and θ. Fractures from three selected sites in China provide sufficient data for this investigation. The investigation results reveal that minimum θ varies almost linearly with к and n. Moreover, minimum n varies linearly with к and θ. Variations in the minimum θ and minimum n values are strongly associated with discrepancies in sample density resulting from different values of these factors. To ease the estimation of minimum θ and minimum n, empirical relations that take into account the separate factors are proposed for these two variables. A practical example demonstrates that the proposed relations accurately and efficiently estimate minimum θ and minimum n and can provide sampling guidelines (i.e., the intervals of scanline direction and sample size) for producing HAE3DOD. The potential limitations of the proposed relations are also discussed.
AB - Accurate estimates of the three-dimensional (3-D) rock fracture orientation distribution are crucial for generating a reliable fracture system model. Although an earlier method by Fouché and Diebolt allows one to estimate such distributions from one-dimensional (1-D) samples, this method does not typically produce highly accurate estimates of the 3-D orientation distribution (HAE3DOD). In this study, the minimum scanline-to-fracture angle (minimum θ) and the minimum orientation sample size (minimum n) required to produce HAE3DOD are investigated. Firstly, the factors significantly influencing minimum θ and minimum n are identified, and the influence clarified. For minimum θ, the possible influencing factors include the orientation concentration parameter (к) and n, while for minimum n, the possible influencing factors include к and θ. Fractures from three selected sites in China provide sufficient data for this investigation. The investigation results reveal that minimum θ varies almost linearly with к and n. Moreover, minimum n varies linearly with к and θ. Variations in the minimum θ and minimum n values are strongly associated with discrepancies in sample density resulting from different values of these factors. To ease the estimation of minimum θ and minimum n, empirical relations that take into account the separate factors are proposed for these two variables. A practical example demonstrates that the proposed relations accurately and efficiently estimate minimum θ and minimum n and can provide sampling guidelines (i.e., the intervals of scanline direction and sample size) for producing HAE3DOD. The potential limitations of the proposed relations are also discussed.
KW - 3-D orientation distribution
KW - Fouché and Diebolt method
KW - Fracture system
KW - Sampling guideline
KW - Scanline mapping
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055287407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00603-018-1621-z
DO - 10.1007/s00603-018-1621-z
M3 - 期刊論文
AN - SCOPUS:85055287407
SN - 0723-2632
VL - 52
SP - 803
EP - 825
JO - Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
JF - Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
IS - 3
ER -