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On the anisotropy of the aperture correlation and effective transmissivity in fractures generated by sliding between identical self‐affine surfaces
Author(s) -
Mallikamas Wasin,
Rajaram Harihar
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl022859
Subject(s) - anisotropy , hurst exponent , shear (geology) , affine transformation , aperture (computer memory) , physics , perturbation (astronomy) , exponent , mathematical analysis , mechanics , mathematics , optics , geometry , geology , statistics , petrology , linguistics , philosophy , quantum mechanics , acoustics
We present a theoretical analysis of the anisotropy of the aperture correlation and effective transmissivity in fractures generated by sliding/shear between identical self‐affine surfaces. Expressions are derived for the aperture correlation function in different directions, highlighting longer persistence and a larger integral scale normal to the shear than parallel to it. A stochastic perturbation analysis of the Reynolds equation leads to an effective transmissivity tensor with higher transmissivity normal to the shear. The hydraulic anisotropy depends on the coefficient of variation of the aperture field and the Hurst exponent. Numerical simulations are presented to evaluate the above theoretical predictions.