Percolation conditions in fractured hard rocks: A numerical approach using the three-dimensional binary fractal fracture network (3D-BFFN) model

[1] We numerically investigate fracture connectivity and percolation conditions in fractured hard rocks using a three-dimensional binary fractal fracture network (3D-BFFN) model based on three fractal geometric parameters: the fractal dimensions (D2) of the spatial distribution of fractures, the exponent of the power-law cumulative fracture length distribution (a), and the maximum fracture length (lmax) normalized by the domain length (L), lmax/L. Numerical results clarify that the percolation threshold in 3D-BFFN models is strongly controlled by fractal geometric parameters and is independent of any anisotropy in the orientations Θ. In addition, when a 0.55 are percolated domains. The zone of percolation within seismogenic fracture networks between MI and KI reveals that the networks formed from seismic-swarm-related seismogenic fractures over a 7-week period related to the intrusion of a dyke, inferred previously from seismicity and deformation data.

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