The comparison between laboratory-induced and subsurface fractures, and their corresponding flow is still unclear. Here, we examine three natural shear fractures and two induced tensile fractures from the same low-permeability lithology. Using high-resolution synchrotron imaging, we extracted three-dimensional fracture void geometries to analyse aperture distributions, surface roughness, and spatial correlation patterns. We th...

Flow in fractures is sensitive to their geometrical surface characteristics. The surface can undergo deformation if there is a change in stress. Natural fractures have complex geometries and rough surfaces which complicates the modelling of deformation and fluid flow. In this paper, we present a computational model that takes a digital image of a rough fracture surface and provides a stress–permeability relationship. The model...

The Groningen gas field in the Netherlands is experiencing induced seismicity as a result of ongoing depletion. The physical mechanisms that control seismicity have been studied through rock mechanical experiments and combined physical-statistical models to support development of a framework to forecast induced-seismicity risks. To investigate whether machine learning techniques such as Random Forests and Support Vector Machin...