Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Simulation of Slurry Diffusion in Fractured Rocks Considering a Time-Varying Viscosity

Lei Zhu^1,2, Bin Liu², Xuewei Liu^2,*, Wei Deng¹, Wenjie Yao¹, Ying Fan¹

1 School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

* Corresponding Author: Xuewei Liu. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Seepage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering)

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2024, 20(2), 401-427. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2023.041444

Received 23 April 2023; Accepted 24 July 2023; Issue published 14 December 2023

Abstract

To analyze the effects of a time-varying viscosity on the penetration length of grouting, in this study cement slurries with varying water-cement ratios have been investigated using the Bingham’s fluid flow equation and a discrete element method. A fluid-solid coupling numerical model has been introduced accordingly, and its accuracy has been validated through comparison of theoretical and numerical solutions. For different fracture forms (a single fracture, a branch fracture, and a fracture network), the influence of the time-varying viscosity on the slurry length range has been investigated, considering the change in the fracture aperture. The results show that under different fracture forms and the same grouting process conditions, the influence of the time-varying viscosity on the seepage length is 0.350 m.

---

Keywords

---