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Discrete fracture network model benchmarks developed and applied in a DECOVALEX-2023 repository performance assessment study
Sandia Natl Labs, POB 5800 MS 1193, Albuquerque, NM 87185 USA..
Sandia Natl Labs, POB 5800 MS 1193, Albuquerque, NM 87185 USA..
Sandia Natl Labs, POB 5800 MS 1193, Albuquerque, NM 87185 USA..
Los Alamos Natl Lab, POB 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA..
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2025 (English)In: Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, ISSN 2352-3808, Vol. 41, article id 100647Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study presents newly developed benchmarks for modeling flow and transport within discrete fracture networks (DFNs) and useful methods for analyzing the results. The new benchmarks are designed to test modeling approaches for use in probabilistic performance assessment models of deep geologic repositories in fractured rock. The benchmarks simulate flow and transport through a 1 km3 block of fractured rock. The first simulates migration of a short pulse of tracer through a simple network of four intersecting fractures. The second adds 1089 stochastically generated fractures. The third changes the pulse to a continuous point source. Evaluation of model performance relies on moment analysis and comparison of the results of different models. The expected nondimensional first moment of the conservative tracer for each benchmark is 1. The benchmarks were simulated by teams from Canada, Czechia, Germany, Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States as part of a DECOVALEX-2023 study (decovalex.org). The teams used various approaches, including explicit DFN modeling, DFN upscaling to an equivalent continuous porous medium (ECPM), and a combination of both methods. Transport mechanisms are modeled using either the advection-dispersion equation or particle tracking. Results demonstrate strong agreement among the models in breakthrough behavior up to the 75th percentile. Significant deviations in first moments and well-clustered outputs led to the identification of inaccuracies in several models. Such findings exemplify the benefit of exercising these benchmarks and using the presented methods to test DFN flow and transport models.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025. Vol. 41, article id 100647
Keywords [en]
Discrete fracture network, Benchmark, Fracture flow, Solute transport, Equivalent continuous porous media, Moment analysis
National Category
Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-552091DOI: 10.1016/j.gete.2025.100647ISI: 001429285200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85217964587OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-552091DiVA, id: diva2:1943955
Available from: 2025-03-12 Created: 2025-03-12 Last updated: 2025-03-12Bibliographically approved

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Osuji, Nicholas I.Niemi, Auli
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