A DISCRETE FRACTURE NETWORK GENERATION AND ANALYSIS LIBRARY FOR USE IN
CAD SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS
Abstract
Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) modelling and simulation is an active
area of research in earth science due to the inability to observe
detailed 3D structure of the subsurface fracture network. There are few
software packages available for DFN modelling and simulation. However,
they are mostly complex to use, commercial, and closed sourced. Thereby,
precluding any form of adaptability by researchers to functionalities
not included in these packages. This work introduces an easy to use,
open source library, Y-Frac, for DFN modelling and analysis. Y-Frac is
built upon the python APIs available on Rhinoceros 6. Hence, Y-Frac is
fit for use on Rhinoceros software package. Y-Frac can model fracture
networks containing circular, elliptical and regular polygonal
fractures. This library is computationally cheap for DFN modelling and
analysis. Some of the functionalities of this library for DFN analysis
include fracture intersection analysis, cut-plane analysis, and
percolation analysis. Algorithms for constructing an intersection matrix
and determining percolation state of a fracture network are also
included in this work. The output text file from this library containing
modelled fracture networks’ parameters can serve as input for
appropriate software packages to simulate flow and perform mechanical
analysis in fracture networks. The practical applicability of Y-Frac was
demonstrated by performing percolation threshold analysis of 3D fracture
networks and comparing the results to published data.