Collaborative Research: Development of a Fracture Processes Facility at DUSEL Homestake

合作研究：DUSEL Homestake 开发断裂过程设施

• 批准号: 0919497
• 负责人: Leonid Germanovich
• 金额: $ 18.65万
• 依托单位: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-15 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0919497&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Development; Fracture; Processes

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The proposed research is directed towards the preparation of a Preliminary Design Report for an NSF Major Research Equipment and Facility Construction (MREFC) project: The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the former Homestake mine in South Dakota. Intellectual Merit: This award will create carefully controlled faults at scales of 1-100 meters using thermal techniques to modify in situ stresses to the point where the rock fails in shear. These experiments will extend experiments on fault nucleation and growth to length scales 2-3 orders of magnitude greater than are currently possible in the laboratory. The experiments would be done at depths where the modified in situ stresses are sufficient to drive faulting, obviating the need for large, expensive loading frames. DUSEL Homestake presents an opportunity to conduct a unique experimental program by providing access to locations with vertical stresses as large as 60 MPa (down to 2400 meter depth), more than sufficient to create faults. It also allows facilities at different depths, permitting experiments to be conducted under different stress levels. These proposed experiments require a facility providing access to large rock volumes in the deep subsurface in a controlled setting, and one where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged; all the conditions are met at DUSEL Homestake. The ultimate scientific objective of this research is to substantially elevate understanding of faulting processes in crystalline rock, with particular emphasis on how faults are initiated and grow through intact rock. Another important objective is to observe and characterize the reactivation of a natural, existing fault. Both can be done at Homestake. The experimental suite we propose is motivated by a fundamental need across geosciences to advance the understanding of how rocks fail by fracturing. The experiment responds specifically to ideas in Deep Science, and to guidance and experiments in the DUSEL S1 Technical Report, and it is motivated by the Induced Fracture and Deformation Processes Laboratory in EarthLab.Broader Impacts: Other experiments outside the field of rock mechanics will benefit from, and can accompany, the proposed experiments. The experiments will address formation of shear fractures in previously intact rock, slip on pre-existing joints, fault gouge formation, the influence of fault gouge on fault reactivation, and the evolution of fault permeability. It will further understanding of hydraulic fracturing, how fracture energy and rock strength scale with size, and how microbial systems exploit fractures. The results of the research will have direct applications for the production of geothermal energy and hydrocarbons, as well as the storage of waste and environmental remediation in the subsurface. Since the research is so highly cross-disciplinary, it will provide a rich environment for fostering new ideas among existing and future generations of scientists and engineers.

该奖项由 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）资助。拟议的研究旨在为 NSF 主要研究设备和设施建设 (MREFC) 项目准备初步设计报告：The Deep位于南达科他州前 Homestake 矿的地下科学与工程实验室 (DUSEL)。智力优势：该奖项将使用热技术来创建 1-100 米规模的精心控制的断层，以将地应力修改到岩石剪切失效的程度。这些实验将把断层成核和生长实验的长度尺度扩大到比目前实验室所能达到的长度尺度大2-3个数量级。实验将在修改后的地应力足以驱动断层的深度进行，从而无需大型且昂贵的加载框架。 DUSEL Homestake 提供了一个进行独特实验计划的机会，通过提供垂直应力高达 60 MPa（深达 2400 米深度）的位置，足以产生断层。它还允许在不同深度设置设施，从而允许在不同压力水平下进行实验。这些拟议的实验需要一种设施，能够在受控环境下接触地下深处的大量岩石，并且鼓励跨学科合作； DUSEL Homestake 满足所有条件。这项研究的最终科学目标是大幅提高对结晶岩石断层过程的理解，特别强调断层如何在完整岩石中引发和生长。另一个重要目标是观察和表征自然存在的断层的重新活动。两者都可以在 Homestake 完成。我们提出的实验套件的动机是整个地球科学的基本需求，以增进对岩石如何因破裂而失效的理解。该实验专门响应了《深度科学》中的想法以及 DUSEL S1 技术报告中的指导和实验，并受到 EarthLab 诱导断裂和变形过程实验室的推动。更广泛的影响：岩石力学领域之外的其他实验将受益来自并可以伴随所提议的实验。这些实验将解决先前完整岩石中剪切裂缝的形成、预先存在的节理上的滑移、断层泥的形成、断层泥对断层重新活动的影响以及断层渗透性的演变。它将进一步了解水力压裂、断裂能和岩石强度如何随尺寸变化，以及微生物系统如何利用裂缝。研究结果将直接应用于地热能和碳氢化合物的生产，以及地下废物的储存和环境修复。由于这项研究具有高度跨学科性，它将为现有和未来几代科学家和工程师培育新思想提供丰富的环境。