Experimental studies on mass transport in groundwater through fracture network using artificial fracture model

A laboratory experiment using artificial fracture rocks was used to understand the 3-dimensional dispersion of a tracer and the mixing process in a fractured network. In this experiment, 12cm polystyrene foam cubes with two electrodes for monitoring electric conductivity (EC) were used as artificial fractured rocks. Distilled water with 0.5mS/m was used as a tracer in water with 35mS/m and the difference of EC between the tracer and the water was monitored by a multipoint simultaneous measurement system of electrical resistance. The results showed that even if the fracture arrangement pattern was not straight in the direction of the flow, the tracer did not diffuse along individual fractures and an oval tracer plume, which was the distribution of tracer concentrations, tended to be form in the direction of the flow. The vertical cross section of the tracer distribution showed small diffusivity in the vertical direction. The calculated total tracer volume passing through each measurement point in the horizontal cross section showed while that the solute passed through measurement points near the direction of hydraulic gradient and in other directions, the passed tracer volumes were small. Using Peclet number as a criterion, it was found that the mass distribution at the fracture intersection was controlled in the stage of transition between the complete mixing model and the streamline routing model.