Modelling P-wave transmission across rock fractures by particle manifold method (PMM)

Abstract

In the study of wave attenuation across fractured rock masses different methods are applied to deal with various properties of rock fractures. The particle manifold method (PMM) is a new numerical method for coupled continuum-discontinuum analysis. It simplifies the geometrical operation in the traditional numerical manifold method (NMM) by adopting a unique particle representation of the physical domain. The contact description in the PMM is explicit. In this paper, the PMM is used to model P-wave transmission across rock fractures with different properties. Both continuous and discontinuous models are implemented into the PMM. By comparisons with the theoretical solutions, the PMM is validated for modelling wave transmission across rock fractures treated continuously and discontinuously.

Keywords:

• particle manifold method (PMM)
• wave transmission and attenuation
• rock fracture
• fracture set
• filled fracture

Acknowledgements

PhD work of L. Sun is financially supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and EPFL-LMR. PhD work of J.B. Zhu is supported by the CSC and Swiss National Foundation (200021_116536). G.F. Zhao of the University of New South Wales contributed to the development of PMM.