Use of synthetic fractures in the analysis of natural fracture apertures

Numerically synthesized models of rough fractures in rocks are promising alternatives to the expensive profilometry process in different applications. The authors present a new powerful and flexible method targeted for the generation of high-quality synthetic fracture models. This method has been implemented in SynFracTM software, developed by authors. Statistical analysis of suites of synthetic fractures has been performed. As result of the analysis, the dependence of the mean fracture aperture on the main parameters of bounding surfaces has been obtained. This technique and the developed software are not restricted to use with rock surfaces, but can be applied for imaging and modelling of any rough surfaces in any material.