Study on mechanism of effect of flowing water and transferring heat on rock mass temperature in curved fracture

Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 20;13(1):2973. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29992-0.

Abstract

Domestically and internationally, the effect of fracture flowing water and transferring heat on the temperature field of surrounding rock in high-level radioactive waste repositories is a popular research area. Compared with straight fracture flowing water and transferring heat, there are few relevant literatures about the heat transfer of curved fracture water flow. Based on the conceptive model of flowing water and transferring heat in curved fractured rock mass, the influence of flowing water and transferring heat in "I", "L", , and shaped fractures on the temperature field of rock mass is calculated by using discrete element program. The findings indicate that: When the model goes into a stable state under four working conditions, the rock on the x = 0-2 m mostly forms a heat transfer path from left to right; the x = 2-4 m primarily forms a heat transfer path from bottom to top, and the temperature gradient reveals that the isotherm of 40-45 °C is highly similar to the shape of four different fractures, indicating that flowing water and transferring heat in the fracture configuration dominate the temperature field of the right side rock mass. The direction of the flowing water and transferring heat of the fracture exerts a dominant effect on the temperature of the rock mass than the length.