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Solutions for radial flow of a Bingham fluid are analyzed in this paper. It aims to eliminate confusions in the literature concerning the plug flow region in different solutions for analysis and design of grouting in rock fractures. The analyses based on the force balance equation reveal that the plug flow region in Bingham radial flow is independent of the fracture radius, and is not a growth function adapted from the solution of one-dimensional (1D) slit flow according to ‘similarity’. Based on the shear stress distribution, we analytically proposed that a non-uniform plug flow region cannot exist. The Bingham fluid (grout) penetration and flowrate evolution as functions of grouting time are given using the correct expression for the plug flow region. The radius-independent plug flow region and the presented flowrate evolution equation are also verified numerically. For radial flow, the relative penetration length is equal to the relative width of plug flow region, which is the same as that for 1D channel flow. Discrepancies in analytical solutions for grout penetration and flowrate evolution were also illustrated. The clarification of the plug flow region and evaluation of discrepancies in analytical solutions presented in this work could simplify modeling and design of grouting in rock engineering applications.

The impact of normal stress-induced closure on fluid flow and solute transport in a single rock fracture is demonstrated in this study. The fracture is created from a measured surface of a granite rock sample. The Bandis model is used to calculate the fracture closure due to normal stress, and the fluid flow is simulated by solving the Reynold equation. The Lagrangian particle tracking method is applied to modeling the advective transport in the fracture. The results show that the normal stress significantly affects fluid flow and solute transport in rock fractures. It causes fracture closure and creates asperity contact areas, which significantly reduces the effective hydraulic aperture and enhances flow channeling. Consequently, the reduced aperture and enhanced channeling affect travel time distributions. In particular, the enhanced channeling results in enhanced first arriving and tailing behaviors for solute transport. The fracture normal stiffness correlates linearly with the 5th and 95th percentiles of the normalized travel time. The finding from this study may help to better understand the stress-dependent solute transport processes in natural rock fractures.

Analysis of rock fracture deformation by normal stress is important for quantifying hydromechanical properties of fractured rocks that are related to a large number of geophysical problems and geoengineering applications. Experimental and numerical results for the closure of crystalline rock fractures subject to normal stress are presented in this study. An efficient high-resolution, half-space elastic–plastic contact model for analyzing the closure of crystalline rock fractures based on the Boussinesq’s solution is validated by high-precision and high-resolution experimental data. Using the validated elastic–plastic model, we investigate the correlation between fracture-specific stiffness and multi-scale surface roughness. The wavelet analysis method and the extended averaged slope magnitude for asperity heights (referred to as $$ Z_{2}^{{3{\text{D}}}} $$) are introduced to characterize the multi-scale surface roughness. The results show that the elastic–plastic contact model is effective and precise in modeling the closure of crystalline rock fractures, which matches better with the test results than the elastic model. The multi-scale features of surface roughness can be well characterized by the wavelet analysis and the extended roughness parameter $$ Z_{2}^{{3{\text{D}}}} $$. The specific stiffness is nonlinearly correlated with the multi-scale surface roughness that possibly follows a power law. The validated elastic–plastic contact model and the multi-scale surface roughness characterization methods, as well as the nonlinear correlation between the specific stiffness and the multi-scale surface roughness presented in this study, are helpful for evaluating the dependence of mechanical behaviors of rock fractures on its multi-scale surface roughness.

Recently, Hoang et al. (2021) discussed our paper Zou et al. (2020). In our paper, we made a statement that Dai and Bird (1981)'s solution for two-dimensional (2D) radial Bingham fluid flow between parallel plates violates mass balance. Hoang et al. pointed out that Dai and Bird (1981)'s solution does not violate the mass balance because Dai and Bird (1981)'s solution and our analysis are based on different assumptions, i.e. with consideration of the vertical velocity component in the continuity equation or not, which leads to two different approximation models. In this sense, the mass balance of Dai and Bird (1981)'s solution should not be checked using our solution as a reference. In this reply, we add remarks on the two approximation models and their implication for rock grouting analysis. The discussion by Hoang et al. and this reply are helpful to thoroughly eliminate the existing confusion regarding the two solutions in the rock grouting research community.

Anti-slide pile is one of the most frequently used measures in landslide control globally. Pile-spacing has always been determined by the load capacity of single piles or according to engineering empirical experience. Many engineering practices and laboratory experiments show that the soil arching effect exists in landslide control with anti-slide piles. In this study, we aim to calculate pile-spacing in terms of the soil arching effect. We investigated the pile-soil interaction mechanism and propose that, at the limit, the pile-back soil arch resists landslide thrust only. According to Mohr–Coulomb strength theory and limit equilibrium theories, we derived a new pile-spacing calculation equation. We verified the derived pile-spacing calculation equation with real projects. The calculated results are similar to those of practical engineering designs, in which the difference is within 10%. The equation can be used in anti-slide pile preliminary design. This study can be a reference for pile-spacing calculation based on the soil arching effect.

Modeling of cement grout flow in rock fractures is important for the design, monitoring and execution of rock grouting that is widely used in a variety of rock engineering applications. This study presents a mathematical model based on the Reynolds flow equation for cement grout flow in a homogeneous water-saturated rock fracture. The model is based on two-phase flow, i.e. grout as a Bingham fluid and groundwater as a Newtonian fluid, and is used for investigating the importance of the water phase in rock grouting. The modeling results for the two-phase flow generally show the importance of the water phase that can significantly affect the pressure distribution and grout penetration in the fracture, especially under the condition of grout hardening. Such effects depend on the viscosity ratio between the grout and groundwater, which becomes increasingly important for cases with smaller values of the viscosity ratio. The grout density also affects the grout penetration length. Applying an analytical solution based on single-phase flow, i.e. neglecting the impact of groundwater flow, for modeling grout injection, will generally overestimate the penetration length.

Nonlinear flow in 3D rough-walled rock fractures is simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The emphasis is on the impact of shear-caused aperture changes (variable apertures and asperity contacts) and flow conditions (inertial term) upon nonlinear flow behavior. In order to compare shear effects, two 3D fracture models, with and without shear, were established with identical initial rough-walled surfaces topographies of a realistic rock sample. Five groups of simulations with different inflow boundary conditions of flowrates/Reynolds numbers ( Re ) were conducted to demonstrate shear-enhanced nonlinearity of flow fields and limitations of local cubic law (LCL) approach. The flow results clearly show channeling flow along the preferential paths, transverse flow around the contact spots, and eddy flows behind contact spots with increasing Re , which cannot be observed in 2D models. The effective transmissivity of the 3D fracture model was calculated from the modeling results of velocity and pressure fields. The results showed that the effective transmissivity is a function of local apertures with important uncertainties even when Re is small (i.e. Re = 0.4 in this study), thus the validity of the transmissivity evaluation using LCL approach for nonlinear flow in 3D rough-walled rock fractures is questionable.

This study presents analytical solutions for single-phase radial flow of yield-power-law fluids between homogeneous fractures (smooth parallel plates), which covers the special cases of yield-power-law fluids, i.e., Herschel-Bulkley, Bingham and power-law fluids, as well as Newtonian fluids. The analytical solution for radial flow of Herschel-Bulkley fluids is given for the first time. A formula for the plug flow region created by the yield stress is deduced, showing that this is constant and independent of the radius for radial flow of yield-stress fluids, which is also verified by numerical simulations. For modeling of the rock grouting process where the yield-power-law grouts are injected into water-saturated fractures, we also established a general mathematical model for the two-phase (one yield-power-law grout and one Newtonian fluid) radial flow in homogeneous fractures using the Reynolds equation based on the derived analytical solutions for single-phase radial flow of yield-power-law grouts. By solving the two-phase radial flow problem, the evolution of pressure distribution and grout propagation length is illustrated. The results generally show the high sensitivity of the rheological parameters and the potentially important impact of water flow and time-dependent rheological properties on the radial propagation of yield power-law grouts.

Cement grouting is widely applied in rock tunneling and underground construction to reduce groundwater inflow and increase the tightness of rock masses. The rock grouting process involves complex non-Newtonian grouts propagation in fracture networks. In this study, a two-phase flow model extended for yield-power-law fluid (e.g., cement grout) propagation in water-saturated fracture networks is presented. The effective transmissivity is scaled from analytical solutions for single-phase yield-power-law fluids flow between a pair of smooth parallel plates. This extended two-phase flow model for fracture networks is verified based on a unique set of experimental data. The full experiment dataset is presented in this work for the first time. Impacts of rheological parameters and time-dependent rheological properties of injected yield-power-law fluids on propagation processes are investigated through numerical simulations. A measure referred to as the propagation volume fraction is defined as an indicator of the propagation process. The results generally show that the rheological properties significantly affect the evolution of the propagation volume fraction. The propagation rate reduces with increased yield stress, consistency index and flow index. The two-phase flow of yield-power-law fluid propagation in a heterogeneous fracture network is also simulated, showing that the heterogeneity of fracture apertures may significantly affect the propagation process. For the heterogeneous case, with two-point distribution of apertures, the propagation volume fraction can be represented by using the harmonic mean aperture. Since the yield-power-law constitutive model covers a wide range of non-Newtonian fluids, the results presented in this work can be used for studying non-Newtonian fluid propagation in a variety of homogeneous or heterogeneous fracture networks, which can be used for rock grouting design.