Parallel Computing for Analysis on Intersections between Fractures in Rock Masses

Abstract

Fractures dominate the path for fluid flow in fractured rock masses, which is a main concern in groundwater protection, coal mine safety and energy exploitation, e.g., petroleum and geothermal resources. Intersection analysis is one crucial procedure for discrete fracture network modeling as it can provide necessary information for evaluating the connectivity of fractures. This paper is proposed to improve the performance of intersection analysis by means of parallel computing. The algorithm is designed in view of both the computational efficiency and the smooth connection with other procedures in modeling. Numerical study indicates that the proposed parallel algorithm is practical and can significantly reduce the calculation time of intersection analysis under large scale simulations.