Optimizing fluid recovery from fractured petroleum reservoirs requires an understanding and knowledge of the hydro-mechanical behavior of potential draining fractures. Using a sampled oil-field fracture, decimeter-sized replicas were produced to be used for testing hydro-mechanical behavior in shear. The object of this study was to show the effect of normal stress (between 2 and 6 MPa) and shear direction on the transmissivity of a fracture that is subjected to low-amplitude (less than 1 mm) tangential displacement. Test results reveal that transmissivity increases more at low applied normal stress and with shear direction parallel to the principal anisotropy direction of the fracture surface. Furthermore, shear changes the preferred directions of flow by favouring a direction perpendicular to the shear direction. During these tests, the flow regimes were controlled and it was shown that the flow changed from turbulent to laminar as tangential displacement increased.
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