Fracture characterization and permeability prediction by pore scale variables extracted from X-ray CT images of porous geomaterials

Pore scale variables (e.g., porosity, grain size) are important indexes to predict the hydraulic properties of porous geomaterials. X-ray images from ten types of intact sandstones and another type of sandstone samples subjected to triaxial compression are used to investigate the permeability and fracture characteristics. A novel double threshold segmentation algorithm is proposed to segment cracks, pores and grains, and pore scale variables are defined and extracted from these X-ray CT images to study the geometric characteristics of microstructures of porous geomaterials. Moreover, novel relations among these pore scale variables for permeability prediction are established, and the evolution process of cracks is investigated. The results indicate that the pore-scale permeability is prominently improved by cracks. In addition, excellent agreements are found between the measured and the estimated pore scale variables and permeability. The established correlations can be employed to effectively identify the hydraulic properties of porous geomaterials.