Articles | Volume 12, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2159-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2159-2021
Research article
 | 
30 Sep 2021
Research article |  | 30 Sep 2021

Investigating spatial heterogeneity within fracture networks using hierarchical clustering and graph distance metrics

Rahul Prabhakaran, Giovanni Bertotti, Janos Urai, and David Smeulders

Data sets

Data Supplement: Fracture Subgraphs from the Lilstock Pavement, Bristol Channel, UK Rahul Prabhakaran, Giovanni Bertotti, Janos L Urai, David Smeulders https://doi.org/10.4121/14039234

Model code and software

rahulprabhakaran/Fracture_Fingerprint Rahul Prabhakaran https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4699961

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Short summary
Rock fractures are organized as networks with spatially varying arrangements. Due to networks' influence on bulk rock behaviour, it is important to quantify network spatial variation. We utilize an approach where fracture networks are treated as spatial graphs. By combining graph similarity measures with clustering techniques, spatial clusters within large-scale fracture networks are identified and organized hierarchically. The method is validated on a dataset with nearly 300 000 fractures.