Kareem Aboayanah, a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Giovanni Grasselli, and co-authors were awarded the Best Student Paper award at the International Geomechanics Symposium 2023.
The award was presented at IGS Event 2023 hosted by Aramco in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia in October 2023. Aboayanah gave a presentation on his research to date titled “Investigating Thermal Gradient Cracking and Fracture Process Zone Development in Granitic Rocks“. His PhD research aims to provide deeper understanding of the thermal cracking phenomena in granite. Aboayanah’s paper presents a novel approach using both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to explain the evolution of the thermoelastic stresses in rocks and the mechanisms responsible for the cracking.
The phenomena of granite crack openings and the development of the thermal gradient fracture process zone are still not fully understood. Thus, the methods and approaches currently used for their tracking are not suitable. “Granite is a heterogeneous and complex underground material that undergoes thermoelastic stress due to disturbance of the underground temperature field, caused by high-temperature underground heat storage. When these stresses exceed rocks tensile strength they initiate cracks. I’m using both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to explain the evolution of the thermoelastic stresses in rocks and the mechanisms responsible for the cracking,” comments Aboayanah. His research is a significant step toward reducing uncertainty and risk planning and design of a wide range of developments such as geothermal systems exploration, oil recovery, nuclear waste repositories, etc.