Analysis of a pumping test in a horizontal fracture

Abstract : The analytical solution has been derived for a constant rate uniform flux pumping test in a single horizontal rectangular fracture. The solution is given for the drawdown at the pumped well and at an observation well inside or outside the fracture. A set of type curves which depend on two dimensionless parameters has been drawn. These type curves give the dimensionless drawdown at the pumped well versus the dimensionless time according to the shape factor of the fracture and the dimensionless aquifer thickness. Another set gives the average drawdown along the vertical at an observation well versus dimensionless time depending on the dimensionless distance and the shape factor. For both the drawdown at the pumped well and at an observation well the solution has also been studied for early times and long times in order to derive approximate solutions which are compared to the well known solutions in isotropic aquifers.