Does fracture conductivity recover after unloading?

Abstract

Returning a fracture to its initial effective stress need not return it to its initial conductivity. This note separates conductivity retention under load from recovery after unloading and proposes two complementary hysteresis metrics. A synthetic cycle demonstrates that a large rebound from the most compressed state can coexist with substantial permanent loss. The framework is intended to improve cyclic-test reporting and to prevent an unloading curve from being interpreted as evidence that the original fracture geometry has been restored.