An integrated numerical model for coupled poro-hydro-mechanics and fracture propagation using embedded meshes

TL;DR

This paper presents an advanced numerical model integrating poro-hydro-mechanical processes with fracture propagation using embedded meshes, enabling accurate simulation of fluid-driven fractures in porous media for engineering applications.

Contribution

It extends existing coupled models to include fracture propagation with an embedded mesh scheme and adaptive time-stepping, improving simulation accuracy and efficiency.

Findings

Successfully verifies the model with analytical solutions.

Capable of simulating multiple fracture propagation accurately.

Demonstrates adaptive co-simulation of fluid flow, deformation, and fractures.

Abstract

Integrated models for fluid-driven fracture propagation and general multiphase flow in porous media are valuable to the study and engineering of several systems, including hydraulic fracturing, underground disposal of waste, and geohazard mitigation across such applications. This work extends the coupled model multiphase flow and poromechanical model of \cite{ren2018embedded} to admit fracture propagation (FP). The coupled XFEM-EDFM scheme utilizes a separate fracture mesh that is embedded on a static background mesh. The onset and dynamics of fracture propagation (FP) are governed by the equivalent stress intensity factor (SIF) criterion. A domain-integral method (J integral) is applied to compute this information. An adaptive time-marching scheme is proposed to rapidly restrict and grow temporal resolution to match the underlying time-scales. The proposed model is verified with analytical solutions, and shows the capability to accurately and adaptively co-simulate fluid transport and deformation as well as the propagation of multiple fractures.