Three dimensional simulation of fluid-driven frictional and tensile ruptures on existing discontinuities

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive 3D hydro-mechanical simulation framework for fluid-driven rupture propagation along existing fractures, integrating frictional slip, tensile failure, permeability changes, and complex fracture interactions.

Contribution

The authors develop an implicit, fully-coupled solver combining boundary element and finite element methods, with advanced preconditioning, to accurately simulate complex fluid-driven fracture processes.

Findings

Validated against analytical solutions for various rupture scenarios.

Demonstrated robustness across different fracture behaviors and configurations.

Captured the interplay of slip, dilatancy, permeability, and tensile opening.

Abstract

We present an implicit, fully-coupled hydro-mechanical solver for the three dimensional simulation of fluid-driven rupture propagation along existing discontinuities. The solver handles simultaneously frictional slip (shear failure) and tensile opening (hydraulic fracture) along arbitrary intersecting fractures and faults in a linearly elastic and impermeable rock matrix. The spatial discretization combines a collocation displacement discontinuity boundary element method for quasi-static elasticity with a Galerkin finite element method for nonlinear pore-fluid diffusion along the discontinuities. Frictional and tensile failure are governed by a poro-elastoplastic cohesive zone like interface law with slip-weakening friction, dilatancy, and tensile strength degradation, integrated via an elastic predictor-plastic corrector scheme. The strong nonlinear coupling between mechanical deformation and fracture permeability is handled via adaptive implicit time-stepping. Efficient block preconditioning of the coupled tangent system, leveraging hierarchical matrix representations of the boundary element operator, is essential to achieve robustness across the full range of fracture behaviors. Accuracy and convergence are demonstrated against a comprehensive suite of analytical and semi-analytical solutions of increasing complexity: fluid-driven frictional ruptures under constant and slip-weakening friction, dilatant ruptures with permeability changes, and penny shaped hydraulic fractures spanning the viscosity-to-toughness transition. The solver is further assessed on two multi-fracture configurations: injection into three intersecting fractures, and a height-confined hydraulic fracture intersecting a strike-slip fault. The proposed framework simultaneously captures frictional slip, dilatancy, permeability evolution, and tensile opening.