Discrete fracture model for coupled flow and geomechanics

Garipov, Timur; Karimi-Fard, Mohammad; Tchelepi, Hamdi A.

doi:10.1007/s10596-015-9554-z

Cited by 185 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In addition, this work studied 2‐D fracture system, and there could be important 3‐D effects. While several studies have investigated fluid flow in stressed 3‐D fracture networks (Garipov et al, ; Lei et al, ; McClure et al, ), the effects of geological stress on tracer transport through 3‐D fracture networks remain to be investigated. A recent study has shown that the Bernoulli CTRW model can capture particle transport through 3‐D fracture networks (Hyman et al, ), and the natural extension of this study will be the effects of geological stress on particle transport through stressed 3‐D fracture networks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress‐Induced Anomalous Transport in Natural Fracture Networks

Kang

Lei

Dentz

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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We investigate the effects of geological stress on fluid flow and tracer transport in natural fracture networks. We show the emergence of non‐Fickian (anomalous) transport from the interplay among fracture network geometry, aperture heterogeneity, and geological stress. In this study, we extract the fracture network geometry from the geological map of an actual rock outcrop, and we simulate the geomechanical behavior of fractured rock using a hybrid finite‐discrete element method. We analyze the impact of stress on the aperture distribution, fluid flow field, and tracer transport properties. Both stress magnitude and orientation have strong effects on the fracture aperture field, which in turn affects fluid flow and tracer transport through the system. We observe that stress anisotropy may cause significant shear dilation along long, curved fractures that are preferentially oriented to the stress loading. This, in turn, induces preferential flow paths and anomalous early arrival of tracers. An increase in stress magnitude enhances aperture heterogeneity by introducing more small apertures, which exacerbates late‐time tailing. This effect is stronger when there is higher heterogeneity in the initial aperture field. To honor the flow field with strong preferential flow paths, we extend the Bernoulli Continuous Time Random Walk model to incorporate dual velocity correlation length scales. The proposed upscaled transport model captures anomalous transport through stressed fracture networks and agrees quantitatively with the high‐fidelity numerical simulations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress‐Induced Anomalous Transport in Natural Fracture Networks

Kang

Lei

Dentz

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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“…Here Λ 0 x À Á can be calculated based on the initial matrix-fracture configuration (see Appendix A.3 and equation (A4)). Furthermore, for the fluid problem, it is common to consider a fracture as a full empty space (e.g., Garipov et al, 2016;Mustapha, 2014), which is consistent with the fracture hydraulic representation in section 2.1. In Ω, this reads…”

Section: Consulting Equation (4) and Lettingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Fully Coupled Nonlinear Fluid Flow and Poroelasticity in Arbitrarily Fractured Porous Media: A Hybrid‐Dimensional Computational Model

Jin

Zoback

2017

JGR Solid Earth

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We formulate the problem of fully coupled transient fluid flow and quasi‐static poroelasticity in arbitrarily fractured, deformable porous media saturated with a single‐phase compressible fluid. The fractures we consider are hydraulically highly conductive, allowing discontinuous fluid flux across them; mechanically, they act as finite‐thickness shear deformation zones prior to failure (i.e., nonslipping and nonpropagating), leading to “apparent discontinuity” in strain and stress across them. Local nonlinearity arising from pressure‐dependent permeability of fractures is also included. Taking advantage of typically high aspect ratio of a fracture, we do not resolve transversal variations and instead assume uniform flow velocity and simple shear strain within each fracture, rendering the coupled problem numerically more tractable. Fractures are discretized as lower dimensional zero‐thickness elements tangentially conforming to unstructured matrix elements. A hybrid‐dimensional, equal‐low‐order, two‐field mixed finite element method is developed, which is free from stability issues for a drained coupled system. The fully implicit backward Euler scheme is employed for advancing the fully coupled solution in time, and the Newton‐Raphson scheme is implemented for linearization. We show that the fully discretized system retains a canonical form of a fracture‐free poromechanical problem; the effect of fractures is translated to the modification of some existing terms as well as the addition of several terms to the capacity, conductivity, and stiffness matrices therefore allowing the development of independent subroutines for treating fractures within a standard computational framework. Our computational model provides more realistic inputs for some fracture‐dominated poromechanical problems like fluid‐induced seismicity.

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“…The slug method is the most common method for testing the permeability and fracture development characteristics of overlying strata, especially for saturated coal seams 4,5 . 11,12 This type of model has been well developed in recent years. 6 Field measurements have many advantages and are the best way to obtain accurate information about an actual field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The discrete element model explicitly simulates the deformation and flow in rock masses, and can easily depict flow anisotropy and heterogeneity owing to the random distribution of fractures and their hydraulic apertures. 11,12 This type of model has been well developed in recent years. The basic assumptions are that the rock matrix is impermeable and linearly elastic, and that the fluid only flows through fractures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A fluid‐solid coupling method for the simulation of gas transport in porous coal and rock media

Zhang

Liu

Zhao

et al. 2019

Energy Science & Engineering

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Understanding coal and rock permeability, and the corresponding influence on stress, is important in the field of energy development. In applied engineering, there is a tendency to employ three‐dimensional methods that are simpler, less time‐ and cost‐expensive, less computationally expensive, and larger scale. Thus, a numerical simulation fluid‐solid coupling method is proposed in this paper. The proposed numerical simulation method utilizes the stress‐permeability test results for elastic and plastic coal samples. The permeability models of the elastic and plastic coal samples under loading and unloading were obtained by fitting the experimental results and embedded them into FLAC3D software by using FISH language. The results of the uniaxial and triaxial flow simulations are consistent with the experimental results, thereby confirming the accuracy and feasibility of the numerical method proposed in this paper. This allows the permeability of the numerical reservoir model to be continuously updated according to the current stress level in the production process.

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Discrete fracture model for coupled flow and geomechanics

Cited by 185 publications

References 58 publications

Stress‐Induced Anomalous Transport in Natural Fracture Networks

Stress‐Induced Anomalous Transport in Natural Fracture Networks

Fully Coupled Nonlinear Fluid Flow and Poroelasticity in Arbitrarily Fractured Porous Media: A Hybrid‐Dimensional Computational Model

A fluid‐solid coupling method for the simulation of gas transport in porous coal and rock media

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