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3D subsidence analyses above gas reservoirs accounting for an unconventional plasticity model
Author(s) -
Salomoni Valentina A.,
Fincato Riccardo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.1032
Subject(s) - plasticity , consolidation (business) , geotechnical engineering , geology , pore water pressure , subsidence , aquifer , groundwater related subsidence , soil water , porosity , mechanics , soil science , materials science , groundwater , geomorphology , physics , accounting , structural basin , business , composite material
SUMMARY The coupled hydro‐mechanical state in soils coming from consolidation/subsidence processes and undergoing plasticity phenomena is here evaluated by means of the subloading surface model. The most important feature of this theory is the abolition of the distinction between the elastic and plastic domains, as it happens in the conventional elastoplastic models. This means that plastic deformations are generated whenever there is a change in stress and a smoother elastoplastic transition is produced. The plasticity algorithm has been implemented in the PLASCON3D FE code, coupling hydro‐thermo‐mechanical fields within a saturated (locally partially saturated) porous medium subjected to external loads and water/gas withdrawals from deep layers (aquifers/reservoirs). The 3D model has been first calibrated and validated against examples taken from the literature, and then subsidence analyses at regional scales due to gas extractions have been developed to predict the evolution of settlements and pore pressure in soils for long‐term scenarios. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.