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Modelling of hydraulic fracturing and fluid flow change in saturated porous domains
Author(s) -
Heider Yousef,
Markert Bernd
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pamm
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1617-7061
DOI - 10.1002/pamm.201710028
Subject(s) - porous medium , hydraulic fracturing , permeability (electromagnetism) , mechanics , poromechanics , porosity , fluid dynamics , materials science , nucleation , finite element method , geotechnical engineering , geology , engineering , thermodynamics , structural engineering , physics , chemistry , biochemistry , membrane
Abstract The underlying research work aims to develop a numerical model of pressure‐driven fracturing of saturated porous media. This is based on the combination of the phase‐field modelling (PFM) scheme together with a continuum‐mechanical approach of multi‐phase materials. The proposed modelling framework accounts for the crack nucleation and propagation in the solid matrix of the porous material, as well as the fluid flow change in the cracked region. The macroscopic description of the saturated porous material is based on the theory of porous media (TPM), where the proposed scheme assumes a steady‐state behaviour (quasi‐static) and neglects all thermal and chemical effects. Additionally, it assumes an open system with possible fluid mass production from external source. Special focus is laid on the description of the interface and change of the volume fractions and the permeability parameter between the porous domain and the crack. Finally, a numerical example using the finite element method is presented and compared with experimental data to show the ability of the proposed modelling strategy in capturing the basic features of hydraulic fracturing. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)