On the use of high aspect ratio finite elements to model hydraulic fracturing in deformable porous media

Hydraulic fracturing is a technique based on the injection of a viscous fluid at high pressure into an engineered well with the intention of initiating and propagating multiple fractures in a rock formation containing hydrocarbons to increase well-reservoir connectivity. This work proposes a framewo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Manzoli, Osvaldo L. [UNESP], Cleto, Pedro R. [UNESP], Sánchez, Marcelo, Guimarães, Leonardo J.N., Maedo, Michael A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/187468
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cma.2019.03.006
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/187468
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Continuum damage model
Continuum strong discontinuity approach
Finite elements with high aspect ratio
Hydraulic fracturing
Hydro-mechanical coupling
Descripción
Sumario:Hydraulic fracturing is a technique based on the injection of a viscous fluid at high pressure into an engineered well with the intention of initiating and propagating multiple fractures in a rock formation containing hydrocarbons to increase well-reservoir connectivity. This work proposes a framework to simulate the initiation and propagation of hydraulically induced fracture based on the Continuum Strong Discontinuity Approach (CSDA) and solid finite elements with high aspect ratio (HAR) in the context of conventional continuum constitutive (stress–strain) relationships (based on damage theory). The porous media considered here are deformable and the hydro-mechanical problem is solved in a fully-coupled manner. Full details about the proposed continuous approach to model hydraulic fractures are presented, including the finite element equations and their approximations. The new approach is validated against analytical and numerical solutions. Moreover, the influence of the dimensions of the HAR interface elements on the results is also investigated.