Geothermal energy, a promising renewable source, relies on efficiently utilizing geothermal reservoirs, especially in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), where fractures in hot rock formations enhance permeability. Understanding fracture behavior, influenced by temperature changes, is crucial for optimizing energy extraction. To address this, we propose a novel high-accuracy phase-field interface model integrating temperature dynamics into a comprehensive hydraulic-mechanical approach, aiming for a thermo-fluid-structure interaction representation. Therein, the key technical development is a four-step algorithm. This consists of computing the fracture width, reconstructing the sharp interface geometry, solving the thermo-fluid-structure interaction (TFSI) problem, and employing a phase-field approach coupled to the temperature and pressure from the TFSI problem. By coupling temperature-hydraulic-mechanical processes with our newly proposed high-accuracy phase-field interface approach, we investigate how temperature impacts fracture width values, which are crucial for permeability in EGS reservoirs. Through this model and three different numerical simulations, we aim to provide an approach to deepen understanding of the complex interplay between temperature, mechanical deformation, and permeability evolution. Therein, we substantiate our formulations and algorithms through mesh convergence results of crack width and total crack volumes for static fractures, and crack lengths in the case of propagating fractures.
This paper presents a model where thermo-hydro-mechanical processes are coupled to a deformation model for preexisting fractures. The model is formulated within a discrete-fracture-matrix framework where the rock matrix and the fractures are considered as individual subdomains, and interaction between them takes place on the matrix-fracture interfaces. A finite volume discretisation implemented in the simulation toolbox PorePy is presented and applied in a simulation showcasing the effects of the different mechanisms on fracture deformation governed by contact mechanics, as well as their diffe…
As a consequence of shearing, wing cracks can emerge from pre-existing fractures. The process involves the interaction of sliding of the existing fracture surfaces and the tensile material failure that creates wing cracks. This work devises a numerical model to investigate how wing cracks emerge, propagate and connect pre-existing fractures under shear processes. A mathematical and numerical model for wing crack propagation based on linear elastic fracture mechanics that also accounts for fracture contact mechanics is presented. Computational efficiency is ensured by an adaptive remeshing tech…
Convection-driven cooling in porous media influences thermo-poro-mechanical stresses, thereby causing deformation. These processes are strongly influenced by the presence of fractures, which dominate flow and heat transfer. At the same time, the fractures deform and propagate in response to changes in the stress state. Mathematically, the model governing the physics is tightly coupled and must account for the strong discontinuities introduced by the fractures. Over the last decade, and motivated by a number of porous media applications, research into such coupled models has advanced modelling …
A range of phenomena in the subsurface is characterised by the interplay between coupled thermal, hydraulic and mechanical processes and deforming structures such as fractures. Modelling subsurface dynamics can provide valuable phenomenological understanding, but requires models which faithfully represent the dynamics involved; these models, therefore are themselves highly complex. This paper presents a mixed-dimensional thermo-hydro-mechanical model designed to capture the process-structure interplay using a discrete-fracture-matrix framework. It incorporates tightly coupled thermo-hydro-mech…
Simulation of frictional contact and shear failure of fractures in fractured media is of paramount important in computational mechanics. In this work, a preconditioned mixed-finite element (FE) scheme with Lagrange multipliers is proposed in the framework of constrained variational principle, which has the capability to handle frictional contact and slip of the multiple crossing fractures. The slippage, opening and contact traction on fractures are calculated by the resulted saddle-point algebraic system. A novel treatment is devised to guarantee physical solutions at the intersected position …
We consider a two-phase Darcy flow in a fractured porous medium consisting in a matrix flow coupled with a tangential flow in the fractures, described as a network of planar surfaces. This flow model is also coupled with the mechanical deformation of the matrix assuming that the fractures are open and filled by the fluids, as well as small deformations and a linear elastic constitutive law. The model is discretized using the gradient discretization method [26], which covers a large class of conforming and non conforming schemes. This framework allows for a generic convergence analysis of the c…
Accurate numerical simulation of coupled fracture/fault deformation and fluid flow is crucial to the performance and safety assessment of many subsurface systems. In this work, we consider the discretization and enforcement of contact conditions at such surfaces. The bulk rock deformation is simulated using low-order continuous finite elements, while frictional contact conditions are imposed by means of a Lagrange multiplier method. We employ a cell-centered finite-volume scheme to solve the fracture fluid mass balance equation. From a modeling perspective, a convenient choice is to use a sing…
We consider a two-phase Darcy flow in a fractured and deformable porous medium for which the fractures are described as a network of planar surfaces leading to so-called hybrid-dimensional models. The fractures are assumed open and filled by the fluids and small deformations with a linear elastic constitutive law are considered in the matrix. As opposed to [10], the phase pressures are not assumed continuous at matrix fracture interfaces, which raises new challenges in the convergence analysis related to the additional interfacial equations and unknowns for the flow. As shown in [16, 2], unlik…
A fractured poroelastic body is considered where the opening of the fractures is governed by a nonpenetration law while slip is described by a Coulomb-type friction law. This physical model results in a nonlinear variational inequality problem. The variational inequality is rewritten as a complimentary function, and a semismooth Newton method is used to solve the system of equations. For the discretization, we use a hybrid scheme where the displacements are given in terms of degrees of freedom per element, and an additional Lagrange multiplier representing the traction is added on the fracture…
A generalised framework for phase field-based modelling of coupled problems: application to thermo-mechanical fracture, hydraulic fracture, hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion
In fractured natural formations, the equations governing fluid flow and geomechanics are strongly coupled. Hydrodynamical properties depend on the mechanical configuration, and they are therefore difficult to accurately resolve using uncoupled methods. In recent years, significant research has focused on discretization strategies for these coupled systems, particularly in the presence of complicated fracture network geometries. In this work, we explore a finite-volume discretization for the multiphase flow equations coupled with a finite-element scheme for the mechanical equations. Fractures a…
This study presents the formulation, the numerical solution, and the validation of a theoretical framework based on the concept of variable-order mechanics and capable of modeling dynamic fracture in brittle and quasi-brittle solids. More specifically, the reformulation of the elastodynamic problem via variable and fractional order operators enables a unique and extremely powerful approach to model nucleation and propagation of cracks in solids under dynamic loading. The resulting dynamic fracture formulation is fully evolutionary hence enabling the analysis of complex crack patterns without r…
The computational analysis of fiber network fracture is an emerging field with application to paper, rubber-like materials, hydrogels, soft biological tissue, and composites. Fiber networks are often described as probabilistic structures of interacting one-dimensional elements, such as truss-bars and beams. Failure may then be modeled as strong discontinuities in the displacement field that are directly embedded within the structural finite elements. As for other strain-softening materials, the tangent stiffness matrix can be non-positive definite, which diminishes the robustness of the soluti…
The phase field paradigm, in combination with a suitable variational structure, has opened a path for using Griffith's energy balance to predict the fracture of solids. These so-called phase field fracture methods have gained significant popularity over the past decade, and are now part of commercial finite element packages and engineering fitness-for-service assessments. Crack paths can be predicted, in arbitrary geometries and dimensions, based on a global energy minimisation - without the need for \textit{ad hoc} criteria. In this work, we review the fundamentals of phase field fracture met…
