Title
Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing process in a heterogeneous medium through a coupling scheme between the cohesive fracture and the Lattice-Boltzmann models
Date Issued
01 January 2016
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
conference paper
Author(s)
do Amaral Vargas E.
Velloso R.Q.
Paulino G.H.
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Río de Janeiro
Publisher(s)
International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
Abstract
This research discusses the hydraulic fracturing process in a heterogeneous medium. To model this process, the PPR- potential-based cohesive zone model (Park et. al.,2009; Park et. al., 2012) was implemented in the finite element method (FEM) to model the crack propagation; and the lattice-Bolztmann model (LBM) was used to represent the fluid injected into the fracture. These models are coupled in an iterative process (Mejía Camones et al., 2014; Mejía Camones et. al., 2015). In the FEM, the crack’s boundary is represented by the faces of cohesive elements. The position and velocity of these faces are transferred to the LBM as a boundary condition, where the forces applied on these boundaries, caused by the fluid injected, can be calculated. These forces are transferred to the FEM as external force applied on the element's faces, where the new position and velocity of the boundary of the crack is computed. These values are transferred to the LBM, initializing a new calculation cycle. The utilization of cohesive elements allows introducing different energy and strength fracture values in each element. Thus, the crack propagation in a heterogeneous medium can be modeled. This research shows the results of the crack propagation in heterogeneous medium, comparing with experimental results.
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ingeniería del Petróleo, (combustibles, aceites), Energía, Combustibles
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85092244645
Resource of which it is part
ISRM VII Brazilian Symposium on Rock Mechanics, SBMR 2016
Conference
ISRM 7th Brazilian Symposium on Rock Mechanics, SBMR 2016
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus