Simulation of hydro-mechanically coupled processes in rough rock fractures using an immersed boundary method and variational transfer operators

• Published in: Computational geosciences 2019-10, Vol.23 (5), p.1125-1140
• Main Authors: von Planta, Cyrill, Vogler, Daniel, Chen, Xiaoqing, Nestola, Maria G. C., Saar, Martin O., Krause, Rolf
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Domains; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fluid flow; Fluid pressure; Formulations; Fracture surfaces; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydrogeology; Mathematical Modeling and Industrial Mathematics; Operators; Original Paper; Reservoir engineering; Soil Science & Conservation
• ISSN: 1420-0597; 1573-1499
• DOI: 10.1007/s10596-019-09873-0

Hydro-mechanical processes in rough fractures are highly non-linear and govern productivity and associated risks in a wide range of reservoir engineering problems. To enable high-resolution simulations of hydro-mechanical processes in fractures, we present an adaptation of an immersed boundary method to compute fluid flow between rough fracture surfaces. The solid domain is immersed into the fluid domain and both domains are coupled by means of variational volumetric transfer operators. The transfer operators implicitly resolve the boundary between the solid and the fluid, which simplifies the setup of fracture simulations with complex surfaces. It is possible to choose different formulations and discretization schemes for each subproblem and it is not necessary to remesh the fluid grid. We use benchmark problems and real fracture geometries to demonstrate the following capabilities of the presented approach: (1) resolving the boundary of the rough fracture surface in the fluid; (2) capturing fluid flow field changes in a fracture which closes under increasing normal load; and (3) simulating the opening of a fracture due to increased fluid pressure.