A Phase-field Hydromechanical Model of Reservoir Simulation
Blaise A. Bourdin
Mathematics, Louisiana State University
ABSTRACT: Variational models of fracture and damage have become very popular, largely because of the versatility their numerical implementation through "phase-field". Bourdin first describes the construction of a phase-field based coupled hydromechanical reservoir simulator, and then revisits the problem of a single hydraulic fracture propagating in an infinite impermeable medium in order to justify the research team's coupling strategy. Finally, Bourdin shows how a phase-field description of a system of cracks can be leveraged to model flow in a factured porous medium, describing the coupling of the flow and mechanics problems, and illustrating the properties of this model through various numerical simulations.
