A finite element approach to the simulation of hydraulic fractures with lag
Author (s): Hunsweck, M.l J.; Shen, Y. and Lew, A. J.
Journal: International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics
Volume: 37, Issue 9
Pages: 993 – 1015
Date: 2013
Abstract:
We present a finite-element-based algorithm to simulate plane-strain, straight hydraulic fractures in an impermeable elastic medium. The algorithm accounts for the non-linear coupling between the fluid pressure and the crack opening, and separately tracks the evolution of the crack tip and the fluid front. It therefore allows the existence of a fluid lag. The fluid front is advanced explicitly in time, but an implicit strategy is needed for the crack tip to guarantee the satisfaction of Griffith’s criterion at each time step. We enforce the coupling between the fluid and the rock by simultaneously solving for the pressure field in the fluid and the crack opening at each time step.We provide verification of our algorithm by performing sample simulations and comparing them with two known similarity solutions.
Bibtex:
@article {2013-IJNAMG-HYL
Author = {Hunsweck, Michael J. and Shen, Yongxing and Lew, Adrian J.},
Title = {A finite element approach to the simulation of hydraulic fractures with lag},
Fjournal = {International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics},
journal = {Int. J. Numer. Anal. Meth. Geomech.},
volume = {37},
number = {9},
issn = {1096-9853},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nag.1131},
doi = {10.1002/nag.1131},
pages = {993--1015},
year = {2013},
}