Formulation and application of 3D THM-coupled zero-thickness interface elements

3d Analysis of H-m Coupled Problem with Zero-thickness Interface Elements Applied to Geomechanics

Abstract. In spite of the significant developments seen in recent years, numerical modeling of Hydraulic Fracturing still poses major challenges due to the strong coupling between fluid flow and crack development, which is itself a strongly non-linear problem. The objective of this paper is to show advances in a line of work started by Segura and Carol [1], on the modeling of coupled H-M discon...

Zero-thickness Interface Elements with H-m Coupling, Formulation and Applications in Geomechanics

Previous developments on zero-thickness interface elements for coupled HydroMechanics problems are briefly described, followed by some new geomechanical applications, particularly to hydraulic fracture in rock. The results are compared satisfactorily to approximate formulas and previously published numerical results. Once verified, the model is applied to new cases to show the capabilities of t...

Hydro-mechanical coupling in zero-thickness interface elements, formulation and applications in geomechanics

Zero-thickness joint/interface elements of the Goodman type, have been advantageously used to solve many problems in solid mechanics involving material interfaces or discontinuities. Some years ago, the authors have also proposed a version of such element for flow/diffusion and hydro-mechanical (H-M) coupled problems, either geomechanical or multiphysics. Some advantages are for instance that f...

Hydraulic fracture modelling with double node zero-thickness interface elements

In recent years, numerical modelling of hydraulic fracture has become a hot topic in Petroleum Engineering. The main difficulty is related to the numerical treatment of discontinuities in a geological medium. Several approaches can be found in the literature (Boone and Ingraffea, 1990; Adachi et al., 2007); however, some of them resort to simplifications that make them inapplicable in complex c...

A Fully Coupled THM Double Porosity Formulation for Unsaturated Soils