A fully implicit and consistent finite element framework for modeling reservoir compaction with large deformation and nonlinear flow model. Part I: theory and formulation

Reservoir depletion results in rock failure, wellbore instability, hydrocarbon production loss, oil sand production, and ground surface subsidence. Specifically, the compaction of carbonate reservoirs with soft rocks often induces large plastic deformation due to rock pore collapse. On the other hand, following the compaction of reservoirs and failure of rock formations, the porosity and permeability of formations will, in general, decrease. These bring a challenge for reservoir simulations because of high nonlinearity of coupled geomechanics and fluid flow fields. In this work, we present a fully implicit, fully coupled, and fully consistent finite element formulation for coupled geomechanics and fluid flow problems with finite deformation and nonlinear flow models. The Pelessone smooth cap plasticity model, an important material model to capture rock compaction behavior and a challenging material model for implicit numerical formulations, is incorporated in the proposed formulation. Furthermore, a stress-dependent permeability model is taken into account in the formulation. A co-rotational framework is adopted for finite deformation, and an implicit material integrator for cap plasticity models is consistently derived. Furthermore, the coupled field equations are consistently linearized including nonlinear flow models. The physical theories, nonlinear material and flow models, and numerical formulations are the focus of part I of this work. In part II, we verify the proposed numerical framework and demonstrate the performance of our numerical formulation using several numerical examples including a field reservoir with soft rocks undergoing serious compaction.     

A finite element solution of a fully coupled implicit formulation for reservoir simulation

An iterative method is presented for solving a fully coupled and implicit formulation of fluid flow in a porous medium. The mathematical model describes a set of fully coupled three-phase flow of compressible and immiscible fluids in a saturated oil reservoir. The finite element method is applied to obtain the simultaneous solution (SS) for the resulting highly non-linear partial differential equations where fluid pressures are the primary unknowns. The final discretized equations are solved iteratively by using a fully implicit numerical scheme. Several examples, illustrating the use of the present model, are described. The increased stability achieved with this scheme has permitted the use of larger time steps with smaller material balance errors.     

储层流固耦合的数学模型和非线性有限元方程

根据饱和多孔介质固体骨架的平衡方程和多孔介质中流体的连续性方程,建立了储层流固耦合数学模型。模型中引入了Jaumann应力速率公式描述多孔介质固体骨架的大变形效应,并考虑了地应力、初始孔隙压力、初始流体密度和初始孔隙度对耦合模型的影响。基于与微分方程等价的加权余量公式,在空间域采用有限元离散,对时间域进行隐式差分格式离散,导出了以单元节点位移和单元节点孔隙压力为未知量的储层流固耦合的非线性有限元增量方程。该模型在石油工程中有广泛的应用,为储层流固耦合的数值模拟奠定了理论基础。     

A finite element method for modeling coupled flow and deformation in porous fractured media

Modeling the flow in highly fractured porous media by finite element method (FEM) has met two difficulties: mesh generation for fractured domains and a rigorous formulation of the flow problem accounting for fracture/matrix, fracture/fracture, and fracture/boundary fluid mass exchanges. Based on the recent theoretical progress for mass balance conditions in multifractured porous bodies, the governing equations for coupled flow and deformation in these bodies are first established in this paper. A weak formulation for this problem is then established allowing to build a FEM. Taking benefit from recent development of mesh‐generating tools for fractured media, this weak formulation has been implemented in a numerical code and applied to some typical problems of hydromechanical coupling in fractured porous media. It is shown that in this way, the FEM that has proved its efficiency to model hydromechanical phenomena in porous media is extended with all its performances (calculation time, couplings, and nonlinearities) to fractured porous media. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A locally conservative finite element framework for the simulation of coupled flow and reservoir geomechanics

In this paper, we present a computational framework for the simulation of coupled flow and reservoir geomechanics. The physical model is restricted to Biot’s theory of single-phase flow and linear poroelasticity, but is sufficiently general to be extended to multiphase flow problems and inelastic behavior. The distinctive technical aspects of our approach are: (1) the space discretization of the equations. The unknown variables are the pressure, the fluid velocity, and the rock displacements. We recognize that these variables are of very different nature, and need to be discretized differently. We propose a mixed finite element space discretization, which is stable, convergent, locally mass conservative, and employs a single computational grid. To ensure stability and robustness, we perform an implicit time integration of the fluid flow equations. (2) The strategies for the solution of the coupled system. We compare different solution strategies, including the fully coupled approach, the usual (conditionally stable) iteratively coupled approach, and a less common unconditionally stable sequential scheme. We show that the latter scheme corresponds to a modified block Jacobi method, which also enjoys improved convergence properties. This computational model has been implemented in an object-oriented reservoir simulator, whose modular design allows for further extensions and enhancements. We show several representative numerical simulations that illustrate the effectiveness of the approach.     

Fully coupled generalised hybrid-mixed finite element approximation of two-phase two-component flow in porous media. Part II: numerical scheme and numerical results

We consider the modeling and simulation of compositional two-phase flow in a porous medium, where one phase is allowed to vanish or appear. The modeling of Marchand et al. (in review) leads to a nonlinear system of two conservation equations. Each conservation equation contains several nonlinear diffusion terms, which in general cannot be written as a function of the gradients of the two principal unknowns. Also the diffusion coefficients are not necessarily explicit local functions of them. For the generalised mixed finite elements approximation, Lagrange multipliers associated to each principal unknown are introduced, the sum of the diffusive fluxes of each component is explicitly eliminated and the static condensation leads to a “global” nonlinear system of equations only in the Lagrange multipliers also including complementarity conditions to cope with vanishing or appearing phases. After time discretisation, this system can be solved at each time step using a semi-smooth Newton method. The static condensation involves “local” nonlinear systems of equations associated to each element, solved also by a semismooth Newton method. The algorithm is successfully applied to 1D and 2D examples of water–hydrogen flow involving gas phase appearance and disappearance.     

A numerical model for nonlinear large deformation dynamic analysis of unsaturated porous media including hydraulic hysteresis

A numerical model based on the theory of mixtures is proposed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of flow and deformation in unsaturated porous media. Starting from the conservation laws, the governing differential equations and the finite element incremental approximations suitable for nonlinear large deformation static and dynamic analyses are derived within the updated Lagrangian framework. The coupling between solid and fluid phases is enforced according to the effective stress principle taking suction dependency of the effective stress parameter into account. The effect of hydraulic hysteresis on the effective stress parameter and soil water characteristic curve is also taken into account. The application of the approach is demonstrated through numerical analyses of several fundamental nonlinear problems and the results are compared to the relevant analytical solutions. The effects of suction, large deformations and hydraulic hysteresis on static and dynamic response of unsaturated soils are particularly emphasized.     

多相流传输THM全耦合数值模型及程序验证

我国首个GCS示范工程神华多储层场地出现了单储层吸气量剧增的现象,在其原设计方案下,压缩后变冷的CO₂被注入至深部高温含水层中,引起首层含水层中流体压力和温度应力急剧变化,从而导致大量裂隙产生,增加了单储层的可注入性的同时,降低了系统总体封存能力,并带来了泄露风险。本文基于TOUGH-FLAC三维多相多组分THM耦合数值模拟程序,开发了场地尺度岩体开裂模块来研究CO₂注入方案对目标含水层耦合特性和开裂特性的综合影响,并设计了定速率、先增速后定速、间歇定速、间歇变速、二次变速等多类型注入方案,分别计算分析了储层岩体的热力学特性、多相流特性与开裂情况。结果表明：设计方案下含水层产生了较多的开裂现象,是导致其可注入性增大的根本原因,持续注入CO₂引起含水层岩体中有效应力大幅度降低,渗透率增加,定速率方案产生的温度应力最小,在设计各类注入方案中,定速率注入方案下储层的裂缝发育最少。     

A three-dimensional particle finite element model for simulating soil flow with elastoplasticity

Acta Geotechnica - Soil flow is involved in many earth surface processes such as debris flows and landslides. It is a very challenging task to model this large deformational phenomenon because of...     

一维畦灌施肥地表水流与溶质运移耦合模型——Ⅱ.模型验证

基于典型畦灌施肥试验观测结果及其模拟结果,对比分析利用混合数值解法和Roe有限体积法分别求解一维畦灌施肥地表水流与溶质运移过程控制方程在数值稳定性与收敛性、计算精度与效率上的差异,验证混合数值解法的计算性能与模拟效果.结果表明,混合数值解法比Roe有限体积法表现出更佳的数值稳定性和收敛性,产生的水平衡误差和平均相对误差...     

A constitutive model for mechanical and chemo‐mechanical compaction in sedimentary basins and finite element analysis

Compaction and associated fluid flow are fundamental processes in sedimentary basin deformation. Purely mechanical compaction originates mainly from pore fluid expulsion and rearrangement of solid particles during burial, while chemo‐mechanical compaction results from Intergranular Pressure‐Solution (IPS) and represents a major mechanism of deformation in sedimentary basins during diagenesis. The aim of the present contribution is to provide a comprehensive 3D framework for constitutive and numerical modeling of purely mechanical and chemo‐mechanical compaction in sedimentary basins. Extending the concepts that have been previously proposed for the modeling of purely mechanical compaction in finite poroplasticity, deformation by IPS is addressed herein by means of additional viscoplastic terms in the state equations of the porous material. The finite element model integrates the poroplastic and poroviscoplastic components of deformation at large strains. The corresponding implementation allows for numerical simulation of sediments accretion/erosion periods by progressive activation/deactivation of the gravity forces within a fictitious closed material system. Validation of the numerical approach is assessed by means of comparison with closed‐form solutions derived in the context of a simplified compaction model. The last part of the paper presents the results of numerical basin simulation performed in one dimensional setting, demonstrating the ability of the modeling to capture the main features in elastoplastic and viscoplastic compaction. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无结构网格上平面二维水沙模拟的有限体积法

基于无结构网格有限体积法的算法框架,通过引入跨单元界面法向水沙数值通量的逆风分解,将悬沙与床沙交换以及分组挟沙力计算模式自然地嵌入二维水沙运动方程组的数值格式中,形成高精度、守恒性好的二维水沙有限体积算法。最后,利用该算法对谭江樟州河段的水沙输运和河床变形进行了数值模拟。结果表明,该算法能够较好地模拟复杂条件下河道水沙输运的往复特征和河床变形的动态过程,其精度满足河道工程后效分析的要求。     

Analyses on granular mass movement mechanics and deformation with distinct element numerical modeling: implications for large-scale rock and debris avalanches

A large-scale avalanche of Earth material is modeled here as a granular flow using a distinct element numerical model PFC ^2D. Such failures occur in a variety of geological settings and are known to occur frequently over geologic time-scales transporting significant volumes of material basinward. Despite this, they remain poorly understood. The model used here begins with a listric failure, typical of the flank collapse of a volcanic cone, and describes the movement of an assembly of several thousand particles from failure to deposition. Within the model, each particle possesses its own material properties and interacts with its immediate neighbors and/or the basal boundary during emplacement. The general mechanics of the particle assembly are observed by monitoring the stresses, displacements, and velocities of distinct sections of the avalanche body. We monitor the avalanches’ energy regime (e.g., gravitational influence, energy dissipation by friction, kinetic energy evolution, and avalanche body strain). The addition of colored markers of varying geometry to the pre-failure avalanche was also used to make qualitative observations on the internal deformation that occurs during avalanche emplacement. A general stretching and thinning of the avalanche is observed. Monitoring of vertical and horizontal variations in stress, strain, porosity, and relative particle stability indicate that the lower more proximal sections of the avalanche are subject to higher stresses. These stresses are observed to be most significant during the initial phases of failure but decline thereafter; a situation likely to be conducive to block fragmentation and in developing a basal shear layer in real-world events. The model also shows how an avalanche which is initially influenced purely by gravity (potential energy) develops into a fully flowing assemblage as downslope momentum is gained and kinetic energy increases. The horizontal transition where the failure meets the run-out surface is recognized as a key area in emplacement evolution. The model has particular relevance to volcanic flank collapses and consequently the implications of the model to these types of failure and the geological products that result are considered in detail although the model is relevant to any form of large-scale rock or debris avalanche.     

A fracture mapping and extended finite element scheme for coupled deformation and fluid flow in fractured porous media

This paper presents a fracture mapping (FM) approach combined with the extended finite element method (XFEM) to simulate coupled deformation and fluid flow in fractured porous media. Specifically, the method accurately represents the impact of discrete fractures on flow and deformation, although the individual fractures are not part of the finite element mesh. A key feature of FM‐XFEM is its ability to model discontinuities in the domain independently of the computational mesh. The proposed FM approach is a continuum‐based approach that is used to model the flow interaction between the porous matrix and existing fractures via a transfer function. Fracture geometry is defined using the level set method. Therefore, in contrast to the discrete fracture flow model, the fracture representation is not meshed along with the computational domain. Consequently, the method is able to determine the influence of fractures on fluid flow within a fractured domain without the complexity of meshing the fractures within the domain. The XFEM component of the scheme addresses the discontinuous displacement field within elements that are intersected by existing fractures. In XFEM, enrichment functions are added to the standard finite element approximation to adequately resolve discontinuous fields within the simulation domain. Numerical tests illustrate the ability of the method to adequately describe the displacement and fluid pressure fields within a fractured domain at significantly less computational expense than explicitly resolving the fracture within the finite element mesh. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A priori error estimates for the numerical solution of a coupled geomechanics and reservoir flow model with stress-dependent permeability

In this paper we consider the numerical solution of a coupled geomechanics and a stress-sensitive porous media reservoir flow model. We combine mixed finite elements for Darcy flow and Galerkin finite elements for elasticity. This work focuses on deriving convergence results for the numerical solution of this nonlinear partial differential system. We establish convergence with respect to the L ²-norm for the pressure and for the average fluid velocity and with respect to the H ¹-norm for the deformation. Estimates with respect to the L ²-norm for mean stress, which is of special importance since it is used in the computation of permeability for poro-elasticity, can be derived using the estimates in the H ¹-norm for the deformation. We start by deriving error estimates in a continuous-in-time setting. A cut-off operator is introduced in the numerical scheme in order to derive convergence. The spatial grids for the discrete approximations of the pressure and deformation do not need be the same. Theoretical convergence error estimates in a discrete-in-time setting are also derived in the scope of this investigation. A numerical example supports the convergence results.     

A framework for automatic modeling of underground excavations and optimizing three‐dimensional boundary and finite element meshes derived from them—framework

Many problems in mining and civil engineering require using numerical stress analysis methods to repeatedly solve large models. Widespread acceptance of tunneling methods, such as New Austrian Tunneling Method, which depend heavily on numerical stress analysis tools and the fact that the effects of excavation at the face of a tunnel are distinctively three–dimensional (3D), necessitates the use of 3D numerical analysis for these problems. Stress analysis of a practical mining problem can be very lengthy, and the processing time can be measured in days or weeks at times. A framework is developed to facilitate efficient modeling of underground excavations and to create an optimal 3D mesh by reducing the number of surface and volume elements while keeping the result of stress analysis accurate enough at the region of interest, where a solution is sought. Fewer surface and volume elements mean fewer degrees of freedom in the numerical model, which directly translates into savings in computational time and resources. The mesh refinement algorithm is driven by a set of criteria that are functions of distance and visibility of points from the region of interest, and the framework can be easily extended by adding new types of criteria. This paper defines the framework, whereas a second companion paper will investigate its efficiency, accuracy and application to a number of practical mining problems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Slope stability analysis by means of finite element limit analysis and finite element strength reduction techniques. Part II: Back analyses of a case history

This paper deals with a back analysis of a slope failure. The case history investigated is located in an alpine environment in central Europe and is characterized by a very steep original terrain, indicating in situ soil with high strength. To study the factor of safety, two different approaches applying the so-called φ′/c′ reduction are used, namely finite element limit analysis and strength reduction finite element analysis. Comparison of a strength reduction technique with rigorous finite element limit analysis confirms that the factors of safety (FoS) obtained are very similar for associated plasticity, an intrinsic assumption of limit analysis. For non-associated plasticity, a modified version of the so-called Davis approach has been applied because it has been shown that the original formulation proposed by Davis works well when the FoS is defined in terms of loads but is not appropriate when the FoS is defined in terms of soil strength. The results show that, with the modified Davis parameter, both strength reduction finite element analyses and finite element limit analyses provide very similar factors of safety. The key advantage of limit analysis, however, is that the value of the FoS can be bracketed from above and below with upper and lower bound calculations.     

Fully coupled generalized hybrid-mixed finite element approximation of two-phase two-component flow in porous media. Part I: formulation and properties of the mathematical model

This paper is a prequel to that of Marchand et al. (Comput Geosci 16:691–708, 2012), where an efficient and accurate hybrid-mixed finite element approximation for a system of time-dependent nonlinear conservation equations has been formulated, implemented, and tested, which are general enough to represent most of the existing formulations for two-component liquid–gas flow in porous medium with phase exchange, also allowing for any (dis)appearance of one of the phases. Temperature variation is neglected, but capillary effects are included by extended Darcy’s law, and Fickian diffusion is taken into account. The efficiency and stability of the numerical method of Lake (1989) relies on an equivalent reformulation of the otherwise commonly used model in terms of new principal variables and subsequent static (flash) equations allowing more generally for any (dis)appearance of one of the phases without the need of variable switching or unphysical quantities. In particular, the formulation in terms of complementarity conditions allows for an efficient and stable solution by the semismooth Newton’s method.     

A continuum mechanics‐based framework for optimizing boundary and finite element meshes associated with underground excavations‐framework

Many field problems, from stress analysis, heat transfer to contaminant transport, deal with disturbances in a continuum caused by a ‘source’ (defined by its discrete geometry) and a ‘region of interest’ (where a solution is sought). Depending on the location of ‘regions of interest’ in relation to the ‘sources’, the level of geometric detail necessary to represent the ‘sources’ in a model can vary considerably. A practical application of stress analysis in mining is the evaluation of the effects of continuous excavation on the states of stress around mine openings. Labour intensive model preparation and lengthy computation coupled with the interpretation of analysis results can have considerable impact on the successful operation of an underground mine, where stope failures can cost tens of millions of dollars and possibly lead to closure of the mine. A framework is proposed based on continuum mechanics principles to automatically optimize the level of geometric detail required for an analysis by simplifying the model geometry using expanded and modified algorithms that originated in computer graphics. This reduction in model size directly translates to savings in computational time. The results obtained from an optimized model have accuracy comparable to the uncertainty in input data (e.g. rock mass properties, geology, etc.). This first paper defines the optimization framework, while a companion paper investigates its efficiency and application to practical mining and excavation‐related problems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element formulation and algorithms for unsaturated soils. Part II: Verification and application

The finite‐element formulation and integration algorithms developed in Part I are used to analyse a number of practical problems involving unsaturated and saturated soils. The formulation and algorithms perform well for all the cases analysed, with the robustness of the latter being largely insensitive to user‐defined parameters such as the number of coarse time steps and error control tolerances. The efficiency of the algorithms, as measured by the CPU time consumed, does not depend on the number of coarse time steps, but may be influenced by the error control tolerances. Based on the analyses presented here, typical values for the error control tolerances are suggested. It is also shown that the constitutive modelling framework presented in Part I can, by adjusting one constitutive equation and one or two material parameters, be used to simulate soils that expand or collapse upon wetting. Treating the suction as a strain variable instead of a stress variable proves to be an efficient and robust way of solving suction‐dependent plastic yielding. Moreover, the concept of the constitutive stress is a particularly convenient way of handling the transition between saturation and unsaturation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.