Coarsening of three-dimensional structured and unstructured grids for subsurface flow

We present a generic, semi-automated algorithm for generating non-uniform coarse grids for modeling subsurface flow. The method is applicable to arbitrary grids and does not impose smoothness constraints on the coarse grid. One therefore avoids conventional smoothing procedures that are commonly used to ensure that the grids obtained with standard coarsening procedures are not too rough. The coarsening algorithm is very simple and essentially involves only two parameters that specify the level of coarsening. Consequently the algorithm allows the user to specify the simulation grid dynamically to fit available computer resources, and, e.g., use the original geomodel as input for flow simulations. This is of great importance since coarse grid-generation is normally the most time-consuming part of an upscaling phase, and therefore the main obstacle that has prevented simulation workflows with user-defined resolution. We apply the coarsening algorithm to a series of two-phase flow problems on both structured (Cartesian) and unstructured grids. The numerical results demonstrate that one consistently obtains significantly more accurate results using the proposed non-uniform coarsening strategy than with corresponding uniform coarse grids with roughly the same number of cells.     

An explicit method for numerical simulation of wave equations

In this paper, a method to develop a hierarchy of explicit recursion formulas for numerical simulation in an irregular grid for scalar wave equations is presented and its accuracy is illustrated via 2-D and 1-D models. Approaches to develop the stable formulas which are of 2M-order accuracy in both time and space with M being a positive integer for regular grids are discussed and illustrated by constructing the second order (M = 1) and the fourth order (M = 2) recursion formulas.     

A 2D well-balanced shallow flow model for unstructured grids with novel slope source term treatment

Within the framework of the Godunov-type cell-centered finite volume (CCFV) scheme, this paper proposes a 2D well-balanced shallow water model for unstructured grids. In this model, the face-based van Albada limiting scheme is employed in conjunction with a directional correction to reconstruct second order spatial values at the midpoint of the considered face. The Harten, Lax and van Leer approximate Riemann solver with the Contact wave restored (HLLC) is applied to compute the fluxes of mass and momentum, while the splitting implicit method is utilized to solve the friction source terms. The novel aspects of the model include the new limited directional correction with which the new local extrema caused by the unlimited correction are prevented efficiently, the simplified non-negative water depth reconstruction used to get rid of numerical instabilities and in turn to preserve mass conservation at wet–dry interfaces and the novel slope source term treatment which suits complex unstructured grids well by transforming the slope source of a cell into fluxes at its faces. This model is able to preserve the C-property and mass conservation, to achieve good convergence to steady state, to capture discontinuous flows and to handle complex flows involving wetting and drying over uneven beds on unstructured grids with poor connectivity in an accurate, efficient and robust way. These capabilities are verified against analytical solutions, numerical results of alternative models and experimental and field data.     

Mesh grading approach for wave propagation in high velocity-contrast media

A mesh grading approach based on investigated lump method has been presented for simulating wave propagation in high velocity-contrast media. Unstructured fine grids are used to discretize the low wave-velocity medium in order to ensure the accuracy of numerical computation, and unstructured coarse grids are used for the high wave-velocity medium in order to substantially reduce the computational cost. On the interface, one coarse grid can match the fine grids of arbitrary odd number. The key feature of the proposed method is the constructions of investigated lumps on the interfaces of media. The transition zone, which is commonly used in the discontinuous grid scheme based on the staggered-grid finite-difference method, will not be used any more. Moreover, the computational instability that the discontinuous grid schemes frequently encountered does not arise in the proposed method. The comparisons with the analytical solutions and the application in studying the effects of sedimentary basin demonstrated that the mesh grading approach is a valid, accurate, convenient and flexible algorithm in simulating wave propagations in high velocity-contrast media with irregular interfaces.     

Poynting and polarization vectors based wavefield decomposition and their application on elastic reverse time migration in 2D transversely isotropic media

With the progress in computational power and seismic acquisition, elastic reverse time migration is becoming increasingly feasible and helpful in characterizing the physical properties of subsurface structures. To achieve high-resolution seismic imaging using elastic reverse time migration, it is necessary to separate the compressional (P-wave) and shear (S-wave) waves for both isotropic and anisotropic media. In elastic isotropic media, the conventional method for wave-mode separation is to use the divergence and curl operators. However, in anisotropic media, the polarization direction of P waves is not exactly parallel to the direction of wave propagation. Also, the polarization direction of S-waves is not totally perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. For this reason, the conventional divergence and curl operators show poor performance in anisotropic media. Moreover, conventional methods only perform well in the space domain of regular grids, and they are not suitable for elastic numerical simulation algorithms based on non-regular grids. Besides, these methods distort the original wavefield by taking spatial derivatives. In this case, a new anisotropic wave-mode separation scheme is developed using Poynting vectors. This scheme can be performed in the angle domain by constructing the relationship between group and polarization angles of different wave modes. Also, it is performed pointwise, independent of adjacent space points, suitable for parallel computing. Moreover, there is no need to correct the changes in phase and amplitude caused by the derivative operators. By using this scheme, the anisotropic elastic reverse time migration is more efficiently performed on the unstructured mesh. The effectiveness of our scheme is verified by several numerical examples.     

海洋可控源电磁三维非结构矢量有限元数值模拟

本文实现了海洋可控源电磁三维矢量有限元数值模拟.由于采用非结构四面体单元进行三维网格剖分,该方法可以模拟复杂电性异常体和海底地形.一维模型的数值模拟结果表明,电场实、虚部均与解析解吻合得相当好,计算误差基本小于1%.二维模型的计算结果与已有的二维自适应非结构有限元模拟结果吻合很好.带地形模型的数值模拟结果显示,海底地形对电场影响很大,有可能掩盖海底油气藏产生的异常.     

可控源电磁场三维自适应矢量有限元正演模拟

本文实现了可控源电磁(CSEM)场三维自适应矢量有限元正演算法,该算法采用非结构四面体单元进行三维网格剖分,能够真实模拟地形起伏和复杂电性异常体.采用一次场和二次场分离的方式计算电磁场响应,能够有效解决有限元模拟中的源点奇异性,提高场源附近电磁场数值精度,其中一次场利用CSEM一维正演算法解析求得,二次场采用矢量有限元方法求得.并利用基于后验误差估计的自适应网格细化算法指导网格细化,以减少人为设计网格导致的误差.通过一维和三维模型的数值模拟,验证了本文算法的有效性:一维模型有限元解与解析解吻合得很好,电磁场振幅相对误差在1%左右,相位差整体小于1°;三维模型有限元解与有限体积解吻合得也很好.模拟了一个含三维倾斜板状异常体的可控源电磁响应,表明了本文算法模拟复杂地电结构电磁场的能力和有效性.     

A hybrid absorbing boundary condition for elastic staggered‐grid modelling

We recently proposed an efficient hybrid scheme to absorb boundary reflections for acoustic wave modelling that could attain nearly perfect absorptions. This scheme uses weighted averaging of wavefields in a transition area, between the inner area and the model boundaries. In this paper we report on the extension of this scheme to 2D elastic wave modelling with displacement‐stress formulations on staggered grids using explicit finite‐difference, pseudo‐implicit finite‐difference and pseudo‐spectral methods. Numerical modelling results of elastic wave equations with hybrid absorbing boundary conditions show great improvement for modelling stability and significant absorption for boundary reflections, compared with the conventional Higdon absorbing boundary conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of this scheme for elastic wave modelling. The modelling results also show that the hybrid scheme works well in 2D rotated staggered‐grid modelling for isotropic medium, 2D staggered‐grid modelling for vertically transversely isotropic medium and 2D rotated staggered‐grid modelling for tilted transversely isotropic medium.     

波前构建法中的网格点定位(英文)

针对波前构建法中非规则的波前四边形网格与规则的矩形网格节点之间的相对定位问题,对比分析了在计算机图形学中常用的四种网格定位方法(叉乘判断法、夹角之和检验法、射线法(交点计数检验法)以及符号比较法)在波前构建法中的具体实现问题,通过对定位方法稳健性分析及计算实例表明,矢量叉乘判断法在实现规则的矩形网格节点与非规则的波前四边形网格相对定位研究中,其稳健性和计算效率足最高的,从而为下一步做偏移或者反偏移提供了精确的网格点属性值.     

An explicit method for numerical simulation of wave equations: 3D wave motion

In this paper, an explicit method is generalized from 1D and 2D models to a 3D model for numerical simulation of wave motion, and the corresponding recursion formulas are developed for 3D irregular grids. For uniform cubic grids, the approach used to establish stable formulas with 2M-order accuracy is discussed in detail, with M being a positive integer, and is illustrated by establishing second order (M=1) recursion formulas. The theoretical results presented in this paper are demonstrated through numerical testing.     

基于非结构网格的电阻率三维带地形反演

地表起伏地形在野外矿产资源勘察中不可避免,其对直流电阻率法勘探影响巨大.近年来,电阻率三维正演取得诸多进展,特别是应用非结构网格我们能够进行任意复杂地形和几何模型的电阻率三维数值模拟,但面向实际应用的起伏地形下电阻率三维反演依然困难.本文基于非结构化四面体网格,并考虑到应用GPS/GNSS时,区域地球物理调查中可非规则布设测网的实际特点,实现了任意地形(平坦或起伏)条件下、任意布设的偶极-偶极视电阻率数据的不完全Gauss-Newton三维反演.合成数据的反演结果表明了方法的有效性,可应用于复杂野外环境下的三维电法勘探.     

Using the pseudospectral technique on curved grids for 2D acoustic forward modelling1

The Fourier pseudospectral method has been widely accepted for seismic forward modelling because of its high accuracy compared to other numerical techniques. Conventionally, the modelling is performed on Cartesian grids. This means that curved interfaces are represented in a ‘staircase fashion‘causing spurious diffractions. It is the aim of this work to eliminate these non-physical diffractions by using curved grids that generally follow the interfaces. A further advantage of using curved grids is that the local grid density can be adjusted according to the velocity of the individual layers, i.e. the overall grid density is not restricted by the lowest velocity in the subsurface. This means that considerable savings in computer storage can be obtained and thus larger computational models can be handled. One of the major problems in using the curved grid approach has been the generation of a suitable grid that fits all the interfaces. However, as a new approach, we adopt techniques originally developed for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. This allows us to put the curved grid technique into a general framework, enabling the grid to follow all interfaces. In principle, a separate grid is generated for each geological layer, patching the grid lines across the interfaces to obtain a globally continuous grid (the so-called multiblock strategy). The curved grid is taken to constitute a generalised curvilinear coordinate system, where each grid line corresponds to a constant value of one of the curvilinear coordinates. That means that the forward modelling equations have to be written in curvilinear coordinates, resulting in additional terms in the equations. However, the subsurface geometry is much simpler in the curvilinear space. The advantages of the curved grid technique are demonstrated for the 2D acoustic wave equation. This includes a verification of the method against an analytic reference solution for wedge diffraction and a comparison with the pseudospectral method on Cartesian grids. The results demonstrate that high accuracies are obtained with few grid points and without extra computational costs as compared with Cartesian methods.     

Efficient scheme for the shallow water equations on unstructured grids with application to the Continental Shelf

In this paper, a shallow-water flow solver is presented, based on the finite-volume method on unstructured grids The method is suitable for flows that occur in rivers, channels, sewer systems (1D), shallow seas, rivers, overland flow (2D), and estuaries, lakes and shelf breaks (3D). We present an outline of the numerical approach and show three 2D test cases and an application of tidal propagation on the Continental Shelf. The benefits of applying an unstructured grid were explored by creating an efficient model network that aims at keeping the number of grid cells per wavelength constant. The computational speed of our method was compared with that of WAQUA/TRIWAQ and Delft3D (the commonly used structured shallow-flow solvers in The Netherlands), and comparable performance was found.     

各向异性介质弹性波传播的三维不规则网格有限差分方法

提出一种新的三维空间不规则网格有限差分方法,模拟具有地形构造的非均匀各向异性介质中弹性波传播过程. 该方法通过具有二阶时间精度和四阶空间精度的不规则交错网格差分算子来近似一阶弹性波动方程,与多重网格不同,无需在精细网格和粗糙网格间进行插值,所有网格点上的计算在同一次空间迭代中完成. 针对具有复杂物性参数和复杂几何特征的地层结构,使用精细不规则网格处理粗糙界面、断层和空间界面等复杂几何构造, 理论分析和数值算例表明,该方法不但节省了大量计算机内存和计算时间,而且具有令人满意的稳定性和精度.     

基于Coulomb规范势的电导率呈任意各向异性海洋可控源电磁三维非结构化有限元数值模拟

本文以非结构化网格剖分为基础,推导了电导率呈任意各向异性条件下的海洋可控源电磁法二次场磁矢量位、标量位所满足的有限元方程.将不完全LU分解预条件因子(ILU)与Induced dimension reduction(IDR(s))迭代算法相结合对有限元方程进行求解.之后,采用加权移动最小二乘法对二次场矢量位、标量位进行求导得到相应的电磁场各分量.最后,开展了两个地电模型的电磁场计算与分析.结果表明:本文所提出的电导率呈任意各向异性条件下的海洋可控源电磁法三维正演算法正确;不完全LU分解预处理的IDR(s)算法计算效率明显优于常用的ILU-QMR、ILU-BICGSTAB算法;算法具有良好的通用性,可用于陆地电磁、航空电磁、井中电磁等地球物理勘探方法在电导率任意各向异性方面的研究.     

Mesh type tradeoffs in 2D hydrodynamic modeling of flooding with a Godunov-based flow solver

The effect of mesh type on the accuracy and computational demands of a two-dimensional Godunov-type flood inundation model is critically examined. Cartesian grids, constrained and unconstrained triangular grids, constrained quadrilateral grids, and mixed meshes are considered, with and without local time stepping (LTS), to determine the approach that maximizes computational efficiency defined as accuracy relative to computational effort. A mixed-mesh numerical scheme is introduced so all grids are processed by the same solver. Analysis focuses on a wide range of dam-break type test cases, where Godunov-type flood models have proven very successful. Results show that different mesh types excel under different circumstances. Cartesian grids are 2–3 times more efficient with relatively simple terrain features such as rectilinear channels that call for a uniform grid resolution, while unstructured grids are about twice as efficient in complex domains with irregular terrain features that call for localized refinements. The superior efficiency of locally refined, unstructured grids in complex terrain is attributable to LTS; the locally refined unstructured grid becomes less efficient using global time stepping. These results point to mesh-type tradeoffs that should be considered in flood modeling applications. A mixed mesh model formulation with LTS is recommended as a general purpose solver because the mesh type can be adapted to maximize computational efficiency.     

VTI介质起伏地表地震波场模拟

起伏地表下地震波场模拟有助于解释主动源和被动源地震探测中穿过山脉和盆地的测线所获得的资料.然而传统的有限差分法处理起伏的自由边界比较困难,为了克服这一困难,我们将笛卡尔坐标系的各向异性介质弹性波方程和自由边界条件变换到曲线坐标系中,采用一种稳定的、显式的二阶精度有限差分方法离散(曲线坐标系)VTI介质中的弹性波方程;对...     

基于WNAD方法的非一致网格算法及其弹性波场模拟

加权近似解析离散化(WNAD) 方法是近年发展的一种在粗网格步长条件下能有效压制数值频散的数值模拟技术. 在地震勘探的实际应用中, 不是所有情况都适合使用空间大网格步长. 为适应波场模拟的实际需要, 本文给出了求解波动方程的非一致网格上的WNAD算法. 这种方法在低速区、介质复杂区域使用细网格, 在其他区域采用粗网格计算. 在网格过渡区域, 根据近似解析离散化方法的特点, 采用了新的插值公式, 使用较少的网格点得到较高的插值精度. 数值算例表明, 非一致网格上的WNAD方法能够有效压制数值频散, 显著减少计算内存需求量和计算时间, 进一步提高了地震波场的数值模拟效率.     

Algorithms for staggered-grid computations for poroelastic,elastic, acoustic,and scalar wave equations

Heterogeneous wave equations are more complicated numerically than homogeneous wave equations, but are necessary for physical validity. A wide variety of numerical solutions of seismic wave equations is available, but most produce strong numerical artefacts and local instabilities where model parameters change rapidly. Accuracy and stability of heterogeneous equations is achieved through staggered-grid formulations. A new pseudospectral staggered-grid algorithm is developed for the poroelastic (Biot) equations. The algorithm may be reduced to handle the elastic and acoustic limits of the Biot equations. Comparisons of results from poroelastic, elastic, acoustic and scalar computations for a 2D model show that porous medium parameters may affect amplitudes significantly. The use of homogeneous wave equations for modelling of a heterogeneous medium, or of a centred rather than a staggered grid, or of simplified (e.g. acoustic) wave equations when elastic or poroelastic media are synthesized, may produce erroneous or ambiguous interpretations.     

基于瞬时电流脉冲的三维时间域航空电磁全波形正演模拟

传统时间域航空电磁全波形正演模拟主要采用间接法(褶积算法)和直接法(时域有限差分方法等),然而褶积算法需要获得精确的电流二阶导数,这给发射电流数据采集工作带来极大挑战;时域有限差分方法受到网格和时间步长的严格限制,缺乏灵活性.为解决这些问题,本文采用时域有限元方法,通过直接改变每个时间道上的瞬时电流强度模拟任意发射波形的电磁响应.由于无需计算电流二阶导数,大大提高了正演结果的精度.利用基于非结构四面体网格的矢量有限元方法和后推欧拉技术对时间域电场扩散方程进行空间和时间离散,实现三维航空电磁时间域全波形的直接正演模拟.由此不仅可以模拟复杂的地电结构,而且基于后推欧拉法的无条件稳定性,可以更加灵活地选取时间步长,提高计算效率.通过与1D数值模拟结果进行对比验证了该方法的准确性.本文对三维柱状体模型上HELITEM MULTIPULSE和VTEM系统实际发射波形电磁响应进行模拟,并与褶积算法的结果进行比较,验证了本文算法模拟实际发射波形电磁响应的优越性.对复杂三维地质体模型上不同发射波形电磁响应进行模拟,验证了时间域有限元算法可有效处理复杂地下地质结构.