Rapid simulation of multiple radially growing hydraulic fractures using an energy‐based approach

The goal of hydraulic fracturing stimulation of horizontal wells is typically to generate uniform, simultaneously growing hydraulic fractures from 3 to 6 initiation/entry sites that are spaced within a certain interval of the wellbore comprising a so‐called stage. Because of the stress interaction among growing hydraulic fractures, however, it is hard to attain simultaneous growth of all hydraulic fractures. While models have been proven useful for devising mitigation strategies of these so‐called stress‐shadow effects, the required simulations are so computationally expensive that optimization is possible only in the simplest cases. Here, we present an approximate (energy‐based) model capable of running an entire simulation in 1–2s, which is about one million times faster than the benchmark model. The approach is built on asymptotic solutions to approximate growth of radial hydraulic fractures, a far field approximation for the stress shadow interactions among growing hydraulic fractures, and coupling the effect of the stress shadow to fracture growth via a global energy balance equation. We show very close agreement in predictions of the lengths of each fracture in the array between the approximate model and the benchmark model, thus verifying that the new approximate model is useful for optimization of hydraulic fracture design. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D finite element modeling of sand particle fracture based on in situ X‐Ray synchrotron imaging

Compressive loading of granular materials causes inter‐particle forces to develop and evolve into force chains that propagate through the granular body. At high‐applied compressive stresses, inter‐particle forces will be large enough to cause particle fracture, affecting the constitutive behavior of granular materials. The first step to modeling particle fracture within force chains in granular mass is to understand and model the fracture of a single particle using actual three‐dimensional (3D) particle shape. In this paper, the fracture mode of individual silica sand particles was captured using 3D x‐ray radiography and Synchrotron Micro‐computed Tomography (SMT) during in situ compression experiments. The SMT images were used to reconstruct particle surfaces through image processing techniques. Particle surface was then imported into Abaqus finite element (FE) software where the experimental loading setup was modeled using the extended finite element method (XFEM) where particle fracture was compared to experimental fracture mode viewed in radiograph images that were acquired during experimental loading. Load‐displacement relationships of the FE analysis were also compared with experimental measurements. 3D FE modeling of particle fracture offers an excellent tool to map stress distribution and monitors crack initiation and propagation within individual sand particles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geostatistical Rock Physics Inversion for Predicting the Spatial Distribution of Porosity and Saturation in the Critical Zone

Mathematical Geosciences - Understanding the subsurface structure and function in the near-surface groundwater system, including fluid flow, geomechanical, and weathering processes, requires...     

Using HED meteorites to interpret neutron and gamma‐ray data from asteroid 4 Vesta

Here, we construct a comprehensive howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) bulk chemistry data set to compare with Dawn data. Using the bulk chemistry data set, we determine four gamma‐ray/neutron parameters in the HEDs (1) relative fast neutron counts (fast counts), (2) macroscopic thermal neutron absorption cross section (absorption), (3) a high‐energy gamma‐ray compositional parameter (C_p), and (4) Fe abundance. These correspond to the four measurements of Vesta made by Dawn's Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) that can be used to discern HED lithologic variability on the Vestan surface. We investigate covariance between fast counts and average atomic mass (<A>) in the meteorite data set, where a strong correlation (r² = 0.99) is observed, and we demonstrate that systematic offsets from the fast count/<A> trend are linked to changes in Fe and Ni concentrations. To compare the meteorite and GRaND data, we investigate and report covariance among fast counts, absorption, C_p, and Fe abundance in the HED meteorite data set. We identify several GRaND measurement spaces where the Yamato type B diogenites are distinct from all other HED lithologies, including polymict mixtures. The type B's are diogenites that are enriched in Fe + pigeonite + diopside ± plagioclase, relative to typical, orthopyroxenitic diogenites. We then compare these results to GRaND data and demonstrate that regions north of ~70°N latitude on Vesta (including the north pole) are consistent with type B diogenites. We propose two models to explain type B diogenite compositions in the north (1) deposition as Rheasilvia ejecta, or (2) type B plutons that were emplaced at shallow depths in the north polar region and sampled by local impacts. Lastly, using principal component (PC) analysis, we identify unique PC spaces for all HED lithologies, indicating that the corresponding GRaND measurables may be used to produce comprehensive lithologic maps for Vesta.     

Triangulating Social Multimedia Content for Event Localization using Flickr and Twitter

The analysis of social media content for the extraction of geospatial information and event‐related knowledge has recently received substantial attention. In this article we present an approach that leverages the complementary nature of social multimedia content by utilizing heterogeneous sources of social media feeds to assess the impact area of a natural disaster. More specifically, we introduce a novel social multimedia triangulation process that uses both Twitter and Flickr content in an integrated two‐step process: Twitter content is used to identify toponym references associated with a disaster; this information is then used to provide approximate orientation for the associated Flickr imagery, allowing us to delineate the impact area as the overlap of multiple view footprints. In this approach, we practically crowdsource approximate orientations from Twitter content and use this information to orient Flickr imagery accordingly and identify the impact area through viewshed analysis and viewpoint integration. This approach enables us to avoid computationally intensive image analysis tasks associated with traditional image orientation, while allowing us to triangulate numerous images by having them pointed towards the crowdsourced toponym location. The article presents our approach and demonstrates its performance using a real‐world wildfire event as a representative application case study.     

A laboratory investigation of bed-load transport of gravel sediments under dam break flow

Dam break flows and resulting river bed erosion can have disastrous impacts on human safety,infrastructure,and environmental quality.However,there is a lack of research on the mobility of non-uniform sediment mixtures resulting from dam break flows and how these differ from uniform sized sediment.In this paper,laboratory flume experiments revealed that coarse and fine fractions in non-uniform sediment had a higher and a lower bed-load parameter,respectively,than uniform sediments of the same size.Thus,the finer fractions were more stable and the coarser fractions were more erodible in a nonuniform bed compared to a uniform-grained bed.These differences can be explained by the hiding and protrusion of these fractions,respectively.By investigating changes in mobility of the mixed-size fractions with reservoir water levels,the results revealed that at low water levels,when the coarser fractions were only just mobile,the bed-load parameter of the finer fractions was higher than the coarser fractions.The opposite was observed at a higher water level,when a significant proportion of the coarsest fractions was mobilized.The higher protrusion of these grains had an important effect on their mobility relative to the finer grains.The transported sediment on these mixed-sized beds was coarser than the initial bed sediment,and became coarser with an increase in reservoir water level.     

Particle stirring in turbulent gas disks: Including orbital oscillations

We describe the diffusion and random velocities of solid particles due to stochastic forcing by turbulent gas. We include the orbital dynamics of Keplerian disks, both in-plane epicycles and vertical oscillations. We obtain a new result for the diffusion of solids. The Schmidt number (ratio of gas to particle diffusivity) is Sc≈1+(Ωt_stop)², in terms of the particle stopping time t_stop and the orbital frequency Ω. The standard result, Sc=1+t_stop/t_eddy, in terms of the eddy turnover time, t_eddy, is shown to be incorrect. The main difference is that Sc rises quadratically, not linearly, with stopping time. Consequently, particles larger than 10 cm in protoplanetary disks will suffer less radial diffusion and will settle closer to the midplane. Such a layer of boulders would be more prone to gravitational collapse. Our predictions of RMS speeds, vertical scale height and diffusion coefficients will help interpret numerical simulations. We confirm previous results for the vertical stirring of particles (scale heights and random velocities), and add a correction for arbitrary ratios of eddy to orbital times. The particle layer becomes thinner for t_eddy>1/Ω with the strength of turbulent diffusion held fixed. We use two analytic techniques—the Hinze–Tchen formalism and the Fokker–Planck equation with velocity diffusion—with identical results when the regimes of validity overlap. We include simple physical arguments for the scaling of our results.