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Modeling pressurized fracture propagation with the isogeometric BEM

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Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper simulates the propagation of hydraulic fractures under constant fluid pressure using the isogeometric analysis based on boundary element methods (BEM) i.e. the so called isogeomtric BEM. Due to the seamless integration between computer aided design (CAD) and numerical analysis, the isogeomtric BEM eliminates the meshing procedure and geometric errors, and explicitly parametrizes the crack propagation path. Graded knot insertion near the crack tip is used to effectively capture the stress singularity at the crack tip. The M integral is adopted to extract the stress intensity factors (SIFs). The crack surface and propagation path can be parameterized explicitly with Non-Uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS). The comparison of our numerical results with laboratory experiments and other numerical methods validates the effectiveness of the algorithm. Moreover, we investigate the influence of different factors, including the confining pressure, crack numbers, pore pressure, and natural cracks, on hydraulic fractures and study how multiple cracks propagate under various conditions.

Article highlights

  • The isogeomtric BEM is used to simulate hydraulic fracturing process that is able to eliminate the meshing procedure and geometric errors.

  • The crack surface and propagation path can be parameterized explicitly with Non-Uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS).

  • We investigate the influence of different factors on pressurized fractures and study how multiple cracks propagate under various conditions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 51904202, 11702238, 52004203, 51904196). Peng would like to acknowledge the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China [Grant No. 18KJB130006].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architectural Engineering, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian, 463003, People’s Republic of China

    Leilei Chen, Zhongwang Wang & Haojie Lian

  2. College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, 464000, People’s Republic of China

    Leilei Chen & Zhongwang Wang

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, People’s Republic of China

    Xuan Peng

  4. School of Energy Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710054, People’s Republic of China

    Jianfeng Yang

  5. College of Mining Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, People’s Republic of China

    Pengfei Wu

  6. Key Laboratory of In-situ Property-improving Mining of Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, People’s Republic of China

    Haojie Lian

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  1. Leilei Chen
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Chen, L., Wang, Z., Peng, X. et al. Modeling pressurized fracture propagation with the isogeometric BEM. Geomech. Geophys. Geo-energ. Geo-resour. 7, 51 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-021-00248-3

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