An efficient XFEM approximation of Darcy flows in fractured porous media

Keywords

Code:
53/2012
Title:
An efficient XFEM approximation of Darcy flows in fractured porous media
Date:
Monday 10th December 2012
Author(s):
Fumagalli, A.; Scotti, A.
Download link:
Abstract:
Subsurface flows are strongly influenced by the presence of faults and large fractures that alter the permeability of the medium acting as barriers or conduits for the flow. An accurate description of the hydraulic properties of the fractures is thus essential for the modelling of oil migration or the exploitation of unconventional sources. However, the width of fractures is often small compared to the typical mesh size. To approximate the problem without refining the mesh to resolve the fracture we replace them with surfaces immersed in the porous matrix. Moreover we allow the surfaces to be non matching with the edges of the grid handling the discontinuities within elements with the XFEM approach. The method, originally developed for the single-phase Darcy problem is extended to the case of passive transport and multiphase flow.
This report, or a modified version of it, has been also submitted to, or published on
Oil and Gas Sciences and Technologies - Revue d IFP Energies nouvelles