Stress and flow in fractured porous media
The purpose of the present study is to develop a method for simultaneous solution of stress and flow in a deformable fractured isotropic porous medium saturated with a single phase slightly compressible fluid. The system defined as such can be under the effect of body forces, boundary loads, initial stress, and influenced by some fluid pressure disturbance. The method involves application of the theory of elasticity for plane strain systems, Darcy's law for porous medium, and Biot's constitutive equations for the mixture of fluid and solid skeleton. The resulting initial boundary value problem is then numerically formulated into finite element equations using the calculus of variations. A computer program has been developed by modifying existing programs to consider interactions between fractures and porous medium when both flow and stress fields are coupled. The program is capable of handling problems in rock masses where fractures extend from one boundary to another, intersect each other, or are isolated in the porous medium. The fractures may have random orientations and the rock matrix can be permeable or impermeable. The region under investigation may be two dimensional or axially symmetric. Solutions can be obtained for either a steady-state flow field under static equilibrium or a non-steady flow field in conjunction with quasi-static equilibrium conditions.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 892547
- Report Number(s):
- SGP-TR-30; CONF-781222-37; TRN: US200623%%472
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings fourth workshop geothermal reservoir engineering, Stanford, CA, December13-15, 1978
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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