Title: Development of a discontinuous approach for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media using the numerical manifold method

Abstract

Summary In the numerical modeling of fluid flow in heterogeneous geological media, large material contrasts associated with complexly intersected material interfaces are challenging, not only related to mesh discretization but also for the accurate realization of the corresponding boundary constraints. To address these challenges, we developed a discontinuous approach for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media using the numerical manifold method (NMM) and the Lagrange multiplier method (LMM) for modeling boundary constraints. The advantages of NMM include meshing efficiency with fixed mathematical grids (covers), the convenience of increasing the approximation precision, and the high integration precision provided by simplex integration. In this discontinuous approach, the elements intersected by material interfaces are divided into different elements and linked together using the LMM. We derive and compare different forms of LMMs and arrive at a new LMM that is efficient in terms of not requiring additional Lagrange multiplier topology, yet stringently derived by physical principles, and accurate in numerical performance. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the NMM with the developed LMM for boundary constraints, we simulate a number of verification and demonstration examples, involving a Dirichlet boundary condition and dense and intersected material interfaces. Last, we applied the developed modelmore » for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media with several material zones containing a fault and an opening. We show that the developed discontinuous approach is very suitable for modeling fluid flow in strongly heterogeneous media with good accuracy for large material contrasts, complex Dirichlet boundary conditions, or complexly intersected material interfaces. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.« less

Authors:

Hu, Mengsu ^[1]; Wang, Yuan ^[1]; Rutqvist, Jonny ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. College of Civil and Transportation Engineering Hohai University Nanjing 210098 China, Earth Sciences Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 U.S.A.
2. Earth Sciences Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 U.S.A.

Publication Date:

Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2015

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1400925

Grant/Contract Number:  

DE‐AC02‐05CH11231

Resource Type:

Publisher's Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics Journal Volume: 39 Journal Issue: 17; Journal ID: ISSN 0363-9061

Publisher:

Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)

Country of Publication:

United Kingdom

Language:

English