Energy Science & Engineering Dissertation Defense

Ph.D. Candidate
Jaewoo An

Date & TIme
Monday, May 22, 2023, 2:00 pm PST

Dissertation Title
Stability Analysis of Sequential Implicit Strategies For Fluid-Structure Interactions In Fractured Porous Media

Abstract
In subsurface reservoirs, fluid withdrawal and injection alter reservoir pressure, which causes mechanical deformation of rock matrix and fractures. Therefore, it is important to develop a computational framework with an accurate fracture model and an efficient simulation scheme for a coupled hydromechanical problem. The main objective of this dissertation is to propose an enhanced sequential-implicit scheme for a coupled flow and mechanical problem with the integrated Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) and the Strong Discontinuity Approach (SDA). Chapter 1 shows the numerical modeling of a fracture intersection with the SDA
considering various fracture states. Chapter 2 analyzes the stability characteristics of the fully implicit scheme with respect to time step size in various fracture configurations. Chapter 3 demonstrates the derivation of a modified fixed stress scheme with the EDFM-SDA for fractures. Its stability is analyzed through numerical experiments.