Theoretical Investigation of Unconditionally Stable Sequential Algorithms of Coupled Flow and Geomechanics for Hydraulically Fractured Systems

Abstract

We investigate unconditionally stable sequential algorithms for coupled hydraulically fractured geomechanics and flow systems, which can account for poromechanics behavior within the fractures. We focus on modifying the concepts of the fixed stress and undrained sequential methods properly for the coupled systems by taking appropriate stabilization terms for stability and convergence with energy analyses. Specifically, an apparent fracture stiffness is used for for numerical stabilization. Because this fracture stiffness depends on the fracture length, the stabilization term needs to be updated dynamically, different from the drained bulk modulus used for typical poromechanics problems. For numerical tests, we take the extended finite element method for geomechanics while the piecewise constant finite element method is used for flow within an existing hydraulic fracture. The numerical results support a priori stability analyses.