Coupled Flow-deformation Simulations of Realistic Hydraulic Fractured Systems

Accurate modeling of fractures growth / propagation and their induced perturbation in the stress field suggests the need for coupled flow and fracture mechanics simulations. In order to tackle these challenges, an integrated workflow that considers multiple complex non-planar fractures within a coupled simulation framework will be presented here. A symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Method (SGBEM) developed by Rungamornrat et al. (SPE 96968), which treats the elasticity problems arising from the presence of a fracture in an unbounded domain, is used to simulate fracture evolution. Fractures generated by the SGBEM are gridded using a triangular mesh and embeded inside a box where boundary conditions for both flow and mechanics are imposed. Using the surface mesh and a triangulation of the box are used as constraints to the volume discretization. In this work we perform calculations of the fracture stress shadow using a FEM approach along the volume tetrahedral grid described above. This is done by spliting the nodes that lie on the fracture an imposing the corresponding displacement boundary conditions in agreement with the results obtained from the SGBEM code. Flow calculations are performed using a control volume finite element approach which allows the incorporation of discrete fractures.