Multiscale finite-element method for linear elastic geomechanics

Multiscale finite-element method for linear elastic geomechanics

Castelletto, N (Stanford University)
Hajibeygi, H. (TU Delft Reservoir Engineering)
Tchelepi, HA (Stanford University)

2016

The demand for accurate and efficient simulation of geomechanical effects is widely increasing in the geoscience community. High resolution characterizations of the mechanical properties of subsurface formations are essential for improving modeling predictions. Such detailed descriptions impose severe computational challenges and motivate the development of multiscale solution strategies. We propose a multiscale solution framework for the geomechanical equilibrium problem of heterogeneous porous media based on the finite-element method. After imposing a coarsescale grid on the given fine-scale problem, the coarse-scale basis functions are obtained by solving local equilibrium problems within coarse elements. These basis functions form the restriction and prolongation operators used to obtain the coarse-scale system for the displacement-vector. Then, a two-stage preconditioner that couples the multiscale system with a smoother is derived for the iterative solution of the fine-scale linear system. Various numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate accuracy and robustness of the method.

Multiscale methods
multiscale finite-element method
geomechanics
reconditioning
porous media

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:34abdb6c-4610-4072-a35a-7cc7e4295383

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.11.044

2018-12-01

0021-9991

Journal of Computational Physics, 331, 337-356

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2016 N Castelletto, H. Hajibeygi, HA Tchelepi