12CSER017 - Phase-field modeling of hydraulic fracturing using isogeometric analysis
| Project number | 12CSER017 |
| Project title | Phase-field modeling of hydraulic fracturing using isogeometric analysis |
| Applicant(s) | Dr.ir. C.V. Verhoosel, Prof.dr.ir. E.H. van Brummelen |
| Abstract | Hydraulic fracturing plays a crucial role in the extraction process of shale gas. The development of robust numerical tools for the simulation of hydraulic fracturing is of the utmost importance in the upfront development of advanced production techniques. Recent studies in the field of numerical fracture mechanics have indicated that the simulation of three-dimensional fracture processes with complex crack patterns can be robustly modeled with phase fields. In such models the propagation behavior of the cracks follows directly from energy considerations which leads to a thermodynamically consistent framework that inherently incorportates phenomena such as crack branching or crack coalescence. In combination with an isogeometric discretization, an efficient numerical tool for simulating the fracture process at engineering scales can be obtained. |
| Project budget | k€ 256 (includes 1 PhD student and material budget) |
| Duration | 2013 - 2017 |