Coupled Poromechanics and Earthquake Rupture Simulations for Induced Seismicity
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Geo-engineering applications such as Geologic Carbon Sequestration (GCS) and Geothermal energy production involve the Injection and/or extraction of fluids in the subsurface. Natural formations often present faults and fracture networks which play a crucial role both in determining the performance of such systems and the hazards associated with them. In particular, the injection or extraction of fluids may alter the state of stress of the formation and induce seismic events. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop numerical tools capable of modeling induced seismicity and assess the hazards associated with these systems. In this talk we present our efforts to develop a coupled poromechanical and earthquake rupture simulator. First, we discuss how the contact behavior on faults and fractures, and their effect on the fluid flow process, are explicitly represented in the fully coupled poromechanical models. We employ a conforming method in which fracture sit at the interface between the rock matrix cells and contact constraints are imposed using a Lagrange multiplier formulation. Then, we describe a quasi-dynamic earthquake rupture formulation, and we present our strategy to couple it with the poromechanical model. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
