MC 5501
Speaker
Robert Gracie, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo
Title
Coupled Problems in Geomechanics, Energy and the Environment
Abstract
Thermo-Hydro-Mechanically (THM) processes underpin important technologies, such as Enhanced Geothermal (EGS) , Carbon Sequestrations (CSS) systems and Dissolution Mining (DM), vital to mitigating the worst effects of global warming. Fractures – natural and induced – play an important role in the mechanics many such systems. This presentation will provide an overview of recent developments, including multiphysics simulations (i) of salt dissolution mining and validation with experiments [1,2]; (ii) dynamic hydraulic fracturing models illuminating a new momentum domination propagation regime [2]; (iii) THM models of short-circuiting in EGS demonstrating new in-plane and inter-fracture mechanisms [3,4]; (iv) a novel fracture flow model (GG22) incorporating inertia, non-parallel fracture faces, and turbulence [5,6]. The presentation will end with a discussion of the share challenges faced by these seeming dissimilar applications – stability and convergence of the nonlinear solvers – topics connected to solution scheme (sequential vs fully coupled), scaling, etc.