Numerical Simulation Of Fluid Injection Into Deformable Fractures

The problem of fluid flow from a well into a horizontal fracture has been studied using a nonlinear coupled hydromechanical finite element model. Such an approach is required due to the strong nonlinearity and anisotropy of deformation and fluid flow moduli introduced by the presence of the fracture. The resulting nonuniform total stress field invalidates the application of the conventional fluid flow techniques to the problem. Stable convergent solution from the above analysis are verified by a coupled steady state algorithm.