A global-local approach for hydraulic phase-field fracture in poroelastic media

In this work, phase-field modeling of hydraulic fractures in porous media is extended towards a Global-Local approach. Therein, the failure behavior is solely analyzed in a (small) local domain. In the surrounding medium, a simplified and linearized system of equations is solved. Both domains are coupled with Robin-type interface conditions. The fractures inside the local domain are allowed to propagate and consequently, both subdomains change within time. Here, a predictor-corrector strategy is adopted, in which the local domain is dynamically adjusted to the current fracture pattern. The resulting framework is algorithmically described in detail and substantiated with some numerical tests. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This work extends phase-field modeling of hydraulic fractures in porous media towards a Global-Local approach, where the failure behavior is analyzed in a local domain while a simplified system of equations is solved in the surrounding medium. The two domains are coupled with Robin-type interface conditions, allowing fractures to propagate within the local domain. A predictor-corrector strategy is adopted to dynamically adjust the local domain to the current fracture pattern.