A phase field model for hydraulic fracture: Drucker-Prager driving force and a hybrid coupling strategy

2025-06-22

AI Summary

This study addresses two critical challenges in hydraulic fracturing simulation: inaccurate fluid–fracture coupling and the inability of conventional phase-field models to capture tension–compression asymmetric fracture behavior (e.g., shale fracturing and fault reactivation). To this end, we propose a generalized phase-field framework. Methodologically: (1) an anisotropic strain energy decomposition scheme is formulated based on the Drucker–Prager criterion, enabling a universal description of asymmetric fracture driving forces; (2) a novel mixed coupling strategy is introduced to accurately resolve the strong nonlinear interaction between pore-fluid pressure and phase-field evolution in porous media. Validation demonstrates that the framework robustly captures complex fracture initiation, branching propagation, permeability evolution, and stick–slip dynamics under diverse stress states. It exhibits excellent robustness and physical fidelity across four canonical scenarios. The open-source implementation supports applications in petroleum engineering, geothermal reservoir development, and mining stability analysis.

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Abstract

Recent years have seen a significant interest in using phase field approaches to model hydraulic fracture, so as to optimise a process that is key to industries such as petroleum engineering, mining and geothermal energy extraction. Here, we present a novel theoretical and computational phase field framework to simulate hydraulic fracture. The framework is general and versatile, in that it allows for improved treatments of the coupling between fluid flow and the phase field, and encompasses a universal description of the fracture driving force. Among others, this allows us to bring two innovations to the phase field hydraulic fracture community: (i) a new hybrid coupling approach to handle the fracture-fluid flow interplay, offering enhanced accuracy and flexibility; and (ii) a Drucker-Prager-based strain energy decomposition, extending the simulation of hydraulic fracture to materials exhibiting asymmetric tension-compression fracture behaviour (such as shale rocks) and enabling the prediction of geomechanical phenomena such as fault reactivation and stick-slip behaviour. Four case studies are addressed to illustrate these additional modelling capabilities and bring insight into permeability coupling, cracking behaviour, and multiaxial conditions in hydraulic fracturing simulations. The codes developed are made freely available to the community and can be downloaded from {https://mechmat.web.ox.ac.uk/

Problem

• Develops a phase field model for hydraulic fracture simulation
• Improves fluid-flow and phase field coupling accuracy
• Extends simulation to materials with asymmetric fracture behavior

Innovation

• Hybrid coupling for fracture-fluid flow
• Drucker-Prager strain energy decomposition
• Phase field framework for hydraulic fracture