In our study, we develop a model for simulating fracturing processes in a poroelastic medium. The proposed approach combines the discrete fracture model enriched with contact plane mechanics. The model captures mechanical interactions of fractures and a deformable medium, fluid, and heat transfer in fractures and in a porous medium. Both effects of poroelasticity and thermoelasticity are accounted in our model. Mass and heat conservation equations are approximated by the finite volume method, and mechanical equilibrium equations are discretized by means of the Galerkin finite element approach. Two-dimensional grid facets between 3-dimensional finite elements are considered as possible fracture surfaces. Most of these facets are inactive from the beginning and are activated throughout the simulation. A fracture propagation criterion, based on Irwin's approach, is verified on each nonlinear iteration. When the criterion is satisfied, additional contact elements are added into finite element and discrete fracture model formulations respectively. The proposed approach allows modeling of existing natural and artificially created fractures within one framework. The model is tested on single-and multiplephase fluid flow examples for both isothermal and thermal conditions and verified against existing semianalytical solutions. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated on an example of practical interests where a sector model of an oil reservoir is simulated with different injection and production regimes.
In the last four years, a multidisciplinary study involving several research groups in Switzerland tackled a number of unsolved, fundamental issues about the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete. The covered topics include SiO2 dissolution, the characterization of various ASR products formed at different stages of the reaction in both concrete and synthesis, crack formation and propagation. The encompassed scale ranges from nanometers to meters. Apart from conventional techniques, novel methods for the field of ASR have been used, e.g. combination of scanning electron microscopy with dissolution experiments, combination of focused ion beam with transmission electron microscopy, several synchrotron-based methods, synthesis of ASR products for in-depth characterization, time-lapse X-ray micro-tomography combined with contrast-enhancing measures and numerical models of ASR damage based on realistic crack patterns. Key achievements and findings are the quantification of the effect of aluminum on dissolution of different silicates, the variance in morphology and composition of initial ASR products, the differences and similarities between amorphous ASR products and calcium-silicate-hydrate, the link between temperature and the structure of the crystalline ASR products, the behavior of the crystalline ASR products at varying relative humidity, ASR propagation in 4D and numerical modelling based on realistic crack patterns.
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