Computational modeling of calcite cementation in saline limestone aquifers: a phase-field study

Modeling fracture cementation processes in calcite limestone: a phase-field study

“…While the recent numerical works (e.g., Ankit et al 2015a, b;Wendler et al 2016) advocate the potential of the phase-field approach in addressing quartz mineral growth in sandstones, the present study in addition to our previous work (Prajapati et al 2017) serves as a basis for new calcite cementation models for carbonate rocks based on sound thermodynamic principles. The present study complements the works of Bons (2001) and Hilgers et al (2001) (who used front-tracking technique) and adds to them.…”

“…Therefore, we obtain the following 2D projections: right-handed, symmetric and left-handed (see Fig. 2a), that were also highlighted in our previous article pertaining to three-dimensional modeling of cement overgrowth in porous limestones (Prajapati et al 2017). During bitaxial Table 1 Values of phase-field model parameters used in simulations…”

“…The model has been previously applied to address the growth of minerals such as potash alum (Ankit et al 2013), quartz (Ankit et al 2013(Ankit et al , 2015aWendler et al 2016), and calcite (Prajapati et al 2017). Therefore, for the sake of completeness, we briefly reiterate the model equations.…”

“…In contrast with the traditional front-tracking methods (see Urai et al 1991;Bons 2001;Hilgers et al 2001;Nollet et al 2005), the phase-field approach does not require explicit tracking of the interfaces as the motion of interfaces is inherently captured in the governing equations. This property makes it a computationally efficient and robust approach for the treatment of moving boundary problems such as cement growth in open fractures or porous rocks, even in three dimensions (e.g., Ankit et al 2013Ankit et al , 2015aWendler et al 2016;Prajapati et al 2017).…”

Concepts of modeling surface energy anisotropy in phase-field approaches

“…(11) allows to, respectively, construct arbitrary convex crystals with corners, lines, and planar facets in two and three dimensions. The incorporation of the faceted anisotropy into the classical phase-field model is widely used in the phase-field community, for example by Prajapati et al (2017), and was discussed in detail in the past by Taylor and Cahn (1998). The difficulty in the application of this anisotropy function lies in its non-differentiability for the directions with corners in the energy polar plots, as indicated by gray vectors in the bottom plots of Fig.…”