Keita Yoshioka1,2 & Francesco Parisio4,5,6
1Department of Environmental Informatics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany; 2Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada 3IDAEA-CSIC, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona, Spain; 4IDAEA-CSIC, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona, Spain; 5Associated Unit: Hydrogeology Group UPC-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain;
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Fractures are ubiquitous in geological formations. Fractured formations exhibit substantially different properties in terms of fluid transport and mechanics than unfractured counterpart. Therefore, in many subsurface applications, irrespective of the objectives to promote or mitigate fractures, it is of great interest to understand the behaviors of fracture under various conditions. However, despite its significance, modeling fractures has been one of the most challenging subjects for many years. One of the difficulties lies in the discrete nature of fractures that does not fit continuum mechanics-based descriptions without special treatment through homogenization or multi-scale approaches. Furthermore, the behaviour of discontinuities associated with fractures is a function of time-dependent variables, inducing highly non-linear and multi-physical interactions. Diverse paths have been explored in this field including continuum-based approaches (e.g., damage model, multi-scale method or extended/general finite element method) or discrete models (e.g. discrete element or lattice element method). In this session, we welcome contributions to address fracture propagation modelling issue(s) from every aspect of numerical modeling and exchange knowledge among practitioners and researchers in the field.