Phase-field model for pressurized fractures simulation

Resumo

The present work investigates the numerical simulation of pressurized fracture, using the phase-field
strategy, and its implementation. A simplified approach to hydraulic fracture with phase-field already available in
the literature, is implemented in the open-source software INSANE (INteractive Structural ANalysis Environment)
developed at the Structural Engineering Department of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, taking advantage of
its object-oriented structure. Within this simplified model, inertial and leak-off effects are neglected, the reservoir
is considered impermeable and the fluid incompressible, leading to a fracture system where the fluid pressure
is constant. The pressure load is applied directly on the fracture surface influencing its behavior. Numerical
simulations performed with the finite element method are presented, aiming to illustrate the model as well as to
evaluate the initial results found with regard to the behavior of the crack subjected to pressure load.