We are pleased to announce that Silvia De Simone from the Université de Rennes I (France), will give the SFB 1313 "Pretty Porous Science Lecture" #35. Her talk will be on "Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in the subsurface: tricky aspects, smart solutions, and critical implications".
The talk will be a hybrid event. If you are interested in participating in the lecture online, please contact us via e-mail
Abstract
Fluid pressure, temperature and mechanical deformations are extremely coupled in subsurface porous and fractured formations. Variations of the pressure field provoke deformations and stress perturbations, while deformations in turn affect the pressure field because they change the available storage volume and the transmissivity. Temperature contrast affects the local stress field and provokes a significant deformation of the reservoir, with consequent effects on the flow process, which in turn affects the advective heat transport. Understanding these coupled mechanisms and predicting the subsurface response to flow, transport and deformation is key to engineering applications, including fluid injection, geo-energy extraction and deep geological disposal.
Based on numerical and theoretical analysis, this talk will disclose non-trivial aspects of such coupled processes, like the non-locality of aquifer storage caused by constraints to deformation, the non-isotropic hydro-thermal variation of the stress tensor in the presence of large-scale heterogeneities such as stratigraphic traps and fault zones, and the reduction of undrained load-induced deformations in highly fractured rocks compared to intact rocks. The impacts of such behaviors on subsurface characterization and response prediction will be discussed, together with the definition of simplified and upscaled solutions for their quantification.