Benchmarking analytical and numerical simulation of induced fault slip

Abstract

Quantification of the poromechanical response of subsurface formations due to human-induced pore pressure fluctuations is critical for the performance and stability assessment of many geo-energy systems. In particular, natural faults in the subsurface introduce the hazard of induced seismicity. Numerical modeling of fault reactivation is challenging, while the specific details of induced stresses and fault slip in reservoirs with displaced (i.e. non-zero offset) faults may cause additional challenges depending on the type of numerical formulation employed. To facilitate the systematic development and testing of numerical tools for the simulation of induced seismicity in faulted reservoirs we developed a set of semi-analytical test problems of increasing complexity, based on inclusion theory and Cauchy singular integral equations. With these we investigate the accuracy of two recently developed Finite Volume (FV) schemes with collocated and staggered arrangements of unknowns. One of them employs a conformal discrete fault model (DFM) which can guarantee sufficient accuracy at the cost of adaptive mesh refinement but may suffer from modelling and computational challenges when addressing large-scale realistic geological configurations. The second one employs an embedded (or non-conformal) discrete fault model (EDFM) which avoids the need for excessive mesh refinement, but of which the accuracy and the range of applicability are still to be investigated. We found that both numerical schemes accurately represent the pre-slip Coulomb stresses, but show different degrees of accuracy in representing the resulting depletion-induced fault slip. The semi-analytical benchmark data are available via DOI 10.4121/22240309.