Effect mechanism of seepage force on the hydraulic fracture propagation

The flow of fluid through the porous matrix of a reservoir rock applies a seepage force to the solid rock matrix.Although the seepage force exerted by fluid flow through the porous matrix of a reservoir rock has a notable influence on rock deformation and failure,its effect on hydraulic fracture(HF)propagation remains ambiguous.Therefore,in this study,we improved a traditional fluid–solid coupling method by incorporating the role of seepage force during the fracturing fluid seepage,using the discrete element method.First,we validated the simulation results of the improved method by comparing them with an analytical solution of the seepage force and published experimental results.Next,we conducted numerical simulations in both homogeneous and heterogeneous sandstone formations to investigate the influence of seepage force on HF propagation.Our results indicate that fluid viscosity has a greater impact on the magnitude and extent of seepage force compared to injection rate,and that lower viscosity and injection rate correspond to shorter hydraulic fracture lengths.Furthermore,seepage force influences the direction of HF propagation,causing HFs to deflect towards the side of the reservoir with weaker cementation and higher permeability.

Limit analysis of roof collapse in tunnels under seepage forces condition with three-dimensional failure mechanism

The state of roof collapse in tunnels is actually three-dimensional, so constructing a three-dimensional failure collapse mechanism is crucial so as to reflect the realistic collapsing scopes more reasonably. According to Hoek-Brown failure criterion and the upper bound theorem of limit analysis, the solution for describing the shape of roof collapse in circular or rectangular tunnels subjected to seepage forces is derived by virtue of variational calculation. The seepage forces calculated from the gradient of excess pore pressure distribution are taken as external loading in the limit analysis, and it is of great convenience to compute the pore pressure with pore pressure coefficient. Consequently, the effect of seepage forces is taken as a work rate of external force and incorporated into the upper bound limit analysis. The numerical results of collapse dimensions with different rock parameters show great validity and agreement by comparing with the results of that with two-dimensional failure mechanism.

Upper bound limit analysis of roof collapse in shallow tunnels with arbitrary cross sections under condition of seepage force

The analytical solutions for predicting the exact shape of collapse mechanisms in shallow tunnels with arbitrary excavation profiles were obtained by virtue of the upper bound theorem of limit analysis and variation principle according to Hoek-Brown failure criterion. The seepage force was included in the upper bound limit analysis, and it was computed from the gradient of excess pore pressure distribution. The seepage was regarded as a work rate of external force. The numerical results of roof collapse in square and circular tunnels with different rock parameters were derived and discussed, which proves to be valid in comparison with the previous work. The influences of different parameters on the shape of collapsing blocks were also discussed.

Wave-Induced Seepage Force Acting on Cylinder Groups

Wave-induced seepage force acting on cylinder groups is studied by using Biot consolidation theory in this paper. Both tandem arrangement and side by side arrangement are considered simultaneously. The variations of the coefficient of grouping effect with the distance between cylinders for different KD are discussed. In order to verify the numerical solution, several sets of experiments are conducted. The agreement between numerical and experimental solutions is satisfactory.

THE COMPUTATION OF SEEPAGE FORCE ON MARINE STRUCTURES WITH FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The wave-induced seepage force is investigated on marine structures resting on or buried in the seabed.The bed is modelled as a poroelastic medium containing a nearly saturated water.The governing equations are solved with Finite Element Method.For a pipeline buried in the seabed,agreement between the present numerical results and that of Cheng H.D.(1986)is quite satisfactory.

Kinematic analysis of shallow tunnel in layered strata considering joined effects of settlement and seepage

The purpose of this work is to predict the state of collapse in shallow tunnel in layered strata by using a new curved failure mechanism within the framework of upper bound theorem.Particular emphasis is first given to consider the effects of seepage forces and surface settlement.Furthermore,the Hoek-Brown nonlinear failure criterion is adopted to analyze the influence of different factors on the collapsing shape.Two different curve functions which describe two different rock layers are obtained by virtual work equations under the variational principle.According to the numerical results,the parameter B in Hoek-Brown failure criterion and the unit weights in different rock layers have a positive relationship with the size of collapsing block while pore pressure coefficient and the parameter A in Hoek-Brown failure criterion present a reverse tend.

Irregular wave－induced seepage action on cylinders resting on rubble mound foundation

In this paper, the irregular wave-induced seepage action on cylinders resting on rubble mound foundatoin (RMF) is studied by means of finite element method (FEM). The hydraulic resistance inside RMF is assumed to satisfy the nonlinear Forchheimer's equation and the seepage in the scabed is also considered. Model tests show good agreementwith the numerical results. The influence of several main parameters is discussed on the basis of vast calculations. In addition, the ratio of seepage forces, induced by regular and irregular waves respectively, is analyzed and thus a computaional method is put forward for practical engineering application to simplify the calculation of irregular wave-induced seepage forces.

Numerical simulation of dynamic pore pressure in asphalt pavement

For studying the driving role of dynamic pressure in water-induced damage of asphalt pavement, based on the fast Lagrangian finite difference method and Biot dynamic consolidation theory, fluid-solid coupling analysis of the pavement is conducted considering asphalt mixtures as porous media. Results reveal that the development and dissipation of the dynamic pore pressure are coinstantaneous and this makes both the positive and negative dynamic pore pressure and seepage force alternate with time. Repetitive hydrodynamic pumping and sucking during moisture damage is proved. The dynamic pore pressure increases with vehicle velocity. Effective stress and deflection of pavement decrease due to the dynamic pore water pressure. However, the emulsification and replacement of the asphalt membrane by water are accelerated. The maximum dynamic pore pressure occurs at the bottom of the surface course. So it is suggested that a drain course should be set up to change the draining condition from single-sided drain to a two-sided drain, and thus moisture damage can be effectively limited.

Estimation of Heights of Soil Plug Inside Bucket Foundations During Suction Penetration by Deformable Discrete Element Modeling

The soil plug phenomenon involving the rising of the surface soil inside the bucket chamber under the suction pressure and seepage forces was simulated and calculated by deformable discrete element method (DDEM) models. The seepage forces, the effective gravity of soil, the friction on the chamber wall and the suction inside the chamber are considered as the main external forces of DDEM specimen. Three typical types of soil (silty clay, silt and sand) in the Bohai Sea are set as the main environmental conditions in the formation process of soil plug. It is found that the heights of soil plug simulated by DDEM models are 161.85 mm in silty clay, 125.22 mm in silt and 167.56 mm in sand, which are close to model test results and higher than those estimated by discrete element method (DEM). DDEM is an effective method to estimate and predict the heights of soil plug before suction penetration of bucket foundations on site.

Rapid assessment of regional superficial landslide under heavy rainfall

In order to establish a rapid method for regional slope stability analysis under rainfall,matric suction and seepage force were taken into account after obtaining explicit solution of infiltration depth.Moreover,simplified analysis model under 3D condition was put forward based on identification and division of slope units,as well as modification of sliding direction of each column.The result shows that explicit solution of infiltration depth is of good precision;for the given model,safety factors without taking seepage force into account are 1.82-2.94 times higher;the stagnation point of slope angle is located approximately in the range of(45°,50°);the safety factor changes insignificantly when wetting front is deeper than 2 m;when matric suction changes in the specified range,the maximum variations of safety factor are less than 0.5,which proves that matric suction plays an insignificant role in maintaining slope stability compared to the slope angle and infiltration depth.Incorporated with geographic information system,a practical application of regional slope stability assessment verifies the applicability of the proposed method.

Elastoplastic Analysis of Circular Tunnel in Saturated Ground Under Different Load Conditions

When a tunnel is excavated below the groundwater table,groundwater flows in through the excavated wall of the tunnel and seepage forces act on it.These forces significantly affect the ground reaction curve,which is defined as the relationship between the internal pressure and radial displacement of the tunnel wall.This study investigates analytical solutions for seepage forces acting on the lining of a circular tunnel under steady-state groundwater flow.Considering the tunnel’s construction or service period and boundary conditions,the direction of maximum principal stress changes,and the input stress of the Mohr-Coulomb criterion varies.The stress distribution and yield range of the surrounding soils and linings are studied.The first,second,and third critical inner pressures are defined and evaluated.The influence of the seepage field on the plastic radius,first critical pressure,and stress distribution of the tunnel is analyzed.It is shown that during the construction period,the seepage force promotes the expansion of the yield area,whereas during the service period,the opposite is the case.The first critical pressure increases nearly linearly with the distant water pressure.The radial stress distribution decreases clearly in comparison with that when the seepage force is not considered,and the reduction is more prominent when internal pressure increases.The tangential stress distribution increases clearly compared with that when the seepage force is not considered.

Mechanism of Reservoir Water in the Deformation of Hefeng Landslide

The trial impoundment was carried on in Three Gorges Reservoir from September 27, 2008. There were strong deformation and failure in Hefeng （鹤峰） landslide when the reservoir water level descended from the altitude of 173 m. It indicates that the deformation is closely related to reservoir water fluctuation. For this reason, the effect of reservoir water in the deformation was studied, taking Hefeng landslide as an example in this article. First, the geological characteristics and deformation situation of strong deformation region are analyzed to disclose the intrinsic factors and the pattern of the deformation under the condition of water level fluctuation. Second, the stabilities of the landslide are calculated during the rising and descending processes, and the corresponding relationship between reservoir water level fluctuation and landslide deformation is further identified. At last, the seepage fields and the force condition of landslide body below the phreatie line are analyzed to reveal the effect of reservoir water. Moreover, it can be concluded that for better permeable reservoir landslide, during reservoir water rising, the favorable effect of seepage force weakens the unfavorable effect of uplift force, so the rising of reservoir water has little effect on the stability, and no deformation is caused; but during the descending of reservoir water, the unfavorable effect of seepage force is superimposed on the unfavorable effect of the uplift force, which causes the stability to dramatically decrease and leads to the failure of the accumulation body in front of the landslide.