Computational Analysis of Geological Formations on Multiple-Length and Time Scales

The main aim of this project is to undertake a multiscale characterisation of geological materials and formations. Geological formations often exhibit structure on several length-scales. For instance, in addition to the material microstructure, pervasive joint sets may exist below/at the resolution of the finite mesh employed in field-scale simulations. Consequently, a multi-level homogenization procedure will be developed to facilitate upscaling from: high definition image scale (< 2mm) -> scale of material heterogeneities (e.g. micro-cracks, small-scale natural fractures) -> geological-scale element size (5-10m).
The multiscale nature of the problem is further compounded by the requirement to incorporate the multiple time-scales of the problem, which range from stress redistribution from seismically measurable dynamic fault propagation to the chemically dominated microstructure evolution that occurs on a scale of several million years. This will necessitate use of appropriate time-scales and the formulation of novel time-dependent material models on multiple time-scales.
The proposed PhD research work will combine academic knowledge within Swansea University (Prof Peric) and industrial research expertise of industrial collaborator (Dr Crook, TCGA), with an aim to develop coupled geomechanical/flow modelling framework for simulation of field-scale and basin-scale evolution over geological time frames. Multiscale and multiphysics modelling techniques developed within this project will be embedded in a novel computational framework for strongly nonlinear problems, which will target simulations of very large-scale applications of geological processes.