Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Geomechanical model'

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
Frente à crescente complexidade dos cenarios de exploração de petróleo, as análises de estabilidade convencionais tornam-se insuficientes para determinar as condições reais dos poços. Assim, ciente destas limitações, a indústria do petróleo vem aplicando com mais frequência novos métodos como o modelo geomecânico denominado Mechanical Earth Model (MEM), pois permite gerar uma previsão da estabilidade do poço e ajuda a reduzir os riscos de perfuração. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho apresenta uma metodologia para estimar as condições da estabilidade de poços com ênfase nas formações de folhelhos, através da identificação e análise de problemas e eventos que revelem sinais de instabilidade geomecânica levantados nos dados de perfuração disponíveis. Boletins diários de perfuração e perfis elétricos de poços são as fontes de dados para análise de problemas de estabilidade que são os responsáveis pela maior parte dos tempos não produtivos, e consequentemente, de custos extras de perfuração. Por tanto, o estudo e o entendimento destes problemas contribuirá para a otimização do processo de perfuração, melhorando assim as práticas ou mitigando os efeitos severos das anormalidades.
Facing the increasing complexity of scenarios for oil exploration, the conventional stability analysis became insufficient to determine the actual condition of the wells. Aware of these limitations, the oil industry has been applying new methods such as the geomechanical model named Mechanical Earth Model – MEM, which has been applied on the prediction of wellbore stability and drilling risks mitigation. In this sense, this work presents a methodology for estimating the wellbore stability conditions of wells with special emphasis on shale formations, through the identification and assessment of events which indicate geomechanical instability during drilling. These data are available from daily drilling reports and electric logs. Well Stability problems are responsible for most non-productive time, and consequently, the extra drilling costs. Therefore, the study and understanding of these problems contribute to the drilling optimization, thus improving the practices or mitigating the effects of severe abnormalities.

Magister Scientiae - MSc (Earth Science)
This thesis provides a 2D geomechanical model for the K-R field, Bredasdorp Basin and describes the workflow and process to do so. This study has a unique density correction software applied to density data, prior to the estimation of geopressure gradients. The aim of this research is to create a model that evaluates the geomechanical behaviour of the upper shallow marine reservoir (USM) and provide a safe drilling mud window for future in the area.

In recent years, hydraulic fracturing has led to a dramatic increase in the worldwide production of natural gas. In a typical hydraulic fracturing treatment, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected into a reservoir to generate fractures in the reservoir that serve as pathways for fluid flow. Recent research has shown that both the effectiveness of fracturing treatments and the productivity of fractured reservoirs can be heavily influenced by the presence of pre-existing natural fracture networks. This work presents a fully implicit hydro-mechanical algorithm for modeling hydraulic fracturing in complex fracture networks using the two-dimensional discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). Building upon previous studies coupling the DDA to fracture network flow, this work emphasizes various improvements made to stabilize the existing algorithms and facilitate their convergence. Additional emphasis is placed on validation of the model and on extending the model to the stochastic characterization of hydraulic fracturing in naturally fractured systems. To validate the coupled algorithm, the model was tested against two analytical solutions for hydraulic fracturing, one for the growth of a fixed-length fracture subject to constant fluid pressure, and the other for the growth of a viscosity-storage dominated fracture subject to a constant rate of fluid injection. Additionally, the model was used to reproduce the results of a hydraulic fracturing experiment performed using high-viscosity fracturing fluid in a homogeneous medium. Very good agreement was displayed in all cases, suggesting that the algorithm is suitable for simulating hydraulic fracturing in homogeneous media. Next, this work explores the relationship between the maximum tensile stress and Mohr-Coulomb fracture criteria used in the DDA and the critical stress intensity factor criteria from linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). The relationship between the criteria is derived, and the ability of the model to capture the relationship is examined for both Mode I and Mode II fracturing. The model was then used to simulate the LEFM solution for a toughness-storage dominated bi-wing hydraulic fracture. Good agreement was found between the numerical and theoretical results, suggesting that the simpler maximum tensile stress criteria can serve as an acceptable substitute for the more rigorous LEFM criteria in studies of hydraulic fracturing. Finally, this work presents a method for modeling hydraulic fracturing in reservoirs characterized by pre-existing fracture networks. The ability of the algorithm to correctly model the interaction mechanism of intersecting fractures is demonstrated through comparison with experimental results, and the method is extended to the stochastic analysis of hydraulic fracturing in probabilistically characterized reservoirs. Ultimately, the method is applied to a case study of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale, and the sensitivity of fracture propagation to variations in rock and fluid parameters is analyzed.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Esta tese busca utilizar os novos conceitos físicos relacionados à física do estado sólido e à mecânica estatística - teoria do caos e geometria fractal - na análise do comportamento de sistemas dinâmicos não-lineares. Mais pormenorizadamente, trata-se de estudar o comportamento de um modelo numérico elasto-plástico com função de escoamento de Mohr-Coulomb, usualmente empregado em simulações de materiais geológicos - cimentados ou não -, quando submetido a carregamentos externos, situação esta geralmente encontrada em problemas afeitos à mecânica dos solos e das rochas (p/ex., estabilidade de taludes e escavações subterrâneas). Mostra-se que tal modelo geomecânico de muitos corpos (many-body) interagentes é conduzido espontaneamente, ao longo de sua evolução temporal, à chamada criticalidade auto-organizada (self- organized criticality - SOC), estado caracterizado por apresentar evolução na fronteira entre ordem e caos, sensibilidade extrema a qualquer pequena perturbação, e desenvolvimento de interações espaço-temporais de longo alcance. Como a evolução de qualquer sistema dinâmico pode ser vista como um fluxo ininterrupto de informações entre suas partes constituintes, avaliou-se, para tal sistema, a entropia de Tsallis, formulação original proposta pelo físico brasileiro Constantino Tsallis, do Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF), tendo se mostrado adequada à sua descrição. Em especial, determinou-se para tal sistema, pela primeira vez, o valor do índice entrópico, que parametriza a aludida forma entrópica alternativa. Ademais, como é característico de sistemas fora do equilíbrio regidos por uma dinâmica de limiar, mostra-se que tal sistema geomecânico, durante o seu desenvolvimento, teve a sua simetria translacional inicial quebrada, sendo substituída pela simetria por escala, auto-semelhante (i.é., fractal). Em decorrência, o modelo exibe a chamada invariância discreta de escala (discrete scale invariance - DSI), fruto do processo mesmo de ruptura progressiva do material heterogêneo. Especificamente, as simulações numéricas sugeriram que o processo de ruptura progressiva do material elasto-plástico se dá por uma transferência multiplicativa de tensões, em diferentes escalas de observação hierarquicamente dispostas, acarretando o aparecimento de sinais bastante peculiares, caracterizados por desvios oscilatórios sistemáticos do padrão em lei de potência, o que possibilita a previsão de sua ruína, quando ainda em fase preparatória. Assim, esta pesquisa mostrou a eficiência de tal método de previsão, aplicado, pela primeira vez, não somente aos resultados das simulações numéricas do referido modelo geomecânico, como aos ensaios de laboratório em rochas sedimentares, realizados no Centro de Pesquisas da Petrobrás (CENPES). Por fim, é interessante assinalar que o material elasto-plástico investigado neste trabalho teve seu comportamento compartilhado por um modelo matemático bastante simples, fundamentado na função binomial multifractal, reconhecida por descrever processos multiplicativos em diferentes escalas.
This thesis aims at applying new concepts from solid state physics and statistical mechanics - chaos theory and fractal geometry - to the study of nonlinear dynamic systems. More precisely, it deals with a two-dimensional continuum elastoplastic Mohr-Coulomb model, commonly used to simulate pressure-sensitive materials (e.g., soils, rocks and concrete) subjected to stress-strain fields, normally found in general soil or rock mechanics problems (e.g., slope stability and underground excavations). It is shown that such many-body system is spontaneously driven to a state at the edge of chaos, called self- organized criticality (SOC), capable of developing long- range interactions in space and long-range memory in time. A new entropic form proposed by C. Tsallis is presented and shown that it is the suitable theoretical framework to deal with these problems. Furthermore, the index q of the Tsallis entropy, which measures the degree of non- additivity of the system, is calculated, for the first time, for an elastoplastic model. In addition, as is usual in non-equilibrium systems with threshold dynamics, the model changes its symmetry, from translational to fractal (that is, self-similar), leading to what is called discrete scale invariance. It is shown that this special type of scale invariance, characterized by systematic oscillatory deviations from the fundamental power-law behavior, can be used to predict the failure of heterogeneous materials, while the process is still being build-up, i.e., from precursory signals, typical of progressive failure processes. Specifically, this framework was applied, for the first time, not only to the elastoplastic geomechanical model, but to laboratory tests in sedimentary rocks as well. Finally, it is interesting to realize that the above- mentioned behaviors are also displayed by the binomial multifractal function, known to adequately describe multiplicative cascading processes.

Doctor en Ingeniería de Minas
La caracterización de fracturas es crítica en minería a cielo abierto y subterránea, así como en ingeniería geológica e ingeniería de petróleo, para comprender las propiedades mecánicas e hidráulicas del macizo rocoso. Dado que se observa una fracción muy pequeña de las fracturas en un área de estudio, no es aconsejable un modelo determinístico de la red de fracturas y, a menudo, es preferible un modelo estocástico. Esta tesis se centra en el llamado modelo Cox-Booleano de discos planos para describir redes de fracturas discretas, que se basa en la definición de un proceso puntual de Cox que representa los centros de fracturas, así como en una distribución de las orientaciones y de los diámetros de fracturas. El problema específico abordado es la inferencia de los parámetros del modelo, basada en información de muestreo 1D o 2D que se origina a partir de sondajes, observaciones en líneas o bidimensionales. Las soluciones actuales al problema de inferencia suelen ser aproximadas o incipientes, especialmente en lo que se refiere al potencial del proceso de Cox subyacente, que consiste en un campo aleatorio que modela el número promedio de centros de fracturas por unidad de volumen del macizo rocoso. Se desarrollan tres métodos para modelar los parámetros de un modelo Cox-Booleano. El primero se centra en la estimación de la distribución de diámetros de fracturas en función de la distribución de longitudes de trazas determinadas a partir de observaciones areales. El segundo método aborda el problema de predecir espacialmente la intensidad de fracturas (P32) y cuantificar la incertidumbre en los valores verdaderos de P32, utilizando la información de las discontinuidades observadas a lo largo de sondajes. El tercer método permite inferir la distribución del potencial en base a la intensidad de fracturas como una variable auxiliar y a una identidad general entre las distribuciones de diámetros de fracturas, de la intensidad de fracturas y del campo potencial sobre un soporte de bloque grande. Las herramientas y métodos propuestos se aplican a estudios de casos sintéticos y reales para demostrar su aplicabilidad. El conocimiento de los parámetros del modelo abre el camino para simular el DFN en el espacio y condicionar la simulación a datos observados.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-137).
High-quality Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) surface deformation data for field sites around the world has become widely available over the past decade. Geomechanical models based on InSAR data occur frequently in the literature but few methods of systematically optimizing or comparing them are presented. This work discusses parameterization errors for simplified models of strike-slip, normal, thrust and reservoir-style faulting with the aim of identifying tests or characteristics that can differentiate between error types uniquely. Fault dip errors, slip errors and depth errors are modelled using a simple homogeneous elastic half-space earth model. Simple difference maps prove to be a powerful tool for identifying error types and parameter sensitivity, with gradient maps and gradient difference maps useful for distinguishing between similar cases. The fault dip proves to be more indicative of error resolving capability than the faulting regime; errors on intermediately dipping faults are very difficult to differentiate. More detailed modelling of compound errors, complex geomechanical properties and noisy data is proposed. The use of the tests as the starting point for an artificially intelligent modelling package is briefly discussed.
by Neil Edward James de Laplante.
S.M.

Geotechnical structures under realistic field conditions are usually influenced with complex interactions of coupled hydromechanical behavior of porous materials. In many geotechnical applications, however, these important coupled interactions are ignored in their constitutive models. Under coupled hydromechanical behavior, stress in porous materials causes volumetric change in strain, which causes fluid diffusion; consequently, pore pressure dissipates through the pores that results in the consolidation of porous material. The objective of this research was to demonstrate the advantages of using hydromechanical models to estimate deformation and pore water pressure of porous materials by comparing with mechanical-only models. Firstly, extensive literature survey was conducted about hydro-mechanical models based on Biot's poroelastic concept. Derivations of Biot's poroelastic equations will be presented. To demonstrate the hydromechanical effects, a numerical model of poroelastic rock materials was developed using COMSOL, a commercialized multiphysics finite element software package, and compared with the analytical model developed by Wang (2000). Secondly, a series of sensitivity analyses was conducted to correlate the effect of poroelastic parameters on the behavior of porous material. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that porosity and Biot's coefficient has dominant contribution to porous material behavior. Thirdly, a coupled hydromechanical finite element model was developed for a real-world example of embankment consolidation. The simulation results show excellent agreement to field measurements of embankment settlement data.
M.S.
Masters
Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
Engineering and Computer Science
Civil Engineering; Structures and Geotechnical Engineering

This thesis uses different variants of geomechanical modelling approaches to investigate stress, strain and geometry distribution and evolution through time of the Tarfaya salt basin, located on the West African coast. This work has been conducted by geomechanically simulating a sector of the Tarfaya basin containing key features such as diapirs, faults and encasing sediments using 3D and 2D static models and 2D evolutionary models. The 3D and 2D static geomechanical models of the Tarfaya basin system allowed to predict the stresses and strains at present day. Both models are based on present-day basin geometries extracted from seismic data and use a poro-elastic description for the sediments based on calibrated log data and a visco-plastic description for the salt based on values from Avery Island. The models predict a significant horizontal stress reduction in the sediments located at the top of the principal salt structure, the Sandia diapir, consistent with wellbore data. However, the 2D static geomechanical model shows broader areas affected by the stress reduction compared to the 3D model and overestimates its magnitude by less than 1.5 MPa. These results highlight the possibility of using 2D static modelling as a valid approximation to the more complex and time-consuming 3D static models. A more in-depth study of the 2D static model using sensitivity analysis yielded a series of interesting observations: (1) the salt bodies and their geometry have the strongest impact on the final model results; (2) the elastic properties of the sediments do not impact the model results. In other words, the correct definition of the sediments with the highest material contrasts such as salt should be a priority when building static models. Such definition should be ranked ahead of the precise determination of the rheologic parameters for the sediments present in the basin. In this thesis, we also present the results of introducing an evolutionary geomechanical modelling approach to the Tarfaya basin. This study incorporates information of burial history, sea floor geometry and tectonic loads from a sequential kinematic restoration model to geologically constrain the 2D evolutionary geomechanical model. The sediments in the model follow a poro-elastoplastic description and the salt follows a visco-plastic description. The 2D evolutionary model predicts a similar Sandia diapir evolution when compared to the kinematic restoration. This proves this approach can offer a significant advance in the study of the basin, by not only providing the stress and strain distribution and salt geometry at present day, but also reproducing their evolution during the Tarfaya basin history. Sensitivity analysis on the evolutionary model indicates that temporal and spatial variation in sedimentation rate is a key control on the kinematic structural evolution of the salt system. The variation of sedimentation rates in the model controls whether the modelled salt body gets buried by Tertiary sediments (after a continuous growth during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods) or is able to remain active until the present day. Also, the imposed shortening affects the final stress distribution of the sediments at the present day. To conclude, the results obtained during this study allowed us to understand the formation and evolution of the diapirs in the Tarfaya basin using carefully built geomechanical models. The study demonstrates that carefully built 2D static models can provide information comparable to the 3D models, but without the time and computational power requirements of the 3D models. That makes the 2D approach very appropriate for the exploration stages of a particular prospect. If carefully built, such 2D models can approximate and yield useful information, even from complex 3D structures such as the Tarfaya basin salt structures. This thesis also concludes that incorporating kinematic restoration data into 2D evolutionary models provides insights into the key parameters controlling the evolution of the studied system. Furthermore, it enables more realistic geomechanical models, which, in turn, provide more insights into sediment stress and porosity.

Le nord-ouest des Alpes est un domaine intraplaque présentant de très faibles déformations. C'est pourquoi il paraît délicat de déduire la probabilité d'occurrence d'un séisme de taille lithosphérique (magnitude supérieure à 7) à partir des observations de microsismicité. De telles observations sont en effet des processus superficiels et présentent peu ou pas de lien avec des processus profonds de plus grande ampleur. L'objectif est de déterminer le potentiel sismique d'un secteur au nord-ouest des Alpes en étudiant le champ de contrainte résultant d'un chargement gravitaire. Seuls les objets de taille lithosphérique, i.e. de l'ordre de la centaine de kilomètres sont pris en compte. Un modèle de contraintes à l'échelle 360 km par 400 km par 230 km d'épaisseur, centré sur la subduction fossile des Alpes de l'ouest et s'étendant jusqu'au nord de Strasbourg, est établi. L'étude des structures du nord-ouest alpin montre l'importance de l'orogène alpin qui se retrouve, enparticulier, dans les variations de profondeur des interfaces de la lithosphère. Une étude du champ de contrainte dans le socle a permis d'identifier une rotation des contraintes principales horizontales avec l'axe des Alpes. Bien que la valeur absolue des contraintes principales n'ait pas pu être déterminée, un rapport de valeur relative est calculé. Le résultat de la modélisation montre l'importance de la rhéologie dans le cas d'un chargement gravitaire. Si une rhéologie élastique est prise en compte, les directions de contrainte calculées sont totalement différentes des observations. Par contre, l'utilisation d'une rhéologie élasto-plastique combinée à l'utilisation d'une géométrie réaliste des interfaces lithosphériques permet d'obtenir des directions de contraintes cohérentes avec les données.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.
The application of conventional techniques, such as kriging, to model rock mass is limited because rock mass spatial variability and heterogeneity are not considered in such techniques. In this context, as an alternative solution, the application of the Gaussian simulation technique to simulate rock mass spatial heterogeneity based on the rock mass rating (RMR) classification is proposed. This research proposes a methodology that includes a variographic analysis of the RMR in different directions to determine its anisotropic behavior. In the case study of an underground deposit in Peru, the geomechanical record data compiled in the field were used. A total of 10 simulations were conducted, with approximately 6 million values for each simulation. These were calculated, verified, and an absolute mean error of only 3.82% was estimated. It is acceptable when compared with the value of 22.15% obtained with kriging.

In this study, several efficient and accurate mathematical models and numerical solutions to unconventional reservoir development problems are developed. The first is the three-dimensional embedded discrete fracture method (3D-EDFM), which is able to simulate fluid flow with multiple 3D hydraulic fractures with arbitrary strike and dip angles, shapes, curvatures, conductivities and connections. The second is a multi-porosity and multi-physics fluid flow model, which can capture gas flow behaviors in shales, which is complicated by highly heterogeneous and hierarchical rock structures (ranging from organic nanopores, inorganic nanopores, less permeable micro-fractures, more permeable macro-fractures to hydraulic fractures). The third is an iterative numerical approach combining the extended finite element method (X-FEM) and the embedded discrete fracture method (EDFM), which is developed for simulating the fluid-driven fracture propagation process in porous media.

Physical explanations and mathematical equations behind these mathematical models and numerical approaches are described in detail. Their advantages over alternative numerical methods are discussed. These numerical methods are incorporated into an in-house program. A series of synthetic but realistic cases are simulated. Simulated results reveal physical understandings qualitatively and match with available analytical solutions quantitatively. These novel mathematical models and computational solutions provide numerical approaches to understand complicated physical phenomena in developing unconventional reservoirs, thus they help in the better management of unconventional reservoirs.

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A disciplina de geomecânica de reservatórios engloba aspectos relacionados não somente à mecânica de rochas, mas também à geologia estrutural e engenharia de petróleo e deve ser entendida no intuito de melhor explicar aspectos críticos presentes nas fases de exploração e produção de reservatórios de petróleo, tais como: predição de poro pressões, estimativa de potenciais selantes de falhas geológicas, determinação de trajetórias de poços, cálculo da pressão de fratura, reativação de falhas, compactação de reservatórios, injeção de CO2, entre outros. Uma representação adequada da quantificação de incertezas é parte essencial de qualquer projeto. Especificamente, uma análise que se destina a fornecer informações sobre o comportamento de um sistema deve prover uma avaliação da incerteza associada aos resultados. Sem tal estimativa, perspectivas traçadas a partir da análise e decisões tomadas com base nos resultados são questionáveis. O processo de quantificação de incertezas para modelos multifísicos de grande escala, como os modelos relacionados à geomecânica de reservatórios, requer uma atenção especial, principalmente, devido ao fato de comumente se deparar com cenários em que a disponibilidade de dados é nula ou escassa. Esta tese se propôs a avaliar e integrar estes dois temas: quantificação de incertezas e geomecânica de reservatórios. Para isso, foi realizada uma extensa revisão bibliográfica sobre os principais problemas relacionados à geomecânica de reservatórios, tais como: injeção acima da pressão de fratura, reativação de falhas geológicas, compactação de reservatórios e injeção de CO2. Esta revisão contou com a dedução e implementação de soluções analíticas disponíveis na literatura relatas aos fenômenos descritos acima. Desta forma, a primeira contribuição desta tese foi agrupar diferentes soluções analíticas relacionadas à geomecânica de reservatórios em um único documento. O processo de quantificação de incertezas foi amplamente discutido. Desde a definição de tipos de incertezas - aleatórias ou epistêmicas, até a apresentação de diferentes metodologias para quantificação de incertezas. A teoria da evidência, também conhecida como Dempster-Shafer theory, foi detalhada e apresentada como uma generalização da teoria da probabilidade. Apesar de vastamente utilizada em diversas áreas da engenharia, pela primeira vez a teoria da evidência foi utilizada na engenharia de reservatórios, o que torna tal fato uma contribuição fundamental desta tese. O conceito de decisões sob incerteza foi introduzido e catapultou a integração desses dois temas extremamente relevantes na engenharia de reservatórios. Diferentes cenários inerentes à tomada de decisão foram descritos e discutidos, entre eles: a ausência de dados de entrada disponíveis, a situação em que os parâmetros de entrada são conhecidos, a inferência de novos dados ao longo do projeto e, por fim, uma modelagem híbrida. Como resultado desta integração foram submetidos 3 artigos a revistas indexadas. Por fim, foi deduzida a equação de fluxo em meios porosos deformáveis e proposta uma metodologia explícita para incorporação dos efeitos geomecânicos na simulação de reservatórios tradicional. Esta metodologia apresentou resultados bastante efetivos quando comparada a métodos totalmente acoplados ou iterativos presentes na literatura.
Reservoir geomechanics encompasses aspects related to rock mechanics, structural geology and petroleum engineering. The geomechanics of reservoirs must be understood in order to better explain critical aspects present in petroleum reservoirs exploration and production phases, such as: pore pressure prediction, geological fault seal potential, well design, fracture propagation, fault reactivation, reservoir compaction, CO2 injection, among others. An adequate representation of the uncertainties is an essential part of any project. Specifically, an analysis that is intended to provide information about the behavior of a system should provide an assessment of the uncertainty associated with the results. Without such estimate, perspectives drawn from the analysis and decisions made based on the results are questionable. The process of uncertainty quantification for large scale multiphysics models, such as reservoir geomechanics models, requires special attention, due to the fact that scenarios where data availability is nil or scarce commonly come across. This thesis aimed to evaluate and integrate these two themes: uncertainty quantification and reservoir geomechanics. For this, an extensive literature review on key issues related to reservoir geomechanics was carried out, such as: injection above the fracture pressure, fault reactivation, reservoir compaction and CO2 injection. This review included the deduction and implementation of analytical solutions available in the literature. Thus, the first contribution of this thesis was to group different analytical solutions related to reservoir geomechanics into a single document. The process of uncertainty quantification has been widely discussed. The definition of types of uncertainty - aleatory or epistemic and different methods for uncertainty quantification were presented. Evidence theory, also known as Dempster- Shafer theory, was detailed and presented as a probability theory generalization. Although widely used in different fields of engineering, for the first time the evidence theory was used in reservoir engineering, which makes this fact a fundamental contribution of this thesis. The concept of decisions under uncertainty was introduced and catapulted the integration of these two extremely important issues in reservoir engineering. Different scenarios inherent in the decision-making have been described and discussed, among them: the lack of available input data, the situation in which the input parameters are known, the inference of new data along the design time, and finally a hybrid modeling. As a result of this integration three articles were submitted to peer review journals. Finally, the flow equation in deformable porous media was presented and an explicit methodology was proposed to incorporate geomechanical effects in the reservoir simulation. This methodology presented quite effective results when compared to fully coupled or iterative methods in the literature.

Extraction of oil and gas can cause reduction in pore pressure, occasionally resulting in subsequent compaction that forms a surface subsidence bowl, especially in shallow reservoirs. In the last 10 years, there has been over 10 feet of subsidence in parts of the Lost Hills oil field in California (Bruno et al.,1992). The surface subsidence at Lost Hills not only causes damage to surface facilities and wells, but also reactivates faults and reduces rock permeability. Subsidence makes reservoir optimization difficult. Hence, it is important to assess or predict the surface subsidence and the reasons for subsidence early in the life of an oil field to make an optimization plan. We use jointly the capacitance resistance model (CRM) (Alberoni et al., 2002 and Yousef, et al., 2006) that relies only on injection and production data, and the InSAR satellite imagery of surface subsidence. From CRM simulations, we estimate the connectivity between injectors and producers as well as general water flow directions from individual injectors. We then superimpose well connectivity and InSAR imagery to diagnose the reasons for the subsidence. Using new surface subsidence models, which are based on the continuity equation of CRM and rock mechanics, we are able to predict the average surface subsidence at Lost Hills from the injection and production rates. Our work shows that there was significant volumetric rock damage at Lost Hills and the well connectivity changed dramatically with time because of reservoir compaction and the rock damage. We conclude that for a soft, fragile and nearly- impermeable rock such as the diatomite, high injection rate weakens the rock and creates dynamic water flow tubes or ‘channels’ without providing good pressure support to the reservoir. These high permeability ‘channels’ re-circulate most of the injected water between the injectors and producers. Our CRM/InSAR approach is new and gives insights into the time-dependent and spatially variable fluid flow fields in a relatively shallow waterflood. Consequently, we may be able to suggest optimum water injection strategies to enhance oil production, while minimizing rock damage and surface subsidence. In addition, the proposed surface subsidence models are convenient and reliable to predict the average surface subsidence.
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Understanding economic success of unconventional production from shales requires an explanation of the relationship between induced seismicity and hydraulic fracturing. This thesis deals with observing and analyzing synthetic and real microseismic monitoring data acquired during hydraulic fracturing. The thesis is based on observation and analyses of source mechanisms of induced microseismic events that have recently become regularly inverted and interpreted in the oil and gas industry. The results of analyses are interpreted with the geomechanical model of the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and induced seismicity. The study of source mechanisms starts with detailed analyses of spatial distribution of full moment tensor inversion stability. It was mapped based on synthetically computed condition numbers in the vicinity of different monitoring arrays including dense arrays at the surface and sparse arrays with sensors in the boreholes. Stability of inversion was tested under several conditions, mainly dependency on size and geometry of monitoring array and level of noise in the data. In this part of the thesis it is shown that dense surface arrays may provide very stable inversion of source mechanisms which may be interpreted. The study shows that an increasing percentage of non-shear...

Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
Production from unconventional reservoirs became popular in the last decade in the U.S. Promising production results and predictions, as well as improvements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology made unconventional reservoirs economically feasible. Therefore, an effective and efficient reservoir model for unconventional resources became a must. In order to model production from such resources, analytical, semi-analytical, and numerical models have been developed, but analytical models are frequently used due to their practicality, relative simplicity, and also due to limited availability of field data. This research project has been accomplished in two main parts. In the first part, two analytical models for unconventional reservoirs, one with infinite hydraulic fracture conductivity assumption proposed by Patzek et al. (2013), while the other one with finite hydraulic fracture conductivity assumption developed by Ozkan et al. (2011) are compared. Additionally, a commercial reservoir simulator (CMG, IMEX, 2012) is employed to compare the results with the analytical models. Sensitivity study is then performed to identify the critical parameters controlling the production performance of unconventional reservoirs. In the second part, naturally and hydraulically fractured unconventional reservoir is considered. In addition, geomechanical effects on natural and hydraulic fractures are examined. A simple analytical dual porosity model, which represents the natural fractures in unconventional reservoirs, is improved to handle the constant bottom-hole pressure production scenario to identify the production performance differences between the cases with and without geomechanical effects. Finally, geomechanical effects are considered for combined natural and hydraulic fractures, and an evaluation of the circumstances in which the geomechanical effects cause a significant production loss is carried out.
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A combined geological and rock mechanics approach to tunnel face behaviour prediction, based on improved understanding of brittle fracture processes during TBM excavation, was developed to complement empirical design and performance prediction for TBM tunnelling in hard rock geological conditions. A major challenge of this research was combining geological and engineering terminology, methods, and objectives to construct a unified Geomechanical Characterisation Scheme. The goal of this system is to describe the spalling sensitivity of hard, massive, highly stressed crystalline rock, often deformed by tectonic processes. Geological, lab strength testing and TBM machine data were used to quantify the impact of interrelated geological factors, such as mineralogy, grain size, fabric and the heterogeneity of all these factors at micro and macro scale, on spalling sensitivity and to combine these factors within a TBM advance framework. This was achieved by incorporating aspects of geology, tectonics, mineralogy, material strength theory, fracture process theory and induced stresses. Three main approaches were used to verify and calibrate the Geomechanical Characterisation Scheme: geological and TBM data collection from tunnels in massive, highly-stressed rock, interpretation of published mineral-specific investigations of rock yielding processes, and numerical modelling the rock yielding processes in simulated strength tests and the TBM cutting process. The TBM performance investigation was used to identify the mechanism behind the chipping processes and quantify adverse conditions for chipping, including tough rock conditions and stress induced face instability. The literature review was used to identify the critical geological parameters for rock yielding processes and obtain strength and stiffness values for mineral-specific constitutive models. A texture-generating algorithm was developed to create realistic rock analogues and to provide user control over geological characteristics such as mineralogy, grain size and fabric. This methodology was applied to investigate the TBM chipping process to calibrate the Geomechanical Characterisation Scheme. A Chipping Resistance Factor was developed to combine the quantified geological characteristic factors and laboratory strength values to predict conditions with high risk of poor chipping performance arising from tough rock. A Stress-Related Chip Potential Factor was developed to estimate conditions with high risk of advance rate reduction arising from stress-induced face instability.
Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-25 23:58:58.071

Coalbeds are an extremely complicated porous medium with characteristics of heterogeneity, dual porosity and stress sensitivity. In the past decades great achievements have been made to the simulation models of pressure depletion coalbed methane (CBM) recovery process and CO2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery process. However, some important mechanisms are still not or not properly included. Among them, the influence of geomechanics is probably the most important one. Because of its influence coalbed permeability, the key parameter for the success of recovery processes, changes drastically with alterations of in situ stresses and strains during these processes. In present reservoir simulators, the change of coalbed permeability is estimated with analytical models. Due to the assumptions and over simplifications analytical models have limitations or problems in application. In this research to properly estimate the changes of permeability and porosity in the simulation of CO2 sequestration and ECBM recovery process, comprehensive permeability and porosity models have been developed with minimum assumptions and simulation methods established. Firstly, a set of continuum medium porosity and permeability coupling models is built up and a simulation procedure to apply these models in reservoir and geomechanical coupled simulations proposed. Using the models and simulation procedure a sensitivity study, mainly on the parameters related to coalbed permeability change and deformation, has been made for the CBM recovery process. Then based on the understanding, a set of discontinuum medium porosity and permeability coupling models is developed and a procedure to apply these models in reservoir and geomechanical coupled simulations presented. The new models are more comprehensive and adaptable, and can accommodate a wide range of coalbeds and in situ conditions. The proposed equivalent continuum deformation model for coal mass is validated by simulating a set of lab tests including a uniaxial compression test in vacuum and a CO2 swelling test under axial constraint in the longitudinal (vertical) direction. At last the discontinuum medium porosity and permeability coupling models and the simulation procedure are successfully applied to simulate part of a series of micro-pilot tests of ECBM and CO2 sequestration at Fenn Big Valley of Alberta, Canada.
Geotechnical Eengineering

For a stress-sensitive or stress-dependent reservoir, the interactions between its seepage field and in situ stress field are complex and affect hydrocarbon recovery. A coupled geomechanics and fluid-flow model can capture these relations between the fluid and solid, thereby presenting more precise history matchings and predictions for better well planning and reservoir management decisions. A traditional reservoir simulator cannot adequately or fully represent the ongoing coupled fluid-solid interactions during the production because of using the simplified update-formulation for porosity and the static absolute permeability during simulations. Many researchers have studied multiphase fluid-flow models coupled with geomechanics models during the past fifteen years. The purpose of this research is to develop a coupled geomechanics and compositional model and apply it to problems in the oil recovery processes. An equation of state compositional simulator called the General Purpose Adaptive Simulator (GPAS) is developed at The University of Texas at Austin and uses finite difference / finite control volume methods for the solution of its governing partial differential equations (PDEs). GPAS was coupled with a geomechanics model developed in this research, which uses a finite element method for discretization of the associated PDEs. Both the iteratively coupled solution procedure and the fully coupled solution procedure were implemented to couple the geomechanics and reservoir simulation modules in this work. Parallelization, testing, and verification for the coupled model were performed on parallel clusters of high-performance workstations. MPI was used for the data exchange in the iteratively coupled procedure. Different constitutive models were coded into GPAS to describe complicated behaviors of linear or nonlinear deformation in the geomechanics model. In addition, the geomechanics module was coupled with the dual porosity model in GPAS to simulate naturally fractured reservoirs. The developed coupled reservoir and geomechanics simulator was verified using analytical solutions. Various reservoir simulation case studies were carried out using the coupled geomechanics and GPAS modules.
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In numerical simulations of geomechanics problems, a grand challenge consists of overcoming the difficulties in making accurate and robust predictions by revealing the true mechanisms in particle interactions, fluid flow inside pore spaces, and hydromechanical coupling effect between the solid and fluid constituents, from microscale to mesoscale, and to macroscale. While simulation tools incorporating subscale physics can provide detailed insights and accurate material properties to macroscale simulations via computational homogenizations, these numerical simulations are often too computational demanding to be directly used across multiple scales. Recent breakthroughs of Artificial Intelligence (AI) via machine learning have great potential to overcome these barriers, as evidenced by their great success in many applications such as image recognition, natural language processing, and strategy exploration in games. The AI can achieve super-human performance level in a large number of applications, and accomplish tasks that were thought to be not feasible due to the limitations of human and previous computer algorithms. Yet, machine learning approaches can also suffer from overfitting, lack of interpretability, and lack of reliability. Thus the application of machine learning into generation of accurate and reliable surrogate constitutive models for geomaterials with multiscale and multiphysics is not trivial. For this purpose, we propose to establish an integrated modeling process for automatic designing, training, validating, and falsifying of constitutive models, or "metamodeling". This dissertation focuses on our efforts in laying down step-by-step the necessary theoretical and technical foundations for the multiscale metamodeling framework. The first step is to develop multiscale hydromechanical homogenization frameworks for both bulk granular materials and granular interfaces, with their behaviors homogenized from subscale microstructural simulations. For efficient simulations of field-scale geomechanics problems across more than two scales, we develop a hybrid data-driven method designed to capture the multiscale hydro-mechanical coupling effect of porous media with pores of various different sizes. By using sub-scale simulations to generate database to train material models, an offline homogenization procedure is used to replace the up-scaling procedure to generate path-dependent cohesive laws for localized physical discontinuities at both grain and specimen scales. To enable AI in taking over the trial-and-error tasks in the constitutive modeling process, we introduce a novel “metamodeling” framework that employs both graph theory and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to generate accurate, physics compatible and interpretable surrogate machine learning models. The process of writing constitutive models is simplified as a sequence of forming graph edges with the goal of maximizing the model score (a function of accuracy, robustness and forward prediction quality). By using neural networks to estimate policies and state values, the computer agent is able to efficiently self-improve the constitutive models generated through self-playing. To overcome the obstacle of limited information in geomechanics, we improve the efficiency in utilization of experimental data by a multi-agent cooperative metamodeling framework to provide guidance on database generation and constitutive modeling at the same time. The modeler agent in the framework focuses on evaluating all modeling options (from domain experts’ knowledge or machine learning) in a directed multigraph of elasto-plasticity theory, and finding the optimal path that links the source of the directed graph (e.g., strain history) to the target (e.g., stress). Meanwhile, the data agent focuses on collecting data from real or virtual experiments, interacts with the modeler agent sequentially and generates the database for model calibration to optimize the prediction accuracy. Finally, we design a non-cooperative meta-modeling framework that focuses on automatically developing strategies that simultaneously generate experimental data to calibrate model parameters and explore weakness of a known constitutive model until the strengths and weaknesses of the constitutive law on the application range can be identified through competition. These tasks are enabled by a zero-sum reward system of the metamodeling game and robust adversarial reinforcement learning techniques.

abstract: The understanding of multiphase fluid flow in porous media is of great importance in many fields such as enhanced oil recovery, hydrology, CO2 sequestration, contaminants cleanup, and natural gas production from hydrate bearing sediments. In this study, first, the water retention curve (WRC) and relative permeability in hydrate bearing sediments are explored to obtain fitting parameters for semi-empirical equations. Second, immiscible fluid invasion into porous media is investigated to identify fluid displacement pattern and displacement efficiency that are affected by pore size distribution and connectivity. Finally, fluid flow through granular media is studied to obtain fluid-particle interaction. This study utilizes the combined techniques of discrete element method simulation, micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (CT), pore-network model simulation algorithms for gas invasion, gas expansion, and relative permeability calculation, transparent micromodels, and water retention curve measurement equipment modified for hydrate-bearing sediments. In addition, a photoelastic disk set-up is fabricated and the image processing technique to correlate the force chain to the applied contact forces is developed. The results show that the gas entry pressure and the capillary pressure increase with increasing hydrate saturation. Fitting parameters are suggested for different hydrate saturation conditions and morphologies. And, a new model for immiscible fluid invasion and displacement is suggested in which the boundaries of displacement patterns depend on the pore size distribution and connectivity. Finally, the fluid-particle interaction study shows that the fluid flow increases the contact forces between photoelastic disks in parallel direction with the fluid flow.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

Proper characterisation of the mechanical and stress state of a hydrocarbon or geothermal reservoirs is crucial for optimal exploration and exploitation. The increasing complexity of discoveries push the boundaries of conventional methodologies, which often rely on local laboratory measurements or well-derived properties that may not represent the actual spatial distribution of relevant characteristics of the area. The early and accurate knowledge of pore pressure, mechanical properties and in-situ stress represent critical information to promote reservoir exploration, well placement and enhanced recovery techniques as well as avoidance of risky locations. Numerical modelling approaches serve as the solving tool as they can honour the heterogeneous and geometrical complexity of reservoir and associated structures. This study evaluates the potential and pertinence of geomechanical modelling techniques for stress and fracture prediction. The methodologies performed in this research are applied to a tight sand gas reservoir located in the Lower Magdalena Valley Basin in northern Colombia. The target reservoir is an Oligocene to Miocene sequence known as Porquero formation which is composed of low-permeability sandstones and shale layers. The area has been explored for more than 30 years but, due to its difficulty to be adequately characterised, has only become of economic interest in the last decade, thanks to the implementation of seismic methodologies and advanced petrophysical studies. The exploitation of the Porquero formation will require non-vertical drilling paths and hydraulic fracturing for economic production. Therefore, an accurate understanding of reservoir mechanics and stresses is of critical importance. In this study, different methodologies are proposed to study the general geomechanical behaviour of the stratigraphic column covered in the study area, as well as the inference of the natural fracturing behaviour along the reservoirs conforming the Porquero formation. Each methodology was developed around the data available, highlighting the integration between basin and petroleum systems modelling technique and geomechanical analysis as a pivotal approach to determine the mechanical state of a reservoir. The first modelling phase presents the performance of a complete geomechanical assessment using log-derived properties. This section includes the analysis of log and core data, as well as hydraulic fracturing tests leading to detailed 1D mechanical earth models (MEM) for each of the wells available in the study area. Subsequently, a 3D mechanical earth model was set up using two different property population methods that were tested and compared in terms of stresses. One method used a geostatistical approach based on well data mechanical models for property inter-/extrapolation, whereas the other, additionally used seismic inversion techniques to account for the vertical and lateral differences in mechanical rock properties. The combination of these methodologies serves as a base model of the present-day stress state of the area and is set to be the reference for potential predictive simulations. The second modelling phase introduces basin and petroleum systems modelling (BPSM) technology for geomechanical purposes. The method takes advantage of a robust model construction intended to assess hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation. It ensures that the temporal basin evolution and spatial properties variations are consistent and assumed under adequate reasoning. Pore pressure model was derived from porosity-dependent compaction laws that answer to subsidence and sedimentary registers of the basin. In-situ stresses were estimated through a poro-elastic approach. The definition of process-based mechanical properties, physics-driven pore pressure models and therefore enhanced resulting in-situ stresses, is presented as an alternative methodology to conventional modelling approaches, to perform a pre-drilling geomechanical assessment. The modelling results provide a spatial mechanical characterisation, pore pressure models and the complete stress tensor, not only for the reservoir but for each point in the model domain. The simulation shows that the ruling stress regime in the study area is a normal faulting regime with a governing orientation of SHmax in a WNW-ESE direction. At reservoir depth, vertical stress gradient (Sv) has a mean value of 23.29 MPa/km, and SHmax is on average 1.2*Shmin. The final stage of the modelling work includes the study of the potential of the developed geomechanical models to infer natural fracture networks. Such fracture models are crucial in enhancing field development and promoting efficient well placement to maximise hydrocarbon production. Two methods were tested. The first method corresponds to a stochastic simulation enhanced by the definition of geomechanical constraints and well-log derived fracture metrics. Paleo-stress selection is performed through a stress-inversion approach. The second model showcases the potential of forward modelling of BPSM-derived properties. The critical difference, in this case, is that the dynamic setup allows the step-wise definition of maximum stress orientation correspondent to defined geological stages. The overall analysis is made in terms of fracture orientation metrics (Dip angle and dip azimuth), fracture intensity and the potential of the models to reproduce observed data. The stochastically generated fracture network is based in a boundary element method, which is beneficial because of the computational speed. However, a concept of this method is the definition of homogeneous mechanical properties which may lead to oversimplified results when dealing with complex lithological distributions. On the other hand, the forward model approach, using the BPSM technology, displays great pertinence in gathering most of the evolutionary traits in the area. Moreover, the recognition of heterogeneous lithological distribution represents an enhancement and consequently leads to more reliable results. As a disadvantage, the construction endeavor of such models is of high complexity, as well as demanding in the necessity of the integration and cooperation of several disciplines to achieve a consistent result. Considering the mentioned generalities, the stochastic approach is advised for low-deformation regions, while the forward model approach may display its maximum capacity in areas with strong deformation. The significant contributions of this research are fully customized geomechanical reservoir models that can reproduce the reported mechanical behavior of the area but, moreover, are able to provide critical insights in the inter-well and undrilled regions of the model domain. The models are populated with actual field and laboratory data and are set to be the fundamental scenarios in any predictive simulation. The methods presented in this work are replicable and deployable in any other geographical and tectonic setting.

Wireline formation testers are widely used to measure in-situ fluid pressure, to retrieve reservoir fluid samples, and to estimate formation mobility. However, formation-tester measurements are invariably influenced by mud-filtrate invasion due to drilling overbalance pressure, thereby affecting the acquisition of uncontaminated fluid samples and the estimation of in-situ petrophysical properties. Moreover, in cases of stress-sensitive formations, rock mechanical deformation may take place due to the combined effects of in-situ stress, wellbore stress imposed by mud overbalance, and wellbore pressure exerted by the formation tester itself. The latter deformation causes near-borehole perturbations of porosity and permeability that are evidenced by pressure transients measured during build-up and shut-in stages of formation testing, especially when using dual-packer pressure probes. If unaccounted for, such perturbations can also bias the estimation of in-situ fluid and petrophysical properties. Conversely, the detection and quantification of elastic mechanical deformation effects on measured pressure transients can be used to infer the underlying rock elastic and petrophysical properties of the stressed formation. The purpose of this dissertation is twofold: (a) to quantify the relative effects of mud-filtrate invasion and geomechanical deformation on pressure-transient measurements acquired with dual-packer formation testers, with special emphasis on the appraisal of near-borehole porosity and permeability enhancement due to elastic mechanical deformation, and (b) to develop a new method to estimate elastic and petrophysical properties of rock formations from dual-packer pressure transients acquired in mechanically deformable rocks. Numerical simulations of mud-filtrate invasion are performed with an axialsymmetric two-phase (water-oil) method that enforces the specific boundary and source conditions of a wellbore that penetrates horizontal layers. Simulations are performed in a cylindrical system of coordinates using finite differences together with an implicit-pressure, explicit-saturation time-marching approach that also incorporates the dynamic conditions of immiscible mudcake growth due to filtration of solids at the wellbore. Laboratory experiments are conducted to further study pressure transients due to formation testing in the presence of invasion with water-base mud. Experiments include the effects of both mud circulation and mudcake on pressure-transient measurements and are performed on a variety of rock-core samples. Measurements are successfully validated with both the developed simulator and a commercial simulator, thereby lending credence to the assumed model of dynamic solid filtration. The developed mud-filtrate fluid-flow simulator is coupled with a finite-element code that assumes 2D axial-symmetric linear elasticity to quantify geomechanical deformation. Coupling of mechanical deformation with variations of porosity and permeability assumes a staggered-in-time, iteratively coupled volumetric model. We assume a dual-packer formation tester to quantify elastic deformation effects in stress-sensitive formations as a preamble to estimating in-situ elastic and petrophysical properties. It is shown that near-wellbore spatial variations of porosity and permeability due to mechanical deformation can bias the corresponding pressure-transient measurements acquired with the dual-packer formation-tester. The degree of biasing depends on the rigidity of the stressed formation. Finally, we develop a method to estimate in-situ petrophysical and elastic rock properties from pressure-transient measurements acquired with formation-testers in mechanically deformable rocks. Petrophysical and elastic properties will change in both time and space depending on the time evolution of the conditions that influence mechanical deformation. We use a commercial reservoir simulator to calculate pressure transients due to fluid pumpout in the presence of both invasion and mechanical deformation. A pre-stressed initial condition due to mud overbalance is assumed with incremental deformation due to surface force applied by the packers or probes, and active flow imposed by the formation-tester. In so doing, we consider pressure data sets acquired with both flow and observation probes during draw-down and build-up periods. For cases where a-priori information can be sufficiently constrained, our estimation method provides reliable and accurate estimates of petrophysical and elastic properties in the presence of moderate levels of random noise.
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Monitoring of the seafloor for gas hydrate dissociation around boreholes during hydrocarbon production is likely to involve seismic methods because of the strong sensitivity of P-wave velocity to gas in sediment pores. Here, based on geomechanical models, we apply commonly used rock physics modeling to predict the seismic response to gas hydrate dissociation with a focus on P-impedance and performed sensitivity tests. For a given initial gas hydrate saturation, the mode of gas hydrate distribution (cementation, frame-bearing, or pore-filling) has the strongest effect on P-impedance, followed by the mesoscopic distribution of gas bubbles (evenly distributed in pores or “patchy”), gas saturation, and pore pressure. Of these, the distribution of gas is likely to be most challenging to predict. Conceptual 2-D FD wave-propagation modeling shows that it could be possible to detect gas hydrate dissociation after a few days.

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil
O presente trabalho procura evidenciar o conceito de retroanálise e as suas potencialidades na identificação de parâmetros geomecânicos. Pretende-se estudar a aplicação de técnicas de retroanálise de parâmetros geomecânicos através de ferramentas de otimização. O algoritmo de otimização utilizado foi o HGPSAL, um algoritmo genético hibrido recente, baseado num padrão de busca local para refinar a melhor aproximação encontrada pelo Algoritmo Genético. A previsão do comportamento dos maciços requer a utilização de modelos constitutivos que representem mais adequadamente a sua relação tensão/deformação. Foram utilizados os modelos constitutivos elástico linear e hiperbólico nas análises numéricas. A utilização do modelo constitutivo elástico linear teve como principal objetivo a calibração do modelo. Por outro lado, a utilização do modelo hiperbólico, uma vez que pressupõe a identificação de vários parâmetros, teve como objetivo a verificação da robustez e eficiência do algoritmo empregue. O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi a avaliação da potencialidade do algoritmo de otimização, em termos de eficiência e robustez na identificação de parâmetros geomecânicos sob diferentes circunstâncias. Para isso analisou-se um caso de estudo teórico referente à escavação de um túnel considerando os dois modelos constitutivos.
This paper seeks to highlight the concept of back analysis and its potential in identifying geomechanical parameters. It was intended to study the application of back analysis techniques of geomechanical parameters using optimization tools. The optimization algorithm used was HGPSAL, a recent hybrid genetic algorithm, based on a local search pattern to refine the best approach found by Genetic Algorithm. Massive behavior prediction requires the use of constitutive models that represent more properly their relationship stress/strain. The elastic linear and hyperbolic constitutive models were used in numerical analysis. The use of elastic linear constitutive model aims to model calibration. Moreover, the use of the hyperbolic model, since it presupposes the identification of several parameters, aims at checking the robustness and efficiency of the employed algorithm. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of optimization algorithm in terms of efficiency and robustness in identifying geomechanical parameters under different circumstances. For this we analyzed a case of theoretical study regarding the tunneling considering the two constitutive models.