Related papers: Why Fracking Works and How to Optimize It
In a uniform stress field, a tensile hydraulic fracture will favor propagation in the plane formed by the maximum (most compressive) and intermediate principal stresses. For the propagation of hydraulic fractures in non-uniform stress…
The paper presents novel results, obtained on the basis of the modified theory of hydraulic fractures (HF). The theory underlines significance of the speed equation. When applied to numerical simulation of HF, the theory reveals three…
Ensuring a smooth rate of efflux of particles from an outlet without unpredictable clogging events is crucial in processing powders and grains. We show by experiments and simulations that an obstacle placed near the outlet can greatly…
The phase field fracture method has emerged as a promising computational tool for modelling a variety of problems including, since recently, hydrogen embrittlement and stress corrosion cracking. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of…
Highly-deformable materials, from synthetic hydrogels to biological tissues, are becoming increasingly important from both fundamental and practical perspectives. Their mechanical behaviors, in particular the dynamics of crack propagation…
In variational phase-field modeling of brittle fracture, the functional to be minimized is not convex, so that the necessary stationarity conditions of the functional may admit multiple solutions. The solution obtained in an actual…
We investigate experimentally and theoretically the dynamics of a crack front during the micro-instabilities taking place in heterogeneous materials between two successive equilibrium positions. We focus specifically on the spatio-temporal…
Crack-like objects that propagate along frictional interfaces, i.e.~frictional shear cracks, play a major role in a broad range of frictional phenomena. Such frictional cracks are commonly assumed to feature the universal square root…
The temporal evolution of mechanical energy and spatially-averaged crack speed are both monitored in slowly fracturing artificial rocks. Both signals display an irregular burst-like dynamics, with power-law distributed fluctuations spanning…
The phase-field method has become popular for the numerical modeling of fluid-filled fractures, thanks to its ability to represent complex fracture geometry without algorithms. However, the algorithm-free representation of fracture geometry…
Griffith's energetic criterion, or `energy balance', has for a century formed the basis for fracture mechanics; the energy flowing into a crack front is precisely balanced by the dissipation (fracture energy) at the front. If the crack…
Limited resources motivate decomposing large-scale problems into smaller,``local" subsystems and stitching together the so-found solutions. We explore the physics underlying this approach and discuss the concept of ``local hardness", i.e.,…
High flow rate, water-driven hydraulic fractures are more common now than ever in the oil and gas industry. Although the fractures are small, the high injection rate and low viscosity of the water, lead to high Reynolds numbers and…
Crack nucleation is crucial in many industrial applications. The phase field method for fracture transforms the crack nucleation problem into a minimization problem of the sum of the elastic potential energy and the crack surface energy.…
Predicting crack trajectories in brittle solids remains an open challenge in fracture mechanics due to the non-local nature of crack propagation and the way cracks modify their surrounding medium. Here, we develop a framework for…
Characterizing the interaction between water and microscopic defects is one of the long-standing challenges in understanding a broad range of cracking processes. Different physical aspects of microscopic events, driven or influenced by…
Different mechanisms believed to be responsible for the generation of bursts in hydrodynamical systems are reviewed and a new mechanism capable of generating regular or irregular bursts of large dynamic range near threshold is described.…
The universal fractality of river networks is very well known, however understanding of the underlying mechanisms for them is still lacking in terms of stochastic processes. By introducing probability changing dynamically, we have described…
We report laboratory experiments and numerical simulations demonstrating that the anisotropic characteristics of rocks play a major role in the elongation of hydraulic fractures propagating in a plane perpendicular to bedding. Transverse…
Fracturing in reservoir rocks is an important issue for the petroleum industry - as productivity can be enhanced by a controlled fracturing operation. Fracturing also has a big impact on CO2 storage, geothermal installation and gas…