Application of the method of peridynamics to the simulation of hydraulic fracturing process

Abstract

Modeling hydraulic fracturing process is really challenging since it involves propagation of multiple or even massive cracks in a brittle solid where crack branching and interaction present. In general, traditional numerical methods for cracks such as the extended finite element method (XFEM) cannot deal with this kind of problems. Unlike the traditional methods which employs differential equation of the classical continuum mechanics, the method of peridynamics developed in recent years uses integral equation. The outstanding merit of this method is that it is able to conveniently handle massive cracks since the integral equation holds either on or off a crack. This paper applies the method of peridynamics to simulate the hydraulic fracturing of shales and some preliminary results are presented, based on which the function of initial cracks in fracking is investigated.