Comparison of the response to geometrical complexity of methods for unstationary simulations in discrete fracture networks with conforming, polygonal, and non-matching grids

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare numerical methods for the simulation of single-phase flow and transport in fractured media, described here by means of the discrete fracture network (DFN) model. A Darcy problem is solved to compute the advective field, then used in a subsequent time-dependent transport-diffusion-reaction problem. The numerical schemes are benchmarked in terms of flexibility in handling geometrical complexity, mass conservation, and stability issues for advection-dominated flow regimes. To this end, two benchmark cases, along with an additional one from a previous work, have been specifically designed and are here proposed and investigated, representing some of the most critical issues encountered in DFN simulations.