Vinh X. Nguyen

Poromechanics Solutions to Plane Strain and Axisymmetric Mandel-Type Problems in Dual-Porosity and Dual-Permeability Medium

The two-dimensional Mandel-type problem geometry is well-known to bio-geomechanicians for testing rocks, cartilages, and bones with solutions in Cartesian coordinates for rectangular specimens or polar coordinates for cylindrical and disk samples. To date, all existing solutions are only applicable to single-porosity and single-permeability models, which could fall short when the porous material exhibits multi-porosity and/or multipermeability characteristics, such as secondary porosity or fracture. This paper extends the plane strain and axisymmetric Mandel-type solutions from single-to dual-porosity and dual-permeability poromechanics. The solutions are presented in explicit analytical forms and account for arbitrary time-dependent external loading conditions, e.g., cyclic and ramping. The derived analytical solutions and results exhibit general behaviors characterized by two time scales. Stresses, pore pressures, and displacements are plotted for various time scale ratios to illustrate the interplaying effects of permeability and stiffness contrast of both porous regions, in addition to the interporosity exchange, on the overall responses of the system. Also, examples with realistic loading conditions for laboratory testing or field simulation such as cyclic and ramping are provided to demonstrate the engineering applications of the presented dual-poroelastic formulation and solutions.

Incorporating electrokinetic effects in the porochemoelastic inclined wellbore formulation and solution

The porochemoelectroelastic analytical models and solutions have been used to describe the response of chemically active and electrically charged saturated porous media such as clays, shales, and biological tissues. However, these attempts have been restricted to one-dimensional consolidation problems, which are very limited in practice and not general enough to serve as benchmark solutions for numerical validation. This work summarizes the general linear porochemoelectroelastic formulation and presents the solution of an inclined wellbore drilled in a fluid-saturated chemically active and ionized formation, such as shale, and subjected to a three-dimensional in-situ state of stress. The analytical solution to this geometry incorporates the coupled solid deformation and simultaneous fluid/ion flows induced by the combined influences of pore pressure, chemical potential, and electrical potential gradients under isothermal conditions. The formation pore fluid is modeled as an electrolyte solution comprised of a solvent and one type of dissolved cation and anion. The analytical approach also integrates into the solution the quantitative use of the cation exchange capacity (CEC) commonly obtained from laboratory measurements on shale samples. The results for stresses and pore pressure distributions due to the coupled electrochemical effects are illustrated and plotted in the vicinity of the inclined wellbore and compared with the classical porochemoelastic and poroelastic solutions.