Three-Dimensional Hydraulic Fracture Simulation with Hydromechanical Coupled-Element Partition Method

The numerical simulation of a 3D complex reservoir has been an important but difficult problem. One of the biggest challenges is how to deal with the large number of natural fractures with consideration of hydromechanical coupling effect in those fractures. To address this problem, a 3D hydromechanical coupled element partition method (3D-EPM) is developed. The 3D-EPM allows a fracture to run through an element without any extra degree of...