Numerical investigation of initiation and propagation of hydraulic fracture using the coupled Bonded Particle-Lattice Boltzmann Method

This paper presents a coupled Bonded Particle and Lattice Boltzmann Method (BPLBM) for modelling fluid-solid interactions in engineering, e.g. geomechanics. In this novel technique, the Bonded Particle model is employed to describe the inter-particle interactions, and the bonds between contacted particles are assumed to be broken when the tensional force and/or tangential force reach a certain critical value; while the Lattice Boltzmann method is used to model the fluid phase, and the Immersed Moving Boundary (IMB) scheme is utilised to resolve the fluid-solid interactions. Based on this novel technique, the investigation of hydraulic fracturing is carried out. The onset and propagation of hydraulic fracture are successfully captured and reproduced. Numerical results show that the coupled BPLBM is promising and efficient in handling complicated fluid-solid interactions at the grain level in hydraulic fracturing.