Sequential Methods for Coupled Geomechanics and Multiphase Flow

4 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
problem (Settari and Walters, 2001; Thomas et al., 2003). Normally, the domain of
the mechanical problem is larger than that for reservoir simulation.
3. Staggered (Single-Pass Sequential). This is a special case of the iteratively coupled
method, where only one iteration is taken (Park, 1983; Zienkiewicz et al., 1988; Armero
and Simo, 1992; Armero, 1999).
4. Loosely Coupled. The coupling between the two problems is resolved only after a
certain number of flow time steps (Bevillon and Masson, 2000; Dean et al., 2006;
Samier and Gennaro, 2007). This method can save computational cost compared
with the other strategies, but it is less accurate and requires reliable estimates of
when to update the mechanical response.
Figure 1.1: Schematics of the fully coupled (top) and the iteratively coupled (bottom)
methods.
The staggered and loosely coupled methods are designed to save computational cost
(Thomas et al., 2003; Dean et al., 2006). This is because fully coupled flow-mechanics
simulation can be much more costly than conventional reservoir flow simulation. Given
the enormous investment in software development and the high computational cost of fully