Iterative coupling of flow, geomechanics and adaptive phase-field fracture including level-set crack width approaches

Abstract: In this work, we present numerical studies of fixed-stress iterative coupling for solving flow and geomechanics with propagating fractures in a porous medium. Specifically, fracture propagations are described by employing a phase-field approach. The extension to fixed-stress splitting to propagating phase-field fractures and systematic investigation of its properties are important enhancements to existing studies. Moreover, we provide an accurate computation of the fracture opening using level-set approaches and a subsequent finite element interpolation of the width. The latter enters as fracture permeability into the pressure diffraction problem which is crucial for fluid filled fractures. Our developments are substantiated with several numerical tests that include comparisons of computational cost for iterative coupling and nonlinear and linear iterations as well as convergence studies in space and time.