Analysis of progressive fracture in fluid-saturated porous medium using splines.

Powell-Sabin B-splines are employed to model progressive fracturing in a fluid-saturated porous medium. These splines are defined on triangles and are -continuous throughout the domain, including the crack tips, so that crack initiation can be evaluated directly at the tip. On one hand, the method captures stresses and fluid fluxes more accurately than when using standard Lagrange elements, enabling a direct assessment of the fracture criterion at the crack tip and ensuring local mass conservation.

Hydraulic fracturing analysis in fluid-saturated porous medium.

This paper addresses fluid-driven crack propagation in a porous medium. Cohesive interface elements are employed to model the behaviour of the crack. To simulate hydraulic fracturing, a fluid pressure degree of freedom is introduced inside the crack, separate from the fluid degrees of freedom in the bulk.

Cohesive fracture analysis using Powell-Sabin B-splines.

Powell-Sabin B-splines, which are based on triangles, are employed to model cohesive crack propagation without a predefined interface. The method removes limitations that adhere to isogeometric analysis regarding discrete crack analysis. Isogeometric analysis requires that the initial mesh be aligned a priori with the final crack path to a certain extent.