Hydraulic fracturing with a simplified fluid model and XFEM

In hydraulic fracturing, the pressure exerted by the fracking fluid onto the surrounding solid, is typically obtained from solving the Reynolds equation. This is not always robust and leads to a complex behaviour at the crack front (toughness or viscous regimes). In the presented work, the Reynolds equation is replaced by a simplified fluid model, where pre-defined pressure distributions are assumed which lead to a simpler and robust coupled problem. The surface integration of the fluid pressure onto the surrounding solid is outlined without any limitations on the distributions. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)