A General Framework for Multiphysics Modeling Based on Numerical Averaging

Abstract:

In the last years, multiphysics (hybrid) modeling has attracted increasing attention as a tool to bridge the gap between pore-scale processes and a continuum description at the meter-scale (laboratory scale). This approach is particularly appealing for complex nonlinear processes, such as multiphase flow, reactive transport, density-driven instabilities, and geomechanical coupling.

We present a general framework that can be applied to all these classes of problems. The method is based on ideas from the Multiscale Finite-Volume method (MsFV), which has been originally developed for Darcy-scale application. Recently, we have reformulated MsFV starting with a local-global splitting, which allows us to retain the original degree of coupling for the local problems and to use spatiotemporal adaptive strategies. The new framework is based on the simple idea that different characteristic temporal scales are inherited from different spatial scales, and the global and the local problems are solved with different temporal resolutions.

The global (coarse-scale) problem is constructed based on a numerical volume-averaging paradigm and a continuum (Darcy-scale) description is obtained by introducing additional simplifications (e.g., by assuming that pressure is the only independent variable at the coarse scale, we recover an extended Darcy’s law).

We demonstrate that it is possible to adaptively and dynamically couple the Darcy-scale and the pore-scale descriptions of multiphase flow in a single conceptual and computational framework. Pore-scale problems are solved only in the active front region where fluid distribution changes with time. In the rest of the domain, only a coarse description is employed. This framework can be applied to other important problems such as reactive transport and crack propagation. As it is based on a numerical upscaling paradigm, our method can be used to explore the limits of validity of macroscopic models and to illuminate the meaning of macroscopic parameters.