Solution of thermoporoelastic problems using FLAC

This paper is concerned with the modeling of coupled thermoporoelastic problems using FLAC. One of the main challenges in constructing an efficient thermoporoelastic algorithm is that, hydraulic (groundwater) and thermal calculations cannot be performed concurrently in the current version of FLAC. For the thermal calculation, the groundwater calculation must be suppressed; and for the groundwater calculation, the thermal calculation must be suppressed. Therefore, each cycle of coupled thermoporoelastic analysis must be performed in two stages, thermal and hydraulic-or, more precisely, thermo-mechanical and hydro-mechanical. In addition, each stage is characterized by its own time. These two times must be synchronized in each cycle of calculation. Based on these and some other considerations, coupled and uncoupled algorithms have been established and tested on a problem for which an analytical solution exists. Comparison between the results of FLAC simulations and the exact solution showed very good agreement.