A Peridynamic-enhanced finite element method for Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical coupled problems in saturated porous media involving cracks

In this paper, a peridynamic-enhanced finite element formulation is introduced for the numerical simulation of thermo-hydro- mechanical coupled problems in saturated porous media with cracks. The proposed approach combines the Finite Element (FE) method for governing heat conduction-advection and fluid flow in the fractured porous domain, and the Peridynamic (PD) method for describing solid phase deformation and capturing crack propagation. Firstly, the consolidation problem of a porous column is simulated by using the proposed approach. The m- and delta-convergence studies are carried out with the isothermal condition to determine suitable discretization parameters for the PD model. Subsequently, non-isothermal conditions are considered, and the accuracy and reliability of the proposed approach are validated by comparing the numerical solutions with those obtained from a FE-only model. Furthermore, several numerical examples focusing on scenarios involving cracks are solved and presented to further highlight the capabilities of the proposed approach in addressing heat conduction-advection problems in fractured saturated porous media, as well as hydraulic fracture propagation problems with considerations of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled effects.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).