!

B U L L E T I N of the International Association of ENGINEERING GEOLOGY de I'Association Internationale de GEOLOGIE DE L'INGg:NIEUR

No

47

PARIS

1993

A FINITE

ELEMENT

CODE

FOR SUBSIDENCE

PROBLEMS

: LAGAMINE

M O D I ~ L I S A T I O N PAR E L [ ~ M E N T S F I N I S DES P R O B L E M E S LE C O D E L A G A M I N E

DE TASSEMENT :

R. CHARLIER*, J.P. RADU* and Q.F. LI**

Introduction
At present, about thirty five years after the development of the Blot theory [141, only a small number of numerical models for subsidence analysis have been proposed. Some of the best known are the Ekofisk models [1-41 and the Venice models [51. Modelling of geological reservoirs implies some special difficulties : 9 The shape of" the reservoir is very complex. It is generally composed of a number of different geological layers, with some discontinuities created for example by river erosion, and with spatially varying thickness. 9 The material behaviour varies from layer to layer. The permeability range is very large. At the time scale of reservoir exploitation, some layers are aquifer, others are impermeable. The deformations are sometimes reversible, sometimes irreversible or time delayed. 9 Two field problems have to be studied : the flow field and the compaction field and, for some areas or layers, the coupling between them. 9 Different boundary conditions are present: imposed pore pressure, imposed flow or imposed relation between pore pressure and flow occur together in the seepage problem. In the mechanical problem, displacements or forces are imposed, and elastic or infinite boundaries represent the physical problem. In our opinion, these multiple sources of complexity are the best arguments to use a finite element code in a subsidence analysis.

In contrast, the Shanghai subsidence zone seems to be a plate or a shell (using the mechanical language). The aquifers are quite horizontal with an almost infinite extent. Vertically, the 70 first meters are almost independent of the following ones (as it is assumed in these papers). They are composed of a series of different geological layers with varying flow and mechanical properties. Horizontally, it is impossible to study the total extent of the aquifer, and some "'numerical boundaries" must be chosen. The size of the model is about 10 or 20 km. From a seepage point of view, the phenomenon is essentially horizontal. Aquifers are related together in some regions and run from boundary to boundary. The aquitard layers do not have any effect on the flow in the aquifer. Therefore, the seepage model needs to represent correctly the geometry and permeability of the aquifer layers, i.e. the pore pressure in these layers, but the aquitard modelling has only a very small effect and does not require much precision. Pumping conditions and flow at the boundaries must be well represented. Flow in the compressible layers is very slow and turned towards the layer thickness (Fig. 1). The pressure

\
\ \ \
r DEPTH

--

PORE P R E S S U R E

A Q U I F E R LAYER

\ \\\
COMPRESSIBLE LAYER

Concepts of the subsidence numerical modelling

Every subsidence problem is different and implies different numerical solutions. For example, the Ekofisk subsidence appears at an important depth (about 3,000 m). The seepage releases flows of oil. gas and water (multiphase flow). Permeable and impermeable layers are well separated in two parcels.
* Ddpartement MSM. Universitd de Li,~ge, Belgique. ** Shanghai Station of Environmental Geology, P.R. China.

AQUIFER LAYER

Fig. I : Typical pore pressure profile.

43

gradient varies quickly through the thickness but slowly with regard to the horizontal direction, on the contrary, the pore pressure gradient in the aquifer is almost constant over the thickness but varies mainly in the horizontal direction. The mechanical problem induces opposite conclusions. The compaction is essentially a vertical effect. Vertical displacements at one point of the Shanghai field do not affect the vertical displacement of another point located for example 200 m away (this is a extension of the St Venant principle). The compaction mainly appears in the so-called "'compressible" layers, i.e. the aquitard or impermeable layer, which are essentially composed of claylike material. The aquifers are only slightly compressible, because they are composed of sand, which is stiff when compared to clay. Moreover, over the deformation range implied in this compaction phenomenon (some percents in compressible layers, about 0, 1% in aquifers), sand has an almost linear elastic (reversible) behaviour, but clay has a nonlinear elastoplastic or elasto-visco-plastic (irreversible) behaviour. The small strain level appearing in the sand aquifer does not affect the flow conditions and the permeability coefficient. This is not true in the compressible layers, where strains of some percents modify the void ratio and, consequently, the permeability [91. In summary: the general flow affects essentially the sand aquifers, and is not affected by the compaction. It is a fully three-dimensional phenomenon and needs a three-dimensional numerical model or at least a bidimensional shell type numerical model. It is ah-nost a linear transient problem. Compaction is essentially a vertical phenomenon affecting the compressible layers. It is strongly coupled with the flow in these layers because the pore pressure variations induce stress variations and because the volumetric strains modify the permeability coefficient. It is a transient coupled and non-linear problem. Considering these conclusions, it was decided to develop two numerical models for the analysis of the Shanghai subsidence. The first one is a three-dimensional linear and transient seepage model, with threedimensional elements and a large number of equations. It computes the pore pressure in the aquifers. The second model is devoted to the compaction problem. It is a vertical uniaxial model. It is related to the first model by the aquifer pore pressures which are used as data in the second one. Flow and mechanical strains are coupled in the compressible layers, but only mechanical strains are computed in the aquifer layers. The finite elements are uniaxial with oedometer like lateral boundaries.

The LAGAMINE code is dedicated to the analysis of non-linear solid mechanics and related problems, and it can especially take into account : - - large strains, large displacements and large rotations: - - non-linear constitutive laws: --- mechanical problems, thermal conduction, seepage; coupling between strains and flow or conduction, advection diffusion of pollutant; - - free surface seepage phenomena; - - t r a n s i e n t or stationary, statical or dynamical problems (by means of a step by step algorithm): - - various boundary conditions, as imposed forces or displacements, imposed flows or pore pressures, unilateral contact with friction conditions, non-linear, convective or radiation conditions, non-conservative forces, etc.; the evolution of these boundary conditions is completly free; an automatic loading procedure is available. - uni-dimensional, two-dimensional, axisymetric and threedimensional problems; most finite elements are isoparametric of first, second or third degree and use Gaussian numerical integration. A large library developed :
- -

of

constitutive

laws

has

been

elasticity ; - - e l a s t o p l a s t i c i t y with Von Mises yield surface, Gurson law with associated dilatancy for metals, Drucker Prager non-associated plasticity and Cam Clay like plasticity for soils and soft rocks: - - a n i s o t r o p i c plasticity for fractured rocks, with non-associated friction and dilatancy on failure planes; - non-linear Fourier and Darcy laws: - elasto-visco-plasticity with Von Mises potential: - - incremental non-linear laws for soils. The LAGAMINE code is related to some preprocessors and post-processors especially dedicated t o : data and mesh generation; graphical outputs; - remeshing after very large strains or appearance of very large gradients.
- - -

Typical problems treated by the LAGAMINE code are :

- confined or unconfined phreatic aquifer transient behaviour ; - oil field compaction and subsidence; - tunnel excavation: - aquifer subsidence; - rolling, forging and other forming processes; - container impact; - quenching after hot rolling of steel profiles: - large strains localization phenomenon and soil stability ; - etc.

T h e

f i n i t e

e l e m e n t

c o d e

The finite element code LAGAMINE has been developped since 1982 by the MSM department, University of Liege. It has been applied to reservoir modelling since 1985. The code is written in FORTRAN 77. 44

The following sections will be devoted to the description of the LAGAMINE application to the two different fundamental problems described in the preceding section, i.e. the three-dimensional seepage problem and the uniaxial non-linear coupled compaction problem.

5 6

8
el

>7->
~ 8 s

2v.- lo

3
F i g . 2 : L i b r a r y ol" 3 D f l o w e l c m c m s .

Seepage finite e l e m e n t m o d e l
Modelling of flow in aquifer requires three-dimensional finite elements or plate-like bidimensional finite elements. The second option can reduce the necessary' CPU time but frequently introduces limits to the representation of flows between aquifers locally connected and of flows near wells and galleries. Therefore we have preferred to adopt 3-D finite element for the present use of the LAGAMINE code. The porous medium is represented by "generalized brick elements" with varying interpolation degree from edge to edge (linear, parabolic or cubic segments) (Fig. 2). First degree elements are frequently used [10], but near some boundaries where the pore pressure gradient varies rapidly, near wells for example, it could be interesting to use higher degree elements or specialized elements (see [7, 8] for example). The development of finite elements is frequently based on the principle of virtual power [4]. For a seepage problem, the internal virtual Wi power is: 8Wi fT - grad f (fv % - 8p - _ ..... 8p) dV (1)

8W e = fcf 8pdF + E Q 8p
wells

(2)

which comprises one term related to the imposed Ilows along~ the boundaries and a summation on the wells flow Q. After discretising with finite element, one obtains 8p = OL 8pL (3)

where ~L are the shape functions, defined element by element, and 8pL are the nodal pore pressure virtual variations. The virtual power principle assumes that equilibrium (flow balance) is obtained when virtual internal and external powers are equal for every choice of apE. Therefore . .dF + ~[~LQ f ( f ~ O ~ . - f r ~ a d 0 c ) d V = f[fOi -V ~ ' wells (4)

where 8pL has disappeared because it is arbitrary. The contribution of internal power is computed element by element, using the Gaussian numerical integration scheme :
3

F,= Z
PI

where : 8p is an arbitrary pore pressure variation compatible with the imposed pore pressure variations along the boundaries, f is the vector of flow velocities, p. is the storage tlow, V is the volume of the porous medium where the flow is considered. This internal virtual power is eqt, al to the external virtual power

*L-,Y-'f, l ax, o,L0 aft(J:

'=

(51

where FL are nodal equivalent flows, w are the integration weights and det (J_) is the determinant of the Jacobian transformation from isoparametric to real coordinates. Equilibrium is obtained when these nodal equivalent flows (after assembling contributions of all elements) are null or equal to the imposed wells flows.

45

Y
M O D E L BOUNDARY

ELEMENT M O D E L

......

Fig. 3 : Boundary relation with a large aquifer.

Darcy law gives K

-

(6)

l-'=

l',v

= gra d p + g_rs~ d z

where ,(,,; is the specific weight of water and K is the permeability tensor. For the Shanghai subsidence model, one has only used isotropic permeability. When the soil skeleton is strained and the void ratio (e) varies, the permeability does also vary. This coupled effect will be neglected for the global flow model" permeability is assumed to be constant. Storage is obtained by variation of the pore volume, i.e. by straining the soil skeleton. Therefore it is a soil mechanical effect. The strains in the aquifer sand are assumed here to have a linear elastic behaviour. Moreover, the total stress ~ is almost constant because loading does not vary significantly (total stresses result essentially from the dead load of soil). Using the Terzaghi postulate reduced to the mean stress variations, one has

Transient seepage is a time dependent problem. Time integration must be realized carefully with respect to precision and stability. We have used a Galerkin time scheme [4, 111 for the present model. The initial value of the pore pressure field is also an important feature of the model response. The so-called "stiffness matrix" is simply obtained by deriving the nodal equivalent flows (5) with respect to the nodal pore pressure. Because of the time integration, it depends on the time step. But when constant time steps are used, the matrix is also constant, and therefore its inverse is c o m p u t e d only when the time step changes. The external virtual power (2) is composed of well contributions and a boundary contribution. The well contributions can generally be represented by nodal imposed flows. Their time variation is arbitrary and varies from well to well. It is described in the LAG A M I N E code on a special file which is analysed at the begining of each time step. Modelling of boundaries is more difficult. An impervious condition is easy to model, as well as an imposed pore pressure condition. This last case appears when the model boundary goes across a large aquifer far away from the area of pressure variation. But this case is often unpractical for land subsidence model because it implies a very large model and hence too much CPU time. An alternative solution is the convective-like boundary. It assumes that the boundary is related to a large aquifer (or an area of aquiferJ where pressure does not vary with respect to the pressure in the model {Fig. 3). The connection is realized through a zone (hatched on the Fig. 3) of known permeability.

Gm-p

(7)

o'm = 1~(a pointed variable means time derivative of this variable). The volumetric strain variation, which is equal to the storage f", is f" = 3 ~:~ = 3-6"m = ? b = cp l~ X Z (8)

where the storage coefficient in pressure cp is the inverse of the volumetric linear elastic stiffness Z. Free surface seepage problems can be modelled easily by simply changing the storage coefficient into a nonlinear one, expressing the pore saturation [4, I01.

46

I.
~il----

{12}

Flow is also reduced to the oedometer representation :

fl ;e 0, f2 = f3 = 0

_ex
l-ig. 4 : Coupled 1 D clement.

M = ~rad p = p: - p) Lo c_'] where pl and p: are the nodal pore pressures. The internal virtt, al flow power (I) is reduced to

If one neglects the transient effect in this zone and if one supposes a simple geometry, the horizontal flow through the boundary can be written as

8w+, =S,, [l, ap_ r/Sp_:Lo,Sp,]d,,,,

(13i

]'=

k(p-

~)

{9)

Gravity is the only distributed contribution which must be considered in the external virtual power 8W~=f
V

where p is the boundary pressure, p is the pressure in the large aquifer (constant with time) and Z is a transinissivity coefficient depending on the permeability and geometry of the hatched area. This is a typical convective condition which enables one to relax the imposition of numerical boundaries. Special laws for the imposition of convective like condition have been developed in the L A G A M I N E code [4].
Coupled compaction-flow finite element model

"A 8v dV

(14)

where ,v, is the specific weight of the dry soil skeleton and 8v the vertical virtual displacement. Concentrated forces and sources could of course also be considered. Equilibrium is obtained when 8W,m + 8 W i r = 8W~ (15)

As has been explained in the second paragraph of this paper, settlements ot" a "'plate-like'" aquifer is an almost unidimensional vertical problem highly coupled with the flow in the very compressible layers with low permeability. Two-dimensional as well as one dimensional coupled finite elements have been developed in the finite element code L A G A M I N E [12. 6] but in this paper the one dimensional elements only will be presented. The element is isoparametric of first degree " geometry. displacements and pore pressure are modelled by linear functions. Stresses and strains are reduced to the oedometer representation and are expressed in the local triad (Fig. 4)"

Nodal forces and flows are then easily obtained using the Gat, ssian numerical integration s c h e m e ' F~ = _+. ~
PI

c~ A 0 - W/2

Fy = ___ Z
9 Pl

C2 A 0- W/2 - A % I_.o/2

(16)

Fp = Z
PI

(l-, 0i L,, z fl) A W/2

where ci are the director cosines of the local direction e_+ and A is the cross section of the element. Time integration is realized through a fully implicit time scheme, i.e. all internal variables are expressed at the end of the time step. The so-called +'stiffness matrix" is again obtained by deriving the nodal forces and flows with respect to the nodal displacements and pore presstires. The constitt, te law of the coupled medium relates all internal variables together and is c o m p o s e d of some different p h e n o m e n a representations: 9 The Terzaghi principle of effective stresses 0-'it = O'+l + p (17)

0-"11 ~: ~II~ 0

0 ; 0""22 = 0 ' 3 3 :r 0 ; 0-'12 = 0-'23 = O"31 = 0 ; ~ ' r " = ~ 3 3 = 0 ; 1 ~ 1 2 = ~ 2 3 = ~ 3 1 -- 0

One uses the Cauchy total stress tensor 0- and the Cauchy effective stress tensor 0-'. Tensions are positive stresses. The Terzaghi postulate is assumed 0- = 0 - ' - p ! The strain rate is the Cauchy conjugated tensor ~_ to the oedometer assumption, the virtual internal mechanical power is reduced to 8 W i n , = f ~ij 8f_.ijdV-- f 0-11 8gll dV
V V

(11)

9 The oedometer mechanical response, often represented by a bilinear relation in a semi-logarithmic space (Fig. 5). l A~11=~ Aln (-o"]+) if 0-'ll > 0-'c 1 A~l] =-._.:Aln(-G'lt) if 0-'tl = G'c t.. (18)

Geometrical effects could modify significantly the resuits [4, 2, 13] but are not considered here. Therefore. the volume variation is neglected and the axial strain rate is the ratio of the length variation rate g to the initial length Lo

O'c = ITlin G'I 1

T<_t 47

10

where the consolidation stress is the extremum stress encountered through the whole history of the material. The elastoplastic incremental form of this relation is d/it =--e/,t Acll if o"t[ > <5'~ (y'll =--~'11C~ll if cy'll = cr'u
~'c ~ (Y"I I

and finally ~)= /:,~ (1 + e) The void ratio is an internal variable. To summarize, the coupled constitutive law is composed of the relations (17), (19), (2{)), (21). ( 2 3 ) a n d (251). The parameters are K, A, C, o~x, [3y, %, and "/,,. The internal variables are (y. ~', cs'~. p and e. Their initial values and the initial pore pressure field have to be determined before s t a g i n g resolution of the transient problem. This constitutive law is highly non-linear and coupled. Therefore special care must be taken for its solution. The Newton-Raphson technique has been used with special attention to the c o n v e r g e n c e criterion, because nodal forces and flows do not have the same order or" magnitude. They are separetely considered in the convergence criterion. (25)

(19)

(Y'tt <r

is impossible.

The consolidation stress is the yield threshold. It is an internal variable. 9 The storage is equal to the volumetric strain rate. If water and soil grains are assumed to be incompressible,
fv= 3 ~m -= ~ll (20)

9 Darcy flow relation [6] is assumed F t = -K- g r a d r ( p ) . e l + KgradT(y)- el (21)

The permeability _K is assumed to vary with the soil skeleton strain. The Nishida-Nakagawa relation has been chosen [6, 9]. Its original form [9] is e = (0.01 Ip + 0.05) ( I 0 + logt0 k) {22)

Conclusions
A general concept for the numerical modelling of an aquifer subsidence has been presented. Its main advantage is the separation from the three-dimensional flow model (which is a scalar field with one variable per node) and the compaction model (which is a vector field problem coupled to a scalar field problem, with 4 variables per node). This separation is very interesting for a "'plate-like aquifer" because the compaction problem is reduced to a series of unidimensional problems with a small number o f degree of freedom. The finite element code L A G A M I N E has been applied to the flow and compaction problem. The equilibrium equations and the constitutive laws have been developed. Applications are presented in the next papers (papers V and VI). They demonstrate some of the capabilities of numerical simulations with the finite element code LAGAMINE.

where the plasticity index lp is constant and the permeability k is expressed in cm/sec. It can be transformed (paper V, Dassargues et al.) in K = exp (c~xe + !3~) (23)

with two new material parameters aN and !3x. The void ratio e can be related to the strain e~ through the variations of the void and solid volume V~, V~ :
e ~

V, V~
---

(24)

We assume that volume variations are due only to void variations : %= O.

V~= V~+9"~= /h~ (V~ + V~) +_ Vv_c~ 1+

References
[1] BOADE R.R.. CHIN L.Y. and SLEMERS W.T. : Forecasting of Ekofisk Reservoir compaction and Subsidence by Numerical Simulation. J. of Petroleum Technology. July 1989, pp. 723 728.

~u 0"~

(t
I I I

O) O'~(t
I I I

tl)
-In ( - o~'. )

[2] CHARLIER R., RADU J.P.. SC[-tROEDER C., FONDER G.. MONJOIE A. : Ekofisk subsidence et compaction. Modgeles aux ~ldments finis, Rapport d',Stude MSM-L.G.I.H. 13] CHARI,IER R. et RADU J.P.: On the constitutive equation of the chalk, ICONMIG'88 Colloquium, Insbruck, April 1988. [4] CHARLIER R. : Approche unifide de quelques problhmes non linO.aires de mdcanique des milieux continus par la mdthode des ~ldments finis, Doctoral Thesis, Universitd de Liege, March 1987. [51 LEWIS R.W. and SCttREFLER B.A. : The Finite Element Method in the Deformation and Consolidation of Porous Media. J. Wiley & Sons. [61 BAETEMAN C., CHARLIER R., DASSARGUES A., MONJOIE A., PAEPE R., RADU J.P., SCHROEDER C. : Elude de la g6ologic du Quaternaire. de I'hydrogdotogie et de la gdologie de l'ingdnieur dans le delta du Yangtse. Mod;ele math,Smatique de la zone de Shanghai. Rapport d'dtude, L.G.I.H., Universild de I-.ibge.

-._%
Fig. 5 : Oedometer mechanical response.

48

11

lTI XUE YI,:QUN : i , n g a r i l h m i c finite elenlenl inlerpolatmn of I1o~ ncar wells in phrealic aquifers. Adv, in Water Rcsnurces. 1085. Vol. 8. Seplember. pp. 111-117. 181 XUE Y U Q [ , N and XIE C H U N I I O N G : Logarithnlic interpolation for g r o u n d w a t e r flow near well. in Finite P,'lements in Water Resources. Proc. of the 5th Int. conf.. Burlington, Vermont. U.S.A., June 1~)84, pp. 89-102. [0] N f S H I D A Y. and N A K A G A W A S. : Water permeability and plastic index of soils. Publication no 89 in l,and Subsidence IAttSU N E S C O - 2. 1969. pp 573-578. I10l DASSARGLIES A., RADU J.P. and C I t A R L I E R R . : Finite element m o d e l l i n g of a large water table aquifer in transient conditions, Adv. in Water Resources. 1988, Vo/. I I. no 2. pp. 58-66.

I I Z I E N C K I I ' W I C K f ) ( ' . : The finile elemenl method. MacGra;sHill. London. 1977. 21 H A B R A K E N - \ . M . : C~mtribution a hi inoddlisation du formage des mdtaux par la rndthode de,, dldmenls finis. Doctoral Ihesis. Universitd de Li,~ge, 1089. 3] FEI.DKAM J . R . : Numerical a n a l y s i s o f o n e - d i m e n s i o n a l nonlinear large strain c o n s o l i d a t m n b,, the finite e l e m e n t s method, Transport in porous mcdia. 4, 1989, pp. 239-257. [14] BIOT M . A . : General r of the equations of elasticity and c o n s o l i d a t i o n for it porous m~tterial, Journal of App. Mech.. Trans. A.S.M.E., 23. 1956, pp. 91-96.

49