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Coupled Modeling of Sedimentary Basin and Geomechanics: A Modified Drucker–Prager Cap Model to Describe Rock Compaction in Tectonic Context

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Abstract

The aim of basin modeling is to characterise fluids and rocks in a basin considering its history and data partly describing its present state. In usual basin simulators, only a simplified description of geomechanics based on the hypothesis of oedometric strain is used. To both enhance the modeling of basin history and to characterise actual in situ stresses, the effect of stress redistribution, horizontal stresses, and strain variations during basin history should be considered. To address this point, a coupled basin-geomechanics framework based on a new constitutive law is proposed in this paper using the prototype simulator \(\mathrm{A}^{2}\). This framework has been built to provide relevant results for various kinds of basin cases including tectonic loading. A finite strain poromechanical approach is considered along with an modified Drucker–Prager Cap model to describe rock compaction under natural sedimentation, erosion, and tectonics. The constitutive model can be seen as a tensorial extension of the compaction models of Athy or Schneider as it allows to recover the same behaviour in oedometric context. Simple test cases are modeled considering typical sand or shale properties, emphasizing the effect of tectonic loading on the present-day pore pressures and in situ stresses. It appears that even relatively moderate tectonic loading (\(5\%\) of horizontal strain) can lead to overpressures of several hundreds of bars and to a complete change in in situ stress regime for deeply buried layers (above a depth of 2000 m).

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Abbreviations

\(\sigma _\mathrm{eff}\) :

Basin modeling vertical effective stress

\(\sigma _\mathrm{v}\) :

Vertical total stress

p :

Pore pressure

\(\phi\) :

Eulerian porosity

\(\phi _{0}\) :

Initial porosity

\(\kappa\) :

Athy’s law compaction parameter

\(\phi _\mathrm{r}\) :

Residual porosity

\(\phi _\mathrm{a}\) :

Schneider’s law compaction parameter

\(\phi _\mathrm{b}\) :

Schneider’s law compaction parameter

\(\sigma _\mathrm{a}\) :

Schneider’s law compaction parameter

\(\sigma _\mathrm{b}\) :

Schneider’s law compaction parameter

\({\varvec{\sigma }}\) :

Total stress tensor

\(\rho _\mathrm{h}\) :

Homogeneized density

\({\varvec{g}}\) :

Gravity

\(\rho _\mathrm{f}\) :

Fluid density

\(\rho _\mathrm{s}\) :

Solid density

t :

Time

\(\varPhi\) :

Lagrangian porosity

J :

Jacobian of the geometrical transformation

\({\varvec{\eta }}\) :

The fluid flow

\({\varvec{k}}\) :

The permeability tensor

\({\varvec{\nabla }}\) :

Gradient operator

\(\varOmega _{0}\) :

Initial state

\(\varOmega _\mathrm{t}\) :

Current state

\(\varOmega _\mathrm{u}\) :

Unloaded state

\({\varvec{F^\mathrm{t}}}\) :

Transformation between the states \(\varOmega _{0}\) and \(\varOmega _\mathrm{t}\)

\({\varvec{F^\mathrm{p}}}\) :

Transformation between the states \(\varOmega _{0}\) and \(\varOmega _\mathrm{u}\)

\({\varvec{F^\mathrm{e}}}\) :

Transformation between the states \(\varOmega _\mathrm{u}\) and \(\varOmega _\mathrm{t}\)

\(\phi _\mathrm{p}\) :

Plastic Eulerian porosity

\(\phi _\mathrm{u}\) :

Eulerian porosity of the unloaded state

\(J^\mathrm{p}\) :

Determinant of the transformation \({\varvec{F^\mathrm{p}}}\)

\({\varvec{\sigma '}}\) :

Effective stress tensor

\(\sigma _{zz}'\) :

Vertical effective stress

b :

Biot coefficient

M :

Biot modulus

\({\varvec{\varOmega }}\) :

Spin rate tensor

\({\varvec{d_\mathrm{p}}}\) :

Plastic strain rate tensor

\({\varvec{d}}\) :

Total strain rate tensor

\(F_\mathrm{s}\) :

Yield surface associated with shear plasticity

\(G_\mathrm{s}\) :

Plastic potential associated with shear plasticity

\(F_\mathrm{c}\) :

Yield surface associated with plastic compaction

\(G_\mathrm{c}\) :

Plastic potential associated with plastic compaction

q :

Equivalent stress

\(p'\) :

Mean effective stress

\(\beta\) :

Internal friction angle

c :

Cohesion

\({\varvec{s}}\) :

Deviatoric stress tensor

\({\varvec{I}}\) :

Identity tensor of the second order

\(p'_\mathrm{l}\) :

Mean effective stress corresponding to the limit between shear and compaction plasticity

\(p'_\mathrm{c}\) :

Consolidation pressure

r :

Shape of the cap

\(\kappa '\) :

Compaction parameter of tensorial Athy’s law

\(p'_\mathrm{a}\) :

Compaction parameter of tensorial Schneider’s law

\(p'_\mathrm{b}\) :

Compaction parameter of tensorial Schneider’s law

\({{\mathcal {I}}}\) :

Identity tensor of the fourth order

K :

Bulk modulus

G :

Shear modulus

\(K_\mathrm{s}\) :

Grain bulk modulus

\(G_\mathrm{s}\) :

Grain shear modulus

\(K_{0}\) :

Initial bulk modulus

\(G_{0}\) :

Initial shear modulus

\(\xi\) :

Conversion parameter

\(\alpha\) :

Anisotropy coefficient of the permeability tensor

\(k_\mathrm{h}\) :

Horizontal permeability

\(k_\mathrm{v}\) :

Vertical permeability

\(s_{0}\) :

Specific surface

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the NOMBA project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 & 4 Avenue Bois-Préau, 92852, Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France

    N. Guy, D. Colombo, J. Frey & M. C. Cacas-Stentz

  2. Total Exploration Production Research and Development, Avenue Larribeau, 64000, Pau, France

    T. Cornu

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  1. N. Guy
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  2. D. Colombo
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Correspondence to N. Guy.

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Guy, N., Colombo, D., Frey, J. et al. Coupled Modeling of Sedimentary Basin and Geomechanics: A Modified Drucker–Prager Cap Model to Describe Rock Compaction in Tectonic Context. Rock Mech Rock Eng 52, 3627–3643 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-01783-y

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