Analytical study of freezing behavior of a cavity in thermo-poro-elastic medium

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to present an analytical solution to have a first insight of the impact of ice formation on the surrounding porous rock on underground cavities like reservoir, pipes, tunnels or wellbores. Among the other analytical solutions found in the literature on this topic, the originality of this work resides in the rigorous theoretical framework of poromechanics, which considers the coupling between liquid water and ice crystal under thermodynamic equilibrium. Liquid water transport, thermal conduction, and elastic properties of the phases are also considered. Two analytical solutions are presented, based on a linearization of the system of governing equations. The first one deals with a spherical cavity within an infinite porous medium leading to an exact analytical solution. It allows validating the Stehfest’s algorithm on the numerical inversion of Laplace Transform, used in the second analytical solution, which considers a cylindrical excavation. The validity of this solution is assessed by comparing its results to that issued from a numerical resolution of the nonlinear system of equations. The analytical solution is then ultimately used to identify the influence of key parameters like the thermal/hydraulic conductivities, the amount of ice formed and the thermal dilatation coefficients on the mechanical response of a cylindrical cavity submitted to an internal frost.