Poroelastic Model Research Articles

The Numerical study of the influence of a two-scale pore structure on the dynamic strength of water-saturated concrete

Many infrastructural concrete facilities, such as dams, bridge footings, foundations of port facilities and offshore drilling platforms, operate in a permanent contact with water. The permeable fractured-porous structure of concrete determines the water-saturated state of the surface layers of such concrete elements. Under dynamic contact loading, the pore fluid is capable of exerting a significant mechanical influence on the local stress-strain state and strength characteristics of the surface layers of concrete. This has to be taken into account when assessing the wear intensity of surface layers and predicting a concrete element’s service life. The aforesaid determines the relevance of the study aimed at identifying the influence of the pore fluid and characteristics of the concrete pore structure on the strength and fracture pattern under quasistatic and dynamic compressive loading. The present work is devoted to the theoretical study and generalization of the laws of mechanical influence of the pore fluid on the dynamic strength of high-strength concrete with a two-scale pore structure. The emphasis in the study is on analyzing the contributions of each of the pore subsystems to the integral mechanical effect of the fluid. To carry out such an analysis, a coupled hydromechanical model is developed. It takes into account the compositional structure of concrete, the presence of a pore space in a cement stone of two different scales, the interaction of a pore liquid and a solid-phase skeleton based on the Bio poroelasticity model, as well as fluid filtration in a pore space. By using the developed model were performed the numerical studies of the dependence between the compressive strength of the representative concrete volumes of the mesoscopic scale on the strain rate, the sample size, the pore fluid viscosity, and pore structure parameters. The simulation results showed the possibility of combining the obtained dependencies into a generalized (master) curve in terms of a combined dimensionless parameter, which has the meaning similar to the Darcy number. We identified two key factors that control the type and parameters of the concrete master curve of the dynamic strength. The first factor is the mobility of the pore fluid in the network of the capillary pores. It determines the rate of stress equalization in the porous skeleton due to fluid flow. The second factor is the interconnection of large micropores with the network of the small capillary pore channels. It determines the magnitude of the decrease in stress concentration in micropores by filtering the excess pore fluid into the capillary pore network. It is shown that the contributions of these two factors to the amplitude of variation of the dynamic strength of the water-saturated concrete are additive, and their total contribution reaches 25 %.

Parameter-robust Uzawa-type iterative methods for double saddle point problems arising in Biot’s consolidation and multiple-network poroelasticity models

This work is concerned with the iterative solution of systems of quasi-static multiple-network poroelasticity equations describing flow in elastic porous media that is permeated by single or multiple fluid networks. Here, the focus is on a three-field formulation of the problem in which the displacement field of the elastic matrix and, additionally, one velocity field and one pressure field for each of the [Formula: see text] fluid networks are the unknown physical quantities. Generalizing Biot’s model of consolidation, which is obtained for [Formula: see text], the MPET equations for [Formula: see text] exhibit a double saddle point structure. The proposed approach is based on a framework of augmenting and splitting this three-by-three block system in such a way that the resulting block Gauss–Seidel preconditioner defines a fully decoupled iterative scheme for the flux-, pressure-, and displacement fields. In this manner, one obtains an augmented Lagrangian Uzawa-type method, the analysis of which is the main contribution of this work. The parameter-robust uniform linear convergence of this fixed-point iteration is proved by showing that its rate of contraction is strictly less than one independent of all physical and discretization parameters. The theoretical results are confirmed by a series of numerical tests that compare the new fully decoupled scheme to the very popular partially decoupled fixed-stress split iterative method, which decouples only flow — the flux and pressure fields remain coupled in this case — from the mechanics problem. We further test the performance of the block-triangular preconditioner defining the new scheme when used to accelerate the generalized minimal residual method (GMRES) algorithm.

Assessing mechanical response of CO2 storage into a depleted carbonate reef using a site-scale geomechanical model calibrated with field tests and InSAR monitoring data

Geomechanical risks of injection have raised concerns regarding secure CO2 storage. In this work, a combined monitoring and modeling approach is used to assess the stress changes and surface uplift associated with CO2 injection into a depleted carbonate reef of the Michigan basin. A site-scale geomechanical model is built by assigning mechanical properties of formations using well-log and experimental data. Gravity load is applied to the model to estimate the vertical component of stress as well as different lateral boundary displacement scenarios to estimate horizontal stresses. We used a poroelastic pressure-dependent model (instead of a linear elastic mechanical earth model) to calibrate initial stresses using hydraulic fracture test data measured at depleted reservoir status. Multi-phase fluid flow-geomechanical simulations are performed to estimate the poroelastic response during (1) primary depletion (2) field-scale CO2 injection phase (3) a hypothetical forecast scenario in which well bottom hole pressure (BHP) reach 45000 KPa. The predicted surface uplift is less than 1 mm at the end of the field-scale CO2 injection phase which is in good agreement with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) uplift measurement. Although the InSAR data shows an insignificant uplift, hydromechanical modeling of injection shows that CO2 injection still causes reservoir deformation emphasizing the role of carbonate overburden and reservoir formation mechanical properties and limited size of reef on diminishing the surface deformation. Modeling indicates poroelastic response of caprock matters to estimate uplift. The lower permeability of the top two layers provides additional barrier to large uplift. Also, history of subsidence due to production should be accounted to predict uplift due to a follow up injection correctly. This study shows the significance of combining a calibrated geomechanical model with field measured stresses and monitoring data to be used as a tool to ensure the safety of CO2 storage.

Investigation of fluid flow velocity within the intervertebral disc

Enhancing fluid flow velocity within the intervertebral disc may allow to increase solute transportation rates and improve disc nutrition as the sufficient supply of the nutrients to cells of intervertebral disc is a key factor in order to avoid or delay processes of disc degeneration. Poroelastic finite element model of lumbar intervertebral disc is used to calculate fluid flow velocity with the intervertebral disc due to flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation. When comparing the average of flow velocity, the highest values are calculated when flexion and extension moments were applied to the disc, but lateral bending induces the highest value of velocity component in Y direction in nucleus pulposus, yet the assumption that lateral bending could be more beneficial in order to improve nutrients supply to intervertebral disc cannot be substantiated only by this data, as calculated values of velocity component Y are significantly lower that total velocity values.

Isogeometric analysis of subcutaneous injection of monoclonal antibodies

Subcutaneous injection for self-administration of biotherapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies, has emerged as a fast-growing field in the pharmaceutical industry. Effective drug delivery in the subcutaneous tissue critically depends on the coupled mechanical and transport processes occurring in the tissue during and after the injection. The details of these processes, however, remain poorly understood; and this explains the growing interest in computational approaches. Notably, there are very few computational studies on subcutaneous injection into three-dimensional porous media that account for tissue deformability. Here, we leverage a poroelastic model to analyze the response of subcutaneous tissue under the flow of a pressurized fluid. We propose a computational method based on Isogeometric Analysis that exploits the global continuity of splines. Our model shows the importance of considering tissue deformation and permeability changes in order to obtain more realistic results in terms of fluid pressure and velocity, during and after the injection.

Comparison of material models for anterior cruciate ligament in tension: from poroelastic to a novel fibril-reinforced nonlinear composite model

Computational models of the knee joint are useful for evaluating stresses and strains within the joint tissues. However, the outcome of those models is sensitive to the material model and material properties chosen for ligaments, the collagen reinforced tissues connecting bone to bone. The purpose of this study was to investigate different compositionally motivated material models and further to develop a model that can accurately reproduce experimentally measured stress-relaxation data of bovine anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).Tensile testing samples were extracted from ACLs of bovine knee joints (N = 10) and subjected to a three-step stress-relaxation test at the toe region. Data from the experiments was averaged and one average finite element model was generated to replicate the experiment. Poroelastic and different fibril-reinforced poro(visco)elastic material models were applied, and their material parameters were optimized to reproduce the experimental force-time response.Material models with only fluid flow mediated relaxation were not able to capture the stress-relaxation behavior (R2 = 0.806, 0.803 and 0.938). The inclusion of the viscoelasticity of the fibrillar network improved the model prediction (R2 = 0.978 and 0.976), but the complex stress-relaxation behavior was best captured by a poroelastic model with a nonlinear two-relaxation-time strain-recruited viscoelastic fibrillar network (R2 = 0.997).The results suggest that in order to replicate the multi-step stress-relaxation behavior of ACL in tension, the fibrillar network formulation should include the complex nonlinear viscoelastic phenomena.

Subsidence prediction of a rubble mound breakwater at Yantai port: A application of FSSI-CAS 2D

This study is an application of the integrated numerical model FSSI-CAS 2D, to predict the subsidence of a huge rubble mound breakwater in the west part zone at Yantai port. The modified Cambridge clay soil model and poro-elastic model are adopted to describe the quasi-static mechanical behavior of the seabed foundation, which is consists of muddy-clay, clay and silt soil layers. The model parameters of soil used in computation are estimated based on a great number of laboratory tests (over one thousand). A novel point is that the buoyancy applied on the rubble mounds under SWL (Static Water Line), as well as its nonlinear variation dependent on the deformation of seabed foundation are considered in computation. Through analytical and experimental verification, as well as the comparison with observation data monitored in-situ, it is indicated that FSSI-CAS 2D is reliable to numerically predict the subsidence of offshore structures, and has the ability to be applied in practical engineering.

Poroelastic theory of consolidation for a two-layer system with an upper unsaturated soil and a lower saturated soil under fully permeable boundary conditions

Soils are naturally present in the form of stratified layers, each being distinguishable from adjacent layers by a distinctive set of hydraulic and elasticity properties. Lo et al. (2020) have recently presented a theoretical model of poroelasticity that provides a detailed description of simultaneous solid framework deformation and immiscible fluid flow in a two-layer soil system that is made up of upper unsaturated and lower saturated zones caused by a vertical constant surface load under semi-permeable boundary drainage conditions. Due to the existence of different moisture contents (partial and full saturations) in the upper and lower layers, excess pore fluid pressure does not exhibit a symmetric distribution with respect to depth. Therefore, an exact, analytical solution for fully permeable boundary drainage conditions cannot be determined readily by applying scaling transformations and spatial translations from our recent result even though the coupled model equations possess an invariance feature.In this paper, a well-defined boundary-value problem based on the decoupled model equations of poroelasticity generalized for a two-fluid system is rigorously formulated for a double-layer (unsaturated-saturated) soil profile that allows water drainage at both top and bottom surfaces. Using Laplace time transformation, we derive the closed-form, exact-analytical solution accounting for the intricate interaction between deformable solid matrix and compressible interstitial fluids in such a two-layer system. The solution takes a more complicated form than that for the semi-permeable case. Boundary drainage conditions indeed affect the development of excess pore water and air pressures along with the time evolution of total settlement. We show that when the bottom boundary of the saturated layer overlain by the unsaturated layer with a lower hydraulic conductivity is impervious, the curve describing the relationship between the depth and excess water pressure at the interface has a negative slope, whereas the slope is positive when the boundary is pervious. The total settlement in the lower saturated layer would thus achieve an equilibrium state faster.

Localized Afterslip at Geometrical Complexities Revealed by InSAR After the 2016 Central Italy Seismic Sequence

AbstractThe Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake occurred on 30 October 2016, along the Mt Vettore fault (Central Apennines, Italy), it was the largest earthquake of the 2016–2017 seismic sequence that started 2 months earlier with the Mw 6.0 Amatrice earthquake (24 August). To detect potential slow slip during the sequence, we produced Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series using 12‐ to 6‐day repeat cycles of Sentinel‐1A/1B images. Time series indicates that centimeter‐scale surface displacements took place during the 10 weeks following the Norcia earthquake. Two areas of subsidence are detected: one in the Castelluccio basin (hanging wall of the Mt Vettore fault) and one in the southern extent of the Norcia earthquake surface rupture, near an inherited thrust. Poroelastic and viscoelastic models are unable to explain these displacements. In the Castelluccio basin, the displacement reaches 13.2 ± 1.4 mm in the ascending line of sight on 6 January 2017. South of the Norcia earthquake surface rupture (a zone between the Norcia and Amatrice earthquakes), the postseismic surface displacements affect a smaller area but reach 35.5 ± 1.7 mm in ascending line of sight by January 2017 and follow a logarithmic temporal decay consistent with postseismic afterslip. Our analysis suggests that the structurally complex area located south of the Norcia rupture (30 October) is characterized by a conditionally stable frictional regime. This geometrical and frictional barrier likely halted rupture propagation during the Amatrice (24 August) and Norcia (30 October) earthquakes at shallow depth (<3–4 km).

Determination of stress state based on well logging data and laboratory measurements – a CBM well in the southeastern part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (Poland)

The main objective of this study is to present calculation methods of horizontal stress profiles, taking into account the stress boundaries model, poro-elastic horizontal strain model and the effective stress ratio approach, using calibration with wellbore failure. The mechanical earth model (MEM) parameters from log measurements and well testing data were estimated for a well located in the southeastern part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Log-derived horizontal stresses of the well are commonly treated as the final product of geomechanical modelling in oil and gas practices. A less popular method for estimating horizontal stresses is based on Kirsch equations juxtaposed with compressional and tensile failure observed on a micro-imager or six-arm caliper. Using this approach, horizontal stresses are determined based on the fact that when hoop stresses exceed the formation's tensile strength, tensile fractures are created, and when those stresses exceed the compressive strength of the formation, breakouts can be identified. The advantage of this method is that it can be run without in situ stress measurements. The presented workflow is recommended every time there is an image log and dipole sonic measurement in the available dataset, both being necessary to observe the failure zones and MEM.

Finite element investigation on the dynamic mechanical properties of low-frequency vibrations on human L2-L3 spinal motion segments with different degrees of degeneration.

Exposure to low-frequency vibration is harmful to human lumbar health. However, the dynamic mechanical properties of lumbar spines with varying degrees of degeneration during time-dependent vibration remain incompletely understood. In this study, four poroelastic finite element models of human L2-L3 spinal motion segments, including the non-degeneration and the mild, moderate, and serious degeneration, were established. One-hour low-frequency vibrations with different frequencies were applied. Then, the dynamic mechanical properties of different degenerated lumbar models under the same vibration and the same lumbar model under vibrations at different frequencies were investigated. The results indicated and implied that the negative influences of 1-h vibration on the dynamic mechanical properties of the non-degenerated and mildly degenerated models were similar, but became obvious for the moderately and seriously degenerated models with time. Therefore, the damage caused by low-frequency vibration on the degenerated spinal motion segments was more serious compared with that on the healthy one. Meanwhile, the dynamic mechanical properties of the same lumbar model under vibrations at different frequencies expressed the negligible differences when the vibration frequency was not close to the lumbar natural frequency. Thus, the effects of the 1-h vibrations at different frequencies on one spinal motion segment were similar. Vibration frequency sensitivity analysis on the dynamic characteristics of human L2-L3 spinal motion segments with different degrees of degeneration.

Stress inhomogeneity effect on fluid-induced fracture behavior into weakly consolidated granular systems.

We study the effect of stress inhomogeneity on the behavior of fluid-driven fracture development in weakly consolidated granular systems. Using numerical models we investigate the change in fracture growth rate and fracture pattern structure in unconsolidated granular packs (also referred to as soft-sands) as a function of the change in the confining stresses applied to the system. Soft-sands do not usually behave like brittle, linear elastic materials, and as a consequence, poroelastic models are often not applicable to describe their behavior. By making a distinction between "cohesive" and "compressive" grain-grain contact forces depending on their magnitude, we propose an expression that describes the fluid opening pressure as a function of the mean value and the standard deviation of the "compressive stress" distribution. We also show that the standard deviation of this distribution can be related with the extent to which fracture "branches" reach into the material.

Comprehensive mechanical earth modeling using well data

Mechanical earth model is a numerical representation of the stress state, pore pressure and rock mechanical properties. While the different parameters in the MEM are interconnected in various ways, they fundamentally stem from the same basic set of log measurements. This paper demonstrates a scientific workflow to build a comprehensive well-centric MEM for a well in a carbonate reservoir in Persian Gulf and calibrate it via utilizing the existing data including LOT, MDT, drilling incidents, etc., to minimize the uncertainties related to data limitations. Finally, the calibrated MEM was used for sensitivity analysis of various wellbore trajectories and mud weight/pressure window for planning future wells and safe drilling in this underdevelopment field. Poroelastic modeling along with rigorous calibration indicates strike slip toward normal faulting stress regime. Also, shear wave anisotropy analysis results in N40E orientation for the maximum horizontal stress. The optimum mud weight for safe drilling was found to be 120 pcf for Gachsaran Formation, 105 pcf for all the formations from Asmari to Kazhdumi limestone and 85 pcf for all the formations from Yamama to total depth. On this basis, it is recommended to put the casing shoes at the base of Gachsaran, Kazhdumi limestone and final depth. The results recommend planning the future wells horizontally in the NE–SW direction for formations having SS stress regime and wells near vertically in formations having NF stress regime. Besides, the drilling safe mud window resulting from Mogi–Coulomb failure criterion is broader, while the Mohr–Coulomb is more limited.

Experimental study on frequency‐dependent elastic properties of weakly consolidated marine sandstone: effects of partial saturation

ABSTRACTInvestigating seismic dispersion and attenuation characteristics of loosely compacted marine sandstone is essential in reconciling different geophysical measurements (surface seismic, well logging and ultrasonic) for better characterization of a shallow marine sandstone reservoir. We have experimented with a typical high‐porosity and high‐permeability sandstone sample, extracted from the Paleogene marine depositional setting in the Gulf of Mexico, at the low‐frequency band (2–500 Hz) as well as ultrasonic point (106 Hz), to investigate the effects of varying saturation levels on a rock's elasticity. The results suggest that the Young's modulus of the measured sample with adsorbed moisture at laboratory conditions (room temperature, 60%–90% humidity) exhibits dispersive behaviours. The extensional attenuation can be as high as 0.038, and the peak frequency occurs around 60 Hz. The extensional attenuation due to moisture adsorption can be dramatically mitigated with the increase of confining pressure. For partial saturation status, extensional attenuation increases as increasing water saturation by 79% with respect to the measured frequencies. Additionally, the results show that extensional attenuation at the fully water‐saturated situation is even smaller than that at adsorbed moisture conditions. The Gassmann–Wood model can overall capture the P‐wave velocity‐saturation trend of measured data at seismic frequencies, demonstrating that the partially saturated unconsolidated sandstone at the measured seismic frequency range is prone to be in the relaxed status. Nevertheless, the ultrasonic velocities are significantly higher than the Gassmann–Wood predictions, suggesting that the rocks are in the unrelaxed status at the ultrasonic frequency range. The poroelastic modelling results based on the patchy saturation model also indicate that the characteristic frequency of the partially saturated sample is likely beyond the measured seismic frequency range.

Justification for power laws and fractional models

Wave equations with non-integer derivative operators describe attenuation which increases with frequency with other powers than two, unlike ordinary wave equations. It is desirable to try to understand what properties of, e.g., biological tissue that give rise to this behavior. The main attenuation mechanisms of standard acoustics are heat conduction and relaxation, as well as structural and chemical relaxation. They have fractional parallels and the first one is heat relaxation described by fractional Newton cooling due to anomalous diffusion. The most important mechanism is however the fractional parallel to structural relaxation. Instead of one there are multiple relaxation processes with a distribution of relaxation times that follows a power-law distribution, possibly indicating fractal properties. The distribution also has a relationship to the Arrhenius equation, indicating a link to chemical relaxation, albeit a quite speculative one. The multiple relaxation model may also be formulated as a hierarchical polymer model. Time-varying non-Newtonian viscosity and a medium with a fractal distribution of scatterers can also give rise to power law behavior. Existing models in sediment acoustics such as the grain shearing model and the Biot poroelastic model can also be reformulated with fractional operators. These approaches are presented in the hope of progressing towards an understanding of whether fractional wave equations give clues to some deeper reality, or if they are just a compact phenomenological description.

Bayesian Poroelastic Aquifer Characterization From InSAR Surface Deformation Data. Part I: Maximum A Posteriori Estimate

AbstractCharacterizing the properties of groundwater aquifers is essential for predicting aquifer response and managing groundwater resources. In this work, we develop a high‐dimensional scalable Bayesian inversion framework governed by a three‐dimensional quasi‐static linear poroelastic model to characterize lateral permeability variations in groundwater aquifers. We determine the maximum a posteriori (MAP) point of the posterior permeability distribution from centimeter‐level surface deformation measurements obtained from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The scalability of our method to high parameter dimension is achieved through the use of adjoint‐based derivatives, inexact Newton methods to determine the MAP point, and a Matérn class sparse prior precision operator. Together, these guarantee that the MAP point is found at a cost, measured in number of forward/adjoint poroelasticity solves, that is independent of the parameter dimension. We apply our methodology to a test case for a municipal well in Mesquite, Nevada, in which InSAR and GPS surface deformation data are available. We solve problems with up to320,824state variable degrees of freedom (DOFs) and16,896parameter DOFs. A consistent treatment of noise level is employed so that the aquifer characterization result does not depend on the pixel spacing of surface deformation data. Our results show that the use of InSAR data significantly improves characterization of lateral aquifer heterogeneity, and the InSAR‐based aquifer characterization recovers complex lateral displacement trends observed by independent daily GPS measurements.

Study of spatiotemporal liquid dynamics in a vibrating vocal fold by using a self-oscillating poroelastic model.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the spatiotemporal interstitial fluid dynamics in a vibrating vocal fold. A self-oscillating poroelastic model is proposed to study the liquid dynamics in the vibrating vocal folds by treating the vocal fold tissue as a transversally isotropic, fluid-saturated, porous material. Rich spatiotemporal liquid dynamics have been found. Specifically, in the vertical direction, the liquid is transported from the inferior side to the superior side due to the propagation of the mucosal wave. In the longitudinal direction, the liquid accumulates at the anterior-posterior midpoint. However, the contact between the two vocal folds forces the accumulated liquid out laterally in a very short time span. These findings could be helpful for exploring etiology of some laryngeal pathologies, optimizing laryngeal disease treatment, and understanding hemodynamics in the vocal folds.

Junction zone stability in coaxial wells of different diameters (on the example of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District oil field)

The paper considers borehole wall stability in a junction zone of coaxial wells where a borehole of bigger diameter connects with a smaller one. To determine the shapes and character of rock destruction, 3D poroelastic modeling of the stressed state of the rock around the coaxial junction with account for mudcake formation was performed. The geomechanical model considers the anisotropy of the medium’s deformation properties that are characteristic for the coastal-marine reservoirs of Western Siberia. The rock failure is estimated based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion with account for tensile destruction condition. The paper considers cases of vertical and inclined junctions of a well drilled at a depth of 2 km in sandstone productive pay with known poroelastic anisotropic properties. The stress and pore pressure analysis has been performed for a mud pressure drop range from 1 to 70 atm and coaxial junctions with different combinations of borehole diameters. The safe mud pressure window has been determined for vertical and inclined junctions. It has been found that the rock failure pattern for junction of bigger diameters is, in general, similar to that for smaller diameters with some insignificant differences in the destruction areas shapes. It has also been demonstrated that in vertical junctions, the bottom holes of smaller diameter are more stable to reduced drilling-mud pressure than the mainboreholes, while in the inclined junction it is the mainwellbore that is more stable to increased drilling-mud pressure than the bottom hole.

Vertical time-harmonic coupling vibration of an impermeable, rigid, circular plate resting on a finite, poroelastic soil layer

Studies associated with dynamic plate–medium interactions generally assumed the plate structures to be permeable for the sake of convenience. But the effect and applicability of such an assumption are still unclear, and then the pore fluid pressure on the plate and medium interfaces cannot be obtained. In this paper, the mentioned problems are discussed by studying the coupling steady-state vibration of an impermeable, rigid, circular plate resting on a finite, fluid-saturated, poroelastic soil layer underlain by rigid base and subjected to a vertical time-harmonic loading. The semi-analytical solutions for the dynamic compliance, displacements, stresses, especially the contact stress including effective stress and pore fluid pressure of the plate and the layer, are proposed. In developing these solutions, the linearly poroelastic model established by de Boer is used to describe the mechanical behaviour of the porous medium. By means of four scalar displacement potentials and the Fourier–Hankel transformation to solve the equations of motion of the poroelastic layer, and then imposing boundary and interfacial conditions, a pair of coupling Fredholm’s integral equations of the second kind formulating the plate–medium interaction are derived and evaluated with numerical methods. The proposed solutions are then verified by comparing with the existing special solutions and the FEM calculation results. Numerical examples are also performed to examine the effects of the permeability of both the plate and the poroelastic layer and the thickness of the layer on the dynamic response of the coupling system.

Fluid-Triggered Aftershocks in an Anisotropic Hydraulic Conductivity Geological Complex: The Case of the 2016 Amatrice Sequence, Italy

The mechanism by which faults interact each other is still a debated matter. One of the main issues is the role of pore-pressure diffusion in the delayed triggering of successive events. The 2016 Amatrice-Visso-Norcia seismic sequence (Central Apennines, Italy) provides a suitable dataset to test different physical mechanisms leading to delayed events. The sequence started on August 24, 2016, with the Amatrice mainshock (MW = 6), and was followed after more than 60 days by events in Visso (MW = 5.4) and Norcia (MW = 5.9). We analysed the contribution of the static stress change and the role of fluids in the delayed triggering. Through 3D poroelastic modelling, we show that the Amatrice mainshock induced a pore-pressure diffusion and a normal stress reduction in the hypocentral area of the two aftershocks, favouring the rupture. Our parametric study employs a simple two-layered conductivity model with anisotropy in the seismogenic layer, characterized by larger conductivity values (K>10-5 m/s) along the NNW-SSE direction. The one-way coupled pore-pressure 3-D diffusion modelling predicts the maximum increase of the pore pressure at the location of the two Visso earthquakes 60 days after the mainshock. The occurrence of anisotropic diffusivity is supported by the pattern of active faults and the strong crustal anisotropy documented by S-wave splitting analysis. We conclude that the temporal evolution of the sequence was controlled by the anisotropic diffusion of pore-pressure perturbations through pre-existing NNW-trending fracture systems.