Mixed Method for Isogeometric Analysis of Coupled Flow and Deformation in Poroelastic Media

Abstract

Pressure oscillations at small time steps have been known to be an issue in poroelasticity simulations. A review of proposed approaches to overcome this problem is presented. Critical time steps are specified to alleviate this in finite element analyses. We present a mixed isogeometric formulation here with a view to assessing the results at very small time steps. Numerical studies are performed on Terzaghi’s problem and consolidation of a layered porous medium with a very low permeability layer for varying polynomial degrees, continuities across knot spans and spatial discretizations. Comparisons are made with equal order simulations.

Keywords

• poroelasticity
• isogeometric analysis
• mixed formulation
• pressure oscillations