IMAGE-BASED DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF PETROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES UNDER SIMULATED STRESS AND STRAIN CONDITIONS

摘要

The present invention provides a testing system for performing image based direct numerical simulation to characterize petrophysical properties of a rock sample under the simulated deformation conditions, for example as representative of subsurface conditions. A digital image volume corresponding to x-ray tomographic images of a rock sample is segmented into its significant elastic phases, such as pore space, clay fraction, grain contacts and mineral type, and overlaid with an unstructured finite element mesh. A simulated deformation is applied to the segmented image volume, and the resulting deformed unstructured mesh is numerically analyzed, for example by way of direct numerical simulation, to determine the desired petrophysical properties.