A variational phase-field model for hydraulic fracturing in porous media

Rigorous coupling of fracture–porous medium fluid flow and topologically complex fracture propagation is of great scientific interest in geotechnical and biomechanical applications. In this paper, we derive a unified fracture–porous medium hydraulic fracturing model, leveraging the inherent ability of the variational phase-field approach to fracture to handle multiple cracks interacting and evolving along complex yet, critically, unspecified …