Efficient Fracture Propagation Solver Based on the Displacement Discontinuity Method with Application to Fiber Optic Sensing

Hydraulic fracturing is essential for developing not only unconventional oil and gas reservoirs but also clean-energy resources, such as enhanced geothermal systems. Accurate simulation of fracture propagation is crucial for estimating poststimulation production. However, current approaches to calculating fracture physical parameters are often computationally inefficient. A widely used technique is the displacement-discontinuity method. It discretizes the reservoir into boundary elements that are solved sequentially, after which fracture responses are superimposed. In this study, we introduce an efficient fracture propagation method that optimizes the solution process by incorporating the fracture internal pressure equation into the fracture width equation. Moreover, we derive analytical expressions for the Jacobian matrix to replace conventional numerical differentiation, significantly reducing computational cost. By exploiting domain symmetry, we calculate only half of the domain, extrapolating the results to obtain complete fracture information. To validate the practical applicability of our method, we integrate it with fiber optic sensing data, enabling real-time calibration and verification of fracture behavior. This fusion enhances both the spatial resolution and reliability of fracture monitoring in the field. Our results demonstrate that the proposed method maintains accuracy while achieving a significant increase in computational speed compared to previous approaches. This combined modeling and sensing framework offers a powerful tool for smart reservoir management. The proposed approach contributes to more efficient and sustainable energy resource development.