The Fracture Flow Interface
The Fracture Flow (ff) interface (), found under the Porous Media and Subsurface Flow branch () when adding a physics interface, is used to simulate flow along faults and fractures represented as boundaries. The physics interface uses a variant of Darcy’s law and can be used for stationary and time-dependent analysis.
When this physics interface is added, these default nodes are also added to the Model BuilderFracture, No Flow (the default boundary condition), and Initial Values. Then, from the Physics toolbar, add other nodes that implement, for example, mass sources and conditions on edges or points. You can also right-click Fracture Flow to select physics features from the context menu.
Settings
The Label is the default physics interface name.
The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the physics interface. Refer to such physics interface variables in expressions using the pattern <name>.<variable_name>. In order to distinguish between variables belonging to different physics interfaces, the name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and underscores (_) are permitted in the Name field. The first character must be a letter.
The default Name (for the first physics interface in the model) is ff.
Physical Model
Enter a Reference pressure level pref (SI unit: Pa). The default value is 1[atm].
Gravity Effects
Gravity effects are not active by default. Select the check box Include gravity to activate the acceleration of gravity.
Under Acceleration of gravity enter the value for the acceleration of gravity g (SI unit: m/s2). The default value is the predefined constant g_const.
Discretization
You can choose the order of the shape functions used for the pressure variable solved by the Fracture Flow interface. The default shape functions are Quadratic Lagrange.
Dependent Variables
The dependent variable (field variable) is for the Pressure. The name can be changed but the names of fields and dependent variables must be unique within a model.
To display all settings available in this section, click the Show button () and select Advanced Physics Options.
Physical Constants in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual