Method Validation of FEM Simulation of the Sinking of Carbonate Inclusion in Salt

Abstract

A large number of salt bodies do contain layers of carbonate material, often called ‘stringers’. The movement and deformation of those embedded carbonate bodies is a process which is not fully understood yet. In particular, given the density contrast between the salt and the denser carbonates, the stringers tend to sink towards the bottom of the salt bodies at a velocity which is highly dependent on the mechanical properties of both the salt and the carbonates. We have chosen to employ Finite Element Modeling (FEM), using the FEM package ABAQUS (SIMULIA, Dassault Systems), for the numerical simulation of the sinking of carbonate stringers embedded in the salt. In order to confirm the validity of the chosen numerical approach we show the results of three sets of numerical simulations performed to compare the flow behavior of salt in our FE model to both theoretical and experimental results. This is an efficient preparation for the FEM simulation of the sinking of a carbonate stringer embedded in the salt.