Mengsu Hu - Earth and Environmental Sciences Area

Biography

I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Energy Geosciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). I received BEng in civil engineering in 2010 and PhD in geotechnical engineering in 2016. During my PhD, I spent two years at the LBNL under the supervision and help of Jonny Rutqvist, and developed a series of models and codes based on the numerical manifold method (NMM), including:

A model for efficiently solving free-surface flow
A second-order model for accurately and efficiently solving high-gradient, nonlinear flow
A Lagrange multiplier method model for accurate modeling of heterogeneous flow
A jump function method model for flow across material interface
A practical model for fluid flow in Discrete-Fracture Porous Media containing multiple discrete fractures with non-conforming mesh
A fully coupled hydro-mechanical (HM) model for dominant fractures/faults, considering the direction coupling and nonlinear indirect coupling
A fully coupled HM model for rock with multiple fractures considering opening and slip of fractures, and flux exchange between fractures and porous rock, which can be used for hydraulic fracturing analysis with pre-described fractures

The main contributions of this work is the development of NMM model for fully coupled HM in complex fractured and porous media, with important applications to a wide range of energy geosciences activities. Details of this work can be found in the published journal papers listed below.

Link to ResearchGate

Research Interests

At the LBNL, I am very interested in model development and application of coupled thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in energy-geosciences-associated activities. My research topic covers two main parts, i.e., (1) numerical model development, based on finite volume method (FVM), and numerical manifold method, and (2) multi-scale, long-term analysis of the THM processes in nuclear waste disposal, CO₂ sequestration, and other energy-geosciences applications with the newly developed numerical models, and well-built TOUGH-FLAC simulator. Currently, my work is focused on the following specific research topics:

Model development of fully coupled THM, dual-continuum, dual-mesh model based on FVM for multi-component, multi-phase flow interacting with mechanical and thermal fields
Model development for analyzing hydraulic fracturing and its interaction with existing natural discrete fractures based on NMM, FVM
THM analysis of large-scale, long-term performances of nuclear waste disposal in salt formation considering the brine inclusion migration under thermal gradient, with the FVM and TOUGH-FLAC

Awards

Spot Recognition Award for outstanding contributions to the field of coupled processes modeling, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2016
The National Scholarship, the Ministry of Education, China, 2015, 2014, 2008, 2007
Qian Jia-Huan Scholarship, 1st prize, 2015
YAN Kai Scholarship, 2015
Best PhD Student Training Program, Hohai University, 2014
Outstanding Graduate, China University of Mining and Technology, 2010
Pacemaker to Merit Student, China University of Mining and Technology, 2008

Journal Publications

Mengsu Hu, Jonny Rutqvist, Yuan Wang. A fully coupled hydro-mechanical model for discrete fractured porous rock masses based on numerical manifold method. (under review)
Mengsu Hu, Yuan Wang, Jonny Rutqvist. Fully coupled hydro-mechanical numerical manifold modeling of porous rock with dominant fractures. Acta Geotechnica. DOI: 10.1007/s11440-016-0495-z
Mengsu Hu, Jonny Rutqvist, Yuan Wang. A Practical Model for Flow in Discrete-Fracture Porous Media by Using the Numerical Manifold Method. Advances in water resources. 2016, 97: 38-51.
Mengsu Hu, Yuan Wang, Jonny Rutqvist. On Continuous and Discontinuous Approaches for Modeling Groundwater Flow in Heterogeneous Media Using the Numerical Manifold Method: Model Development and Comparison. Advances in Water Resources. 2015, 80: 17-29.
Mengsu Hu, Yuan Wang, Jonny Rutqvist. Development of a Discontinuous Approach for Modeling Fluid Flow in Heterogeneous Media Using the Numerical Manifold Method. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics. 2015, 39: 1932-1952.
Mengsu Hu, Yuan Wang, Jonny Rutqvist. An effective approach for modeling water flow in heterogeneous media using Numerical Manifold Method. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids，2015; 77:459–476.
Yuan Wang, Mengsu Hu, Quanlin Zhou, Jonny Rutqvist. Energy-work-based numerical manifold seepage analysis with an efficient scheme to locate the phreatic surface. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics. 2014; 38:1633–1650.
Yuan Wang, Mengsu Hu, Quanlin Zhou, Jonny Rutqvist. A new Second-Order Numerical Manifold Method Model with an efficient scheme for analyzing free surface flow with inner drains. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 2016; 40: 1427–1445.