3D Printing Geological Models for Education, Research, and Technical Communication – 3D Printing as an Emerging Technology in Geosciences
By: Franciszek Hasiuk & Sergey Ishutov
Instructor
Prof. Dr Franek Hasiuk (Kansas Geological Survey) and
Dr Sergey Ishutov (University of Alberta)
Duration
22 - 25 March 2022;
4:00PM - 8:00PM CET;
4 hours/day
Disciplines
Reservoir Characterization – Rock Physics
Course Format
The EAGE Interactive online short courses bring carefully selected courses of experienced instructors from industry and academia online to give participants the possibility to follow the latest education in geoscience and engineering remotely. The courses are designed to be easily digested over the course of two or three days. Participants will have the possibility to interact live with the instructor and ask questions.
Education Packages
To help you save on registration fees and better organize your learning path, we are offering Education Packages for all Interactive Online Short Courses and Online EETs. The packages are valid for a period of 12 months, choose between packages of 3, 5 and 10 credits.
Course Description
3D printing provides a fast, cost-effective way to transform digital geoscience data into tangible models that enable the physical representation of complex 3D geometries and enhance communication among researchers, students, technical management, and non-experts. Whereas digital models can be viewed only on a screen, a 3D printed model can be manipulated “in the real world”. For research purposes, physical models can be experimented upon in the laboratory to validate numerical predictions of rock properties. With limited access to research facilities, 3D printing enables creating a functional laboratory at home, using software and 3D printing machine, currently available off the shelf. The course is designed to cover broad topics related to various 3D printing applications over four days.
Day 1 provides an overview of different 3D printing techniques that use both rock-like materials (e.g., sand, gypsum, clay) and polymers (e.g., plastics, resins). While these cost-effective methods are shaping the future of manufacturing, 3D printing geological media requires profound understanding of capabilities and limitations of each technique and its material properties. As a basic use-case, we will discuss downloading pre-made models from on-line repositories as well as modifying these models. We will also discuss how to prototype your own lab equipment using CAD and 3D scanning.
Day 2 includes a module on how to digitally design porous models for use in geology. For reservoir rock analysis, 3D printing of near-identical rock proxies provides an approach to conduct repeatable laboratory experiments without destroying natural rock samples. The course also discusses case studies of 3D printing applications in the geoscience and engineering research as well as in the petroleum industry. Participants will design 3D-printable models containing pore and fracture networks using CAD and computed tomography data.
Day 3 involves practical components of using 3D printing for characterization of digital designs created in day 2 exercise. 3D-printed porous and fracture models are used to investigate fundamental research questions in the areas of single and multiphase fluid flow as well as reactive transport in reservoir sandstones and carbonate rocks. Participants will learn how 3D-printed models can be used in destructive and non-destructive analyses to study geomechanical and transport properties (e.g., porosity, pore sizes, grain sizes, fracture apertures, connectivity of pore and fracture networks).
In Day 4, participants will learn how to deploy 3D-printed models to improve technical communication to diverse audiences (e.g., engineers, managers, community stakeholders). The integration of digital data sets with 3D-printed surface and subsurface features will help participants to learn about communication for societal objectives. Discussion of 3D printing as a teaching tool will help students and educators to understand the practical approaches of using 3D-printed models in explaining complex concepts and 3D data. Participants will also gain experience with TouchTerrain app that allows to generate 3D-printable terrain models with no CAD or GIS software.
Course Objectives
On completion of the course, participants will be able to:
- Understand capabilities and limitations of different 3D printing techniques;
- Demonstrate how to digitally design 3D-printable models using CAD software and computed tomography data;
- Provide the assessment of digital models and their relative 3D-printed replicas;
- Characterize how 3D printing can increase the effectiveness of communicating geoscience data;
- Apply 3D printing in current or future research and teaching.
Course Outline
- Lecture "Overview of 3D printing technology"
- History of 3D printing
- Common 3D printing techniques
- Materials used and their physical and chemical properties - Exercise "Methods of transforming digital models into 3D-printed objects"
- Tuning settings of 3D printing software
- Methods of making geoscience data 3D-printable
- Selection of a 3D printer and material to fit digital model parameters
- Lecture "Applications of 3D printing in the geoscience and engineering research"
- Use of 3D printing in petroleum industry
- 3D printing as a tool in reservoir rock analysis - Exercise "Digital design of 3D-printable models"
- With CAD (idealized porous models)
- From computed tomography data (reservoir rock samples)
- Lecture "3D printing in reservoir rock models"
- Advantages and limitations of experimental tests
- Substitution of natural rock samples with 3D-printed proxies
- Value of adding 3D printing into rock characterization workflow - Exercise “Validation of digital designs for 3D-printability”
- Meshing and surface analysisTriangle budget and model size
- Multi-model stitching and transformation
- Lecture "3D printing as a teaching and communication tool"
- Use for students learning new 3D concepts and models
- Emerging tool for researchers involved in data exchange
- Technical management and community stakeholders presenting data - Exercise "3D printing with variable scales and geometries"
- Extracting terrain models with TouchTerrain app
- Exporting terrain models into 3D-printable files
- Strategies for downscaling and resolution
Participants' Profile
The course is designed in four days to accommodate a broad range of participant groups. It is useful for students, (geo)scientists, engineers, and managers who are interested in current advances of 3D printing in research and teaching. Educators of all levels can learn about current applications of 3D printing in teaching strategies. It can also be beneficial for managers and stakeholders who want to learn the use of 3D printing in technical communications. Because the course covers research applications of 3D printing in geoscience and engineering disciplines geologists, petrophysicists, stratigraphers, geophysicists, geomorphologists, reservoir and geomechanical engineers and geomodellers from both industry and academia may be interested in the course outcomes. Participants will receive hand-on experience creating digital rock and terrain models, validating model accuracy and exploring the best methods and materials to 3D print them. In addition, the course will involve review of current advances in research on 3D printing reservoir rock models that involves investigation of petrophysical and geomechanical properties of 3D-printed rock proxies.
Prerequisites
Prior knowledge of CAD modeling and interpretation of computed tomography data would be useful, but is not required. Required freeware to be installed by the participants: TinkerCad (https://www.tinkercad.com/), Meshmixer (http://www.meshmixer.com/). ImageJ (https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/download.html).
About the Instructors
Prof. Dr Franciszek Hasiuk
Prof. Dr Franek Hasiuk, Associate Scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey, is an expert in carbonate geology and 3D printing. His dissertation from the University of Michigan involved understanding the secular variation of seawater chemistry and temperature from marine carbonate chemistry. He worked at ExxonMobil Upstream Research for four years where he developed a deep appreciation for carbonate petrophysics while working on a variety of projects including a global synthesis of carbonate microporosity. The mission of his "GeoFabLab" has been to better understand the chemistry and petrophysics of rocks by using 3D-printed rock models as well as man-made rocks, like concrete and asphalt.
Dr Sergey Ishutov
Dr Sergey Ishutov, researcher, is an expert in 3D printing porous media from CAD and tomographic models. He is currently a researcher at the University of Alberta working on digital and experimental analysis of transport and geomechanical properties of 3D-printed porous models at nano-, micro- and macro-scales. He has received B.Sc. in petroleum geology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and M.Sc. in geology from California State University Long Beach. His research experience is in acquisition, processing, and interpretation of seismic data and analysis of computed tomography data from reservoir core plugs. Dr Ishutov received multiple awards and research grants from professional societies and industry collaborators to establish foundation research in 3D printing reservoir rock samples. He has work experience at major petroleum companies, including ExxonMobil, Aramco, and Shell.