*3.2. Iterative Hydro-Mechanical Coupling*

In this work, we aim at conciliating the geological realism and dynamic aspect of basin simulations with the integration of lateral mechanical e ffects. To do so, we use a coupling between two codes: ArcTem, a basin simulator [13], and Code Aster, a finite element mechanical solver [14]. ArcTem relies on the classical 1D stress simplification while Code Aster computes a full stress tensor.

The coupling is implemented in a prototype software named A<sup>2</sup> [71]. Following an iterative procedure, the two codes exchange inputs and outputs at each simulation step, until providing a consistent set of porosity, permeability, fluid pressure, and stress tensor in each cell of the basin model. This di ffers from the integrated numerical model of [72] but shares similar objectives.

The coupling algorithm uses an updated Lagrangian approach and is inspired from the work of [73] and [74] for reservoir simulations. The same grid is used by the two codes and the convergence criterion is based on a comparison between the porosity values they compute. A full description can be read in [71] and [75].
