Download or read book Simulation of Hydraulic Fractures and Their Interactions with Natural Fractures written by Varahanaresh Sesetty and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modeling the stimulated reservoir volume during hydraulic fracturing is important to geothermal and petroleum reservoir stimulation. The interaction between a hydraulic fracture and pre-existing natural fractures exerts significant control on stimulated volume and fracture network complexity. This thesis presents a boundary element and finite difference based method for modeling this interaction during hydraulic fracturing process. In addition, an improved boundary element model is developed to more accurately calculate the total stimulated reservoir volume. The improved boundary element model incorporates a patch to calculate the tangential stresses on fracture walls accurately, and includes a special crack tip element at the fracture end to capture the correct stress singularity the tips The fracture propagation model couples fluid flow to fracture deformation, and accounts for fracture propagation including the transition of a mechanically-closed natural fractures to a hydraulic fracture. The numerical model is used to analyze a number of stimulation scenarios and to study the resulting hydraulic fracture trajectory, fracture aperture, and pressures as a function of injection time. The injection pressure, fracture aperture profiles shows the complexity of the propagation process and its impact on stimulation design and proppant placement. The injection pressure is observed to decrease initially as hydraulic fracture propagates and then it either increases or decreases depending on the factors such as distance between hydraulic fracture and natural fracture, viscosity of the injected fluid, injection rate and also other factor that are discussed in detail in below sections. Also, the influence of flaws on natural fracture in its opening is modeled. Results shows flaws that are very small in length will not propagate but are influencing the opening of natural fracture. If the flaw is located near to one end tip the other end tip will likely propagate first and vice versa. This behavior is observed due to the stress shadowing effect of flaw on the natural fracture. In addition, sequential and simultaneous injection and propagation of multiple fractures is modeled. Results show that for sequential injection, the pressure needed to initiate the later fractures increases but the geometry of the fractures is less complicated than that obtained from simultaneous injection under the same fracture spacing and injection. It is also observed that when mechanical interaction is present, the fractures in sequential fracturing have a higher width reduction as the later fractures are formed.

Download or read book Hydraulic Fracture Modeling written by Yu-Shu Wu and published by Gulf Professional Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hydraulic Fracture Modeling delivers all the pertinent technology and solutions in one product to become the go-to source for petroleum and reservoir engineers. Providing tools and approaches, this multi-contributed reference presents current and upcoming developments for modeling rock fracturing including their limitations and problem-solving applications. Fractures are common in oil and gas reservoir formations, and with the ongoing increase in development of unconventional reservoirs, more petroleum engineers today need to know the latest technology surrounding hydraulic fracturing technology such as fracture rock modeling. There is tremendous research in the area but not all located in one place. Covering two types of modeling technologies, various effective fracturing approaches and model applications for fracturing, the book equips today’s petroleum engineer with an all-inclusive product to characterize and optimize today’s more complex reservoirs. Offers understanding of the details surrounding fracturing and fracture modeling technology, including theories and quantitative methods Provides academic and practical perspective from multiple contributors at the forefront of hydraulic fracturing and rock mechanics Provides today’s petroleum engineer with model validation tools backed by real-world case studies

Download or read book Simulation of Hydraulic and Natural Fracture Interaction Using a Coupled DFN DEM Model written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The presence of natural fractures will usually result in a complex fracture network due to the interactions between hydraulic and natural fracture. The reactivation of natural fractures can generally provide additional flow paths from formation to wellbore which play a crucial role in improving the hydrocarbon recovery in these ultra-low permeability reservoir. Thus, accurate description of the geometry of discrete fractures and bedding is highly desired for accurate flow and production predictions. Compared to conventional continuum models that implicitly represent the discrete feature, Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) models could realistically model the connectivity of discontinuities at both reservoir scale and well scale. In this work, a new hybrid numerical model that couples Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) and Dual-Lattice Discrete Element Method (DL-DEM) is proposed to investigate the interaction between hydraulic fracture and natural fractures. Based on the proposed model, the effects of natural fracture orientation, density and injection properties on hydraulic-natural fractures interaction are investigated.

Download or read book 3 D Modeling of Interaction Between a Hydraulic Fracture and Multiple Natural Fractures Using Finite Element Analysis written by Debashish Talukder and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A three-layered, 3-D geo-mechanical model was developed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software (ABAQUS) to simulate single stage hydraulic fracturing treatment in a synthetic fractured model based on available shale information from literature. The main objectives of this study were- (i) to investigate the interaction between a hydraulic fracture (HF) orthogonally intersecting two parallel natural fractures (NF) and (ii) to identify significant parameters and their 2-factor interactions that affect HF propagation in the presence of multiple NFs. Based on literature review, an initial set of 20 parameters (a combination of geologic and drilling parameters) was selected. Those parameters were believed to affect the hydraulic fracture propagation in a naturally fractured model. Experiments were conducted in two stages. First-order order numerical experiments were conducted under the Plackett-Burman experimental design. Central Composite Design (CCD) was used to check curvature and to take care of non-linearity existing in the dataset. A stepwise sensitivity analysis and parametric study were conducted to identify significant parameters and their interactions. When the HF interacted with NFs, there were three possible outcomes- the HF either got arrested, dilated or crossed the NF. The overall hydraulic fracture geometry depended on the type of interaction behavior occurring at the intersection. The NF leakoff coefficient was the most significant factor in the 1st order experiments that affected the HF propagation in the presence of multiple NFs. CCD results suggested that NF strength at the bottom shale layer and injection fluid viscosity significantly influenced the HF opening in the presence of the natural fractures. The most significant two-factor interaction was the interaction between stress contrast and Young’s modulus of the overburden shale (Ytop). This study will help understand the interaction behavior between a HF and two pre-existing NFs. The parametric study will provide a valuable insight for hydraulic fracturing treatment in a naturally fractured formation.

Download or read book Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing written by Ching H. Yew and published by Gulf Professional Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revised to include current components considered for today’s unconventional and multi-fracture grids, Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing, Second Edition explains one of the most important features for fracture design — the ability to predict the geometry and characteristics of the hydraulically induced fracture. With two-thirds of the world’s oil and natural gas reserves committed to unconventional resources, hydraulic fracturing is the best proven well stimulation method to extract these resources from their more remote and complex reservoirs. However, few hydraulic fracture models can properly simulate more complex fractures. Engineers and well designers must understand the underlying mechanics of how fractures are modeled in order to correctly predict and forecast a more advanced fracture network. Updated to accommodate today’s fracturing jobs, Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing, Second Edition enables the engineer to: Understand complex fracture networks to maximize completion strategies Recognize and compute stress shadow, which can drastically affect fracture network patterns Optimize completions by properly modeling and more accurately predicting for today’s hydraulic fracturing completions Discusses the underlying mechanics of creating a fracture from the wellbore Enhanced to include newer modeling components such as stress shadow and interaction of hydraulic fracture with a natural fracture, which aids in more complex fracture networks Updated experimental studies that apply to today’s unconventional fracturing cases

Download or read book Hydraulic Fracture Modeling in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs written by Kaustubh Shrivastava and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells is one of the key technological breakthroughs that has led to the shale revolution. Hydraulic fracturing models are used to engineer hydraulic fracture design and optimize production. Typically, hydraulic fracturing models treat hydraulic fractures as planar, bi-wing fractures. However, recent core-through investigations have suggested that during hydraulic fracturing in naturally fractured reservoirs, complex hydraulic fracture geometries can be created due to the interaction of the growing hydraulic fracture with natural fractures. This limits the application of planar fracture models for optimizing hydraulic fracturing design in naturally fractured reservoirs. In this research, we present a novel three-dimensional displacement discontinuity method based hydraulic fracturing simulator that allows us to model hydraulic fracture growth in the presence of natural fractures along with proppant transport in an efficient manner. The model developed in this dissertation is used to investigate the interaction of a hydraulic fracture with natural fractures and study the transport of proppant in the resulting complex fracture networks. This investigation gives us novel insight into the influence of fracture geometry and stress interference on the final distribution of proppant in fracture networks. Based on this investigation, suggestions are made to improve proppant transport in complex fracture networks. In order to correctly capture the effect of natural fractures on fracture growth, knowledge about the distribution of natural fractures in the reservoir is imperative. Typically, little is known about the in-situ natural fracture distribution, as direct observation of the reservoir is not possible. A novel technique of synthetic coring is developed to create a discrete fracture network (DFN) from core data, and it is used to create a DFN based on the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site #1 data. Hydraulic fracture propagation is modeled in the created DFN, and the results are compared with field observations. As the reservoir may contain thousands of natural fractures, simulations in a realistic DFN can be computationally very expensive. In order to reduce the computational requirements of the simulator, we present a novel predictor step based on the local linearization method that provides a better initial guess for solving the fluid-solid interaction problem. This is shown to reduce computational time significantly. A novel technique, Extended Adaptive Integral Method, to speed up the simulator is developed. The method uses an effective medium to represent the interaction between displacement discontinuity elements and reduces the order of complexity of solving the geomechanical system of equations from O(N2) to O(NlogN). The novel formulation of this method is presented, and sensitivity studies are conducted to show the improvement in computational efficiency

Download or read book Imaging the Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing in Naturally fractured Reservoirs Using Induced Seismicity and Numerical Modeling written by Xueping Zhao and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Analysis of Interaction Between Hydraulic and Natural Fractures written by Jaber Taheri-Shakib and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The behavior of natural fractures at the hydraulic fracturing (HF) treatment is one of the most important considerations in increasing the production from this kind of reservoirs. Therefore, considering the interaction between the natural fractures and hydraulic fractures can have great impact on the analysis and design of fracturing process. Due to the existence of such natural fractures, the perturbation stress regime around the tip of hydraulic fracture leads to some deviation in the propagation of path of hydraulic fracture. Increasing the ratio of transverse stress to the interaction stress results in a reduction in the deviation of hydraulic fracturing propagation trajectory in the vicinity of natural fracture. In this study, we modeled a hydraulic fracture with the extended finite element method (XFEM) using a cohesive-zone technique. The XFEM is used to discrete the equations, allowing for the simulation of induced fracture propagation; no re-meshing of domain is required to model the interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures. XFEM results reveal that the distance and angle of natural fracture with respect to the hydraulic fracture have a direct impact on the magnitude of tensile and shear debonding. The possibility of intersection of natural fracture by the hydraulic fracture will increase with increasing the deviation angle value. At the approaching stage of hydraulic fracture to the natural fracture, hydraulic fracture tip exerts remote compressional and tensile stress on the interface of the natural fracture, which leads to the activation and separation of natural fracture walls.

Download or read book Modeling the Interaction Between Hydraulic and Natural Fractures Using Three Dimensional Finite Element Analysis written by Aditya Balasaheb Nikam and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural fractures are present in almost every formation and their size and density definitely affect the hydraulic fracturing job. Some of the analysis done in the past shed light on hydraulic fracture (HF) and natural fracture (NF) geometries. The interaction of the HF with existing NF in a formation results in a denser fracture network. The volume of rock covering this fracture network is called the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). This SRV governs the hydrocarbon production and the ultimate revenue generation. Moreover, past studies show that a microseismic interpreted SRV can be different than the actual SRV. Additionally, there is always limited subsurface access, which makes it imperative to understand the HF – NF interaction to plan and execute a successful hydraulic fracturing job. A three layered, three dimensional complex geomechanical model is built using commercially available finite element analysis (FEA) software. A propagating HF approaching mainly orthogonal NF is studied and analyzed. Cohesive pore pressure elements in FEA software capable of modeling fluid continuity at HF – NF intersection are used to model the HF – NF interaction. Furthermore, a detailed sensitivity analysis considering the effect of stress contrast, job design parameters, NF properties, and properties of the formation is conducted. The sensitivity analysis of properties such as principal horizontal stress contrast, job design parameters, NF properties and properties of target formation reveals a broad variation in the impact of the sensitivity parameters on the HF, NF, and HF-NF geometry and interaction. The observations and the corresponding conclusions were based on broadly classified sensitivity parameters. The most important parameters solely for HF resultant geometry are observed to be a high stress contrast with stress reversal, highest injection rate, and farther NF distance from the injection point. The least important parameter is observed to be the scenario with almost equal horizontal stresses. However, the most important parameter solely for resulting NF geometry is only the high stress contrast with stress reversal. Conversely, for the considered sensitivity cases, the least important parameters are the injection rate, lower injection viscosity (10 cP), higher NF leak-off coefficient, target formation thickness, Young’s modulus, and lowest value of target formation Poisson’s ratio. Collective conclusions for considering HF-NF are also obtained.

Download or read book Study of Natural and Hydraulic Fracture Interaction Using Semi circular Bending Experiments written by Weiwei Wang and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hydraulic fracturing is an indispensable technique for developing unconventional resources such as shale gas and tight oil. According to micro-seismic data, when hydraulic fractures interact with pre-existing natural fractures, the result can be a complex fracture network. While most simulation studies treat natural fractures as frictional interfaces with cohesion, core observations show that partially cemented and fully cemented natural fractures are widely present. We use semi-circular bending tests to examine propagation paths and strength of samples with pre-existing cemented fractures. In this study, synthetic Hydrostone samples with embedded inclusions of different mechanical properties are used to mimic cemented natural fractures. In a series of experiments, we assess the influence of the fracture approach angle, inclusion strength, and inclusion thickness on fracture propagation. Results show that fractures tend to cross inclusion with high approach angle and divert into the inclusion with low approach angle. The inclusion thickness does not change the crossing/diverting behavior for orthogonal approaching samples, but it changes the jog distance along the interface. Preliminary simulation results are used to explain the experimental observation. The assessments of fracture interaction in this study are in good agreement with previous work and theories.

Download or read book Modeling of Complex Hydraulic Fractures in Naturally Fractured Formations written by Meng Cao (Ph. D.) and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The formation of complex fracture networks with nonplanar and multistranded shapes, due to the interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures, has been indicated by cores, mine-back experiments, and multiple numerous fracture diagnostic techniques. Having a better understanding of the mechanisms and implications of creating complex fracture networks would be a big step in improving hydrocarbon recovery and geothermal energy in naturally fractured formations. This dissertation presents the development of an integrated fracturing- production/geothermal simulator that can simulate multiple fracture propagation in naturally fractured reservoirs. It provides a new model for the interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures, dynamically distributes fluid and partitions proppant among multiple perforation clusters, simulates fluid flow and heat transfer in the coupled fracture-matrix system in an efficient manner, and speeds up the numerical computation for large-scale problems. This integrated fracturing-production/geothermal simulator enables a very computationally efficient solution by combining the displacement discontinuity method (DDM) for fracture propagation with a general Green’s function solution for fluid flow and heat transfer from the matrix to the fracture since there is no need to discretize the matrix domain. The fracturing model solves stresses and fluid pressure in a fully coupled manner by using DDM for rock deformation and a finite volume method for fluid flow inside fractures. In addition, the fluid distribution and proppant partitioning among multiple perforation clusters are solved dynamically. The production/geothermal simulator computes pressure and temperature using a fully implicit method for the fracture network domain, and solves the reservoir domain by using a semi-analytical solution. A fast, adaptive integral method (AIM) is used to reduce the computational time significantly when solving for the displacement field in a large complex fracture network. The key to the fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based adaptive integral method is the fast matrix-vector multiplication algorithm. The large dense matrix is decomposed into far- field and near-field components. The far-field component is computed by using the uniformly spaced Cartesian grid, and this component provides the foundation to perform discrete fast Fourier transform. The sparse near-field component is calculated by using the grid for fracture elements. Based on the split of the dense matrix into far-field and near- field components, FFT is applied to accelerate the multiplication of matrix and vector since no dense matrices are used. Finally, the new model is applied to two separate field studies, the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site #2 (HFTS #2) and the Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE)

Download or read book The Effect of Cemented Natural Fractures on Hydraulic Fracture Propagation written by Weiwei Wang and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Microseismic events, which are generated during hydraulic fracturing treatments, suggest that a complicated fracture network develops in many naturally−fractured unconventional reservoirs. Deformation along weak planes, such as cemented natural fractures, has been proposed as one of the possible reasons for fracture network complexity. Cemented natural fractures widely exist in shale reservoirs. They are diverse in composition and size, depending on the burial condition, the composition of the rock matrix, and the geochemical environment. The interaction between cemented natural fractures with hydraulic fractures generated as part of the reservoir stimulation are thought to impact hydraulic fracture propagation. Previous studies mostly treated natural fractures as frictional interfaces without considering the actual cement fillings. In this study, I analyzed the effect of cemented natural fractures on hydraulic fracture propagation by considering natural fracture thickness, mechanical properties and rock−cement interface bond strength. Firstly, I conducted a series of semi−circular bend (SCB) tests and corresponding numerical simulations to study the interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures. The SCB tests are attractive in general because of their simple setup with consistent results. The experimental results also served as a validation for numerical model. Two drawbacks of the SCB tests include that the test is unconfined and there is no fluid component. Numerical modeling can then be applied to extend results beyond these shortcomings. Synthetic hydrostone samples with embedded inclusions of different mechanical properties were used to mimic rock with cemented natural fractures. Experimental results identified several parameters that could be used to explain hydraulic fractures interaction with cemented natural fractures. The SCB test conditions that promoted fracture crossing were near−orthogonal approach angles, small natural fracture thicknesses, and strong rock−cement interfaces. Such conditions in a reservoir would promote long hydraulic fractures and less complicated fracture networks. In contrast, the SCB test conditions that caused fracture diverting were more oblique approach angles, large natural fracture thicknesses, and weak rock−cement interfaces, resulting in short hydraulic fractures and more complicated fracture networks. The SCB tests using synthetic rock samples provided insights into the hydraulic fracture propagation in naturally−fractured reservoirs. Through the numerical modeling with the finite element code in Abaqus, the impact of fluid driven fracturing on fracture−fracture interaction was investigated. Fracture propagation in two dimensions was modeled using the cohesive elements and anisotropic compressive remote stress conditions. Results suggest that if the natural fracture thickness is considered, the commonly used fracture crossing/diverting criterion will overestimate the hydraulic fracture crossing scenario. Factors including modulus contrast and coefficient of friction also influence hydraulic fracture interaction with natural fractures. An application of this work is the case of how bedding−parallel veins will affect hydraulic fracture height growth. Such natural fractures are abundant in the unconventional resource play in the Vaca Muerta formation in Argentina. When the rock−cement coefficient of friction is around 0.4−0.5, which most likely represents shale reservoirs, hydraulic fracture crossing behavior is affected by the modulus contrast between natural fractures and host rock as well as the natural fracture thickness.

Download or read book Numerical Simulation in Hydraulic Fracturing Multiphysics Theory and Applications written by Xinpu Shen and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-03-27 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The expansion of unconventional petroleum resources in the recent decade and the rapid development of computational technology have provided the opportunity to develop and apply 3D numerical modeling technology to simulate the hydraulic fracturing of shale and tight sand formations. This book presents 3D numerical modeling technologies for hydraulic fracturing developed in recent years, and introduces solutions to various 3D geomechanical problems related to hydraulic fracturing. In the solution processes of the case studies included in the book, fully coupled multi-physics modeling has been adopted, along with innovative computational techniques, such as submodeling. In practice, hydraulic fracturing is an essential project component in shale gas/oil development and tight sand oil, and provides an essential measure in the process of drilling cuttings reinjection (CRI). It is also an essential measure for widened mud weight window (MWW) when drilling through naturally fractured formations; the process of hydraulic plugging is a typical application of hydraulic fracturing. 3D modeling and numerical analysis of hydraulic fracturing is essential for the successful development of tight oil/gas formations: it provides accurate solutions for optimized stage intervals in a multistage fracking job. It also provides optimized well-spacing for the design of zipper-frac wells. Numerical estimation of casing integrity under stimulation injection in the hydraulic fracturing process is one of major concerns in the successful development of unconventional resources. This topic is also investigated numerically in this book. Numerical solutions to several other typical geomechanics problems related to hydraulic fracturing, such as fluid migration caused by fault reactivation and seismic activities, are also presented. This book can be used as a reference textbook to petroleum, geotechnical and geothermal engineers, to senior undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students, and to geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists and applied mathematicians working in this field. This book is also a synthetic compendium of both the fundamentals and some of the most advanced aspects of hydraulic fracturing technology.

Download or read book Modelling Rock Fracturing Processes written by Baotang Shen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-05-06 with total page 579 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the second edition of the well-known textbook Modelling Rock Fracturing Processes. The new and extended edition provides the theoretical background of rock fracture mechanics used for modelling of 2-D and 3-D geomechanics problems and processes. Fundamentals of rock fracture mechanics integrated with experimental studies of rock fracturing processes are highlighted. The computer programs FRACOD 2D and 3D are used to analyse fracture initiation and propagation for the three fracture modes: Mode I, II and III. Coupled fracture modelling with other continuous and distinct element codes including FLAC, PFC, RFPA, TOUGH are also described. A series of applications of fracture modelling with importance for modern society is presented and discussed by distinguished rock fracture modelling experts.

Download or read book Analysis of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation in Fractured Reservoirs written by Arash Dahi Taleghani and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large volumes of natural gas exist in tight fissured reservoirs. Hydraulic fracturing is one of the main stimulating techniques to enhance recovery from these fractured reservoirs. Although hydraulic fracturing has been used for decades for the stimulation of tight gas reservoirs, a thorough understanding of the interaction between induced hydraulic fractures and natural fractures is still lacking. Recent examples of hydraulic fracture diagnostic data suggest complex, multi-stranded hydraulic fracture geometry is a common occurrence. The interaction between pre-existing natural fractures and the advancing hydraulic fracture is a key condition leading to complex fracture patterns. Large populations of natural fractures that exist in formations such as the Barnett shale are sealed by precipitated cements which could be quartz, calcite, etc. Even though there is no porosity in the sealed fractures, they may still serve as weak paths for fracture initiation and/or for diverting the path of the growing hydraulic fractures. Performing hydraulic fracture design calculations under these complex conditions requires modeling of fracture intersections and tracking fluid fronts in the network of reactivated fissures. In this dissertation, the effect of the cohesiveness of the sealed natural fractures and the intact rock toughness in hydraulic fracturing are studied. Accordingly, the role of the pre-existing fracture geometry is also investigated. The results provide some explanations for significant differences in hydraulic fracturing in naturally fractured reservoirs from non-fractured reservoirs. For the purpose of this research, an extended finite element method (XFEM) code is developed to simulate fracture propagation, initiation and intersection. The motivation behind applying XFEM are the desire to avoid remeshing in each step of the fracture propagation, being able to consider arbitrary varying geometry of natural fractures and the insensitivity of fracture propagation to mesh geometry. New modifications are introduced into XFEM to improve stress intensity factor calculations, including fracture intersection criteria into the model and improving accuracy of the solution in near crack tip regions. The presented coupled fluid flow-fracture mechanics simulations extend available modeling efforts and provide a unified framework for evaluating fracture design parameters and their consequences. Results demonstrate that fracture pattern complexity is strongly controlled by the magnitude of in situ stress anisotropy, the rock toughness, the natural fracture cement strength, and the approach angle of the hydraulic fracture to the natural fracture. Previous studies (mostly based on frictional fault stability analysis) have concentrated on predicting the onset of natural fracture failure. However, the use of fracture mechanics and XFEM makes it possible to evaluate the progression of fracture growth over time as fluid is diverted into the natural fractures. Analysis shows that the growing hydraulic fracture may exert enough tensile and/or shear stresses on cemented natural fractures that they may be opened or slip in advance of hydraulic fracture tip arrival, while under some conditions, natural fractures will be unaffected by the hydraulic fracture. A threshold is defined for the fracture energy of cements where, for cases below this threshold, hydraulic fractures divert into the natural fractures. The value of this threshold is calculated for different fracture set orientations. Finally, detailed pressure profile and aperture distributions at the intersection between fracture segments show the potential for difficulty in proppant transport under complex fracture propagation conditions. Whether a hydraulic fracture crosses or is arrested by a pre-existing natural fracture is controlled by shear strength and potential slippage at the fracture intersections, as well as potential debonding of sealed cracks in the near-tip region of a propagating hydraulic fracture. We introduce a new more general criterion for fracture propagation at the intersections. We present a complex hydraulic fracture pattern propagation model based on the Extended Finite Element Method as a design tool that can be used to optimize treatment parameters under complex propagation conditions.

Download or read book Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing written by Xin-rong Zhang and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-01-05 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing Comprehensive single-volume reference work providing an overview of experimental results and predictive methods for hydraulic fracture growth in rocks Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing: Experiment, Model, and Monitoring provides a summary of the research in mechanics of hydraulic fractures during the past two decades, plus new research trends to look for in the future. The book covers the contributions from theory, modeling, and experimentation, including the application of models to reservoir stimulation, mining preconditioning, and the formation of geological structures. The four expert editors emphasize the variety of diverse methods and tools in hydraulic fracturing and help the reader understand hydraulic fracture mechanics in complex geological situations. To aid in reader comprehension, practical examples of new approaches and methods are presented throughout the book. Key topics covered in the book include: Prediction of fracture shapes, sizes, and distributions in sedimentary basins, plus their importance in petroleum industry Real-time monitoring methods, such as micro-seismicity and trace tracking How to uncover geometries of fractures like dikes and veins Fracture growth of individual foundations and its applications Researchers and professionals working in the field of fluid-driven fracture growth will find immense value in this comprehensive reference on hydraulic fracturing mechanics.

Download or read book Modelling the Evolution of Natural Fracture Networks written by Michael John Welch and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-18 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents and describes an innovative method to simulate the growth of natural fractural networks in different geological environments, based on their geological history and fundamental geomechanical principles. The book develops techniques to simulate the growth and interaction of large populations of layer-bound fracture directly, based on linear elastic fracture mechanics and subcritical propagation theory. It demonstrates how to use these techniques to model the nucleation, propagation and interaction of layer-bound fractures in different orientations around large scale geological structures, based on the geological history of the structures. It also explains how to use these techniques to build more accurate discrete fracture network (DFN) models at a reasonable computational cost. These models can explain many of the properties of natural fracture networks observed in outcrops, using actual outcrop examples. Finally, the book demonstrates how it can be incorporated into flow modelling workflows using subsurface examples from the hydrocarbon and geothermal industries. Modelling the Evolution of Natural Fracture Networks will be of interest to anyone curious about understanding and predicting the evolution of complex natural fracture networks across large geological structures. It will be helpful to those modelling fluid flow through fractures, or the geomechanical impact of fracture networks, in the hydrocarbon, geothermal, CO2 sequestration, groundwater and engineering industries.