Effect of mechanical heterogeneity on hydraulic fracture propagation in unconventional gas reservoirs

The mechanical heterogeneity of unconventional gas reservoirs is a significant factor affecting the nucleation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. The ignorance of mechanical heterogeneity in the numerical calculation has been demonstrated to result in huge deviations from actual fracture propag...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers and geotechnics 2020-09, Vol.125, p.103652, Article 103652
Main Authors: Zou, Junpeng, Jiao, Yu-Yong, Tang, Zhicheng, Ji, Yinlin, Yan, Chengzeng, Wang, Jinchao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer simulation
Crack propagation
Evolution
Finite element method
Fracture mechanics
Heterogeneity
Hydraulic fracture
Hydraulic fracturing
Hydraulics
Nucleation
Numerical simulation
Propagation
Reservoir heterogeneity
Reservoirs
Rocks
XFEM
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The mechanical heterogeneity of unconventional gas reservoirs is a significant factor affecting the nucleation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. The ignorance of mechanical heterogeneity in the numerical calculation has been demonstrated to result in huge deviations from actual fracture propagation. In the present study, the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is used to simulate the propagation of a hydraulic fracture in a heterogeneous reservoir. The evolution of a hydraulic fracture encountering hard blocks at different positions near the initial fracture tip is investigated. The mechanical heterogeneity of reservoir rock leads to the redistribution of strength and stress, which eventually affects the evolution of hydraulic fracture. The effects of soft-hard rock interbedding and randomly distributed irregular blocks are also investigated. Generally, the hard blocks distributed in a reservoir promote the growth of hydraulic fracture in length, but limit the fracture growth in width.
ISSN:0266-352X
1873-7633
DOI:10.1016/j.compgeo.2020.103652