scholarly journals Numerical Simulation for Fracture Propagation in Elastoplastic Formations

Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Yafei Hu ◽  
Jin Zhao ◽  
Lihu Cao ◽  
Jinzhou Zhao ◽  
Junshi Li ◽  
...  

Current hydraulic fracture models are mainly based on elastic theories, which fail to give accurate prediction of fracture parameters in plasticity formation. This paper proposes a fluid–solid coupling model for fracture propagation in elastoplastic formations. The rock plastic deformation in the model satisfies the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion and plastic strain increment theory. The extended finite-element method (XFEM) combined with the cohesive zone method (CZM) is used to solve the coupled model. The accuracy of the model is validated against existing models. The effects of stress difference, friction angle, and dilation angle on fracture shape (length, width), injection pressure, plastic deformation, induced stress, and pore pressure are investigated through the model. The results indicate that compared with elastic formation, fracture propagation in elastoplastic formation is more difficult, the breakdown pressure and extending pressure are greater, and fracture shape is wider and shorter. The plastic deformation causes the fracture tip to become blunt. Under the condition of high stress difference or low friction angle formation, it is prone to occur large plastic deformation zones and form wide and short fracture. Compared with friction angle, dilation angle is less sensitive to plastic deformation, fracture parameters, and fracture geometry. For the formation with high stress difference and friction angle, the effect of plasticity deformation on fracture propagation should not be ignored.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafei Hu ◽  
Junshi Li ◽  
Zhiying WU ◽  
Jianfeng Hou

Abstract Current hydraulic fracture models are mainly based on elastic theories, which fail to give accurate prediction of fracture parameters in plasticity formation. This paper proposed a fluid–solid coupling model for fracture propagation in elastoplastic formations. The rock plastic deformation in the model satisfied the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion and plastic strain increment theory. The coupled model is solved by using extended finite-element method(XFEM) and the cohesive zone method (CZM). The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing the calculated results with existing models. The influences of stress difference, friction angle and dilation angle on fracture shape (length, width), injection pressure, plastic deformation, induced stress and pore pressure are investigated. The results indicate that compared with elastic formation, fracture shape in elastoplastic formation is wider and shorter and fracture propagation is more difficult with greater breakdown pressure and extending pressure. Plastic deformation also cause blunt fracture tip. High stress difference or low friction angle formations tend to occur large plastic deformation area and form wide and short fracture. Compared with friction angle, dilation angle is less sensitive to plastic deformation and fracture parameters and geometry. For the formation with high stress difference and friction angle, plasticity effects on fracture propagation should not be ignored.


Author(s):  
Seung-Jae Lee ◽  
Tae-Sung Eom ◽  
Eunjong Yu

AbstractThis study analytically investigated the behavior of reinforced concrete frames with masonry infills. For the analysis, VecTor2, a nonlinear finite element analysis program that implements the Modified Compression Field Theory and Disturbed Stress Field Model, was used. To account for the slip behavior at the mortar joints in the masonry element, the hyperbolic Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion, defined as a function of cohesion and friction angle, was used. The analysis results showed that the lateral resistance and failure mode of the infilled frames were significantly affected by the thickness of the masonry infill, cohesion on the mortar joint–brick interface, and poor mortar filling (or gap) on the masonry boundary under the beam. Diagonal strut actions developed along two or three load paths on the mortar infill, including the backstay actions near the tension column and push-down actions near the compression columns. Such backstay and push-down actions increased the axial and shear forces of columns, and ultimately affect the strength, ductility, and failure mode of the infilled frames.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2610
Author(s):  
Wenzheng Liu ◽  
Qingdong Zeng ◽  
Jun Yao ◽  
Ziyou Liu ◽  
Tianliang Li ◽  
...  

Rock yielding may well take place during hydraulic fracturing in deep reservoirs. The prevailing models based on the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) are incapable of describing the evolution process of hydraulic fractures accurately. In this paper, a hydro-elasto-plastic model is proposed to investigate the hydraulic fracture propagation in deep reservoirs. The Drucker–Prager plasticity model, Darcy’s law, cubic law and cohesive zone model are employed to describe the plastic deformation, matrix flow, fracture flow and evolution of hydraulic fractures, respectively. Combining the embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM), extended finite element method (XFEM) and finite volume method, a hybrid numerical scheme is presented to carry out simulations. A dual-layer iterative procedure is developed based on the fixed-stress split method, Picard iterative method and Newton–Raphson iterative method. The iterative procedure is used to deal with the coupling between nonlinear deformation with fracture extension and fluid flow. The proposed model is verified against analytical solutions and other numerical simulation results. A series of numerical cases are performed to investigate the influences of rock plasticity, internal friction angle, dilatancy angle and permeability on hydraulic fracture propagation. Finally, the proposed model is extended to simulate multiple hydraulic fracture propagation. The result shows that plastic deformation can enhance the stress-shadowing effect.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
JiWei Wu ◽  
XueGang Wang ◽  
Lin Song ◽  
ShouMing Zhong ◽  
WenFeng Yin

During the thermal recovery of heavy oil when using cyclic steam injection technology, a microannulus tends to form at the cementing interface subjected to high temperature and pressure during steam injection, and large temperature and pressure differences after injection can lead to wellbore integrity failure. In this study, a thermomechanical coupled finite element casing-cement-formation model of a thermal recovery wellbore is established. The deformation of the wellbore during both the steam injection stage and the steam shutdown stage is analyzed. The microannulus formation mechanism at the cementing interface of the wellbore is studied. During steam injection, under the large thermomechanical coupling load, the wellbore generates a high stress that leads to elastic-plastic deformation. In the steam shutdown stage, with the load on the wellbore decreasing, elastic deformation recovers mostly, while plastic deformation continues. If the plastic deformation is large enough, a microannulus will form at the cementing interface. Increasing the elastic moduli of the casing, cement, and the formation can enlarge their plastic deformation during steam injection. The increase of plastic deformation of the cement or formation can enlarge the microannulus of the casing-cement interface or the cement-formation interface correspondingly in the steam shutdown stage.


SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (06) ◽  
pp. 3091-3110
Author(s):  
Ming Chen ◽  
Shicheng Zhang ◽  
Tong Zhou ◽  
Xinfang Ma ◽  
Yushi Zou

Summary Creating uniform multiple fractures is a challenging task due to reservoir heterogeneity and stress shadow. Limited-entry perforation and in-stage diversion are commonly used to improve multifracture treatments. Many studies have investigated the mechanism of limited-entry perforation for multifracture treatments, but relatively few have focused on the in-stage diversion process. The design of in-stage diversion is usually through trial and error because of the lack of a simulator. In this study, we present a fully coupled planar 2D multifracture model for simulating the in-stage diversion process. The objective is to evaluate flux redistribution after diversion and optimize the dosage of diverters and diversion timing under different in-stage in-situ stress difference. Our model considers ball sealer allocation and solves flux redistribution after diversion through a fully coupled multifracture model. A supertimestepping explicit algorithm is adopted to solve the solid/fluid coupling equations efficiently. Multifracture fronts are captured by using tip asymptotes and an adaptive time-marching approach. The modeling results are validated against analytical solutions for a plane-strain Khristianovic-Geertsma de Klerk (KGD) model. A series of numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the multifracture growth under different in-stage diversion operations. Parametric studies reveal that the in-stage in-situ stress difference is a critical parameter for diversion designs. When the in-situ stress difference is larger than 2 MPa, the fracture in the high-stress zone can hardly be initiated before diversion for a general fracturing design. More ball sealers are required for the formations with higher in-stage in-situ stress difference. The diverting time should be earlier for formations with high in-stage stress differences as well. Adding more perforation holes in the zone with higher in-situ stress is recommended to achieve even flux distribution. The results of this study can help understand the multifracture growth mechanism during in-stage diversion and optimize the diversion design timely.


Solid Earth ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bial ◽  
C. A. Trepmann

Abstract. We present microfabrics in high-pressure, metamorphic, partly serpentinized peridotite mylonites from the Voltri Massif, in which porphyroclasts and matrix record independent deformation events. The microfabrics are analysed using polarization microscopy and electron microscopy (SEM/EBSD, EMP). The mylonites contain diopside and olivine porphyroclasts originating from the mantle protolith embedded in a fine-grained matrix consisting mainly of antigorite and minor olivine and pyroxene. The porphyroclasts record brittle and crystal-plastic deformation of the peridotite at upper-mantle conditions and differential stresses of a few hundred MPa. After the peridotites became serpentinized, deformation occurred mainly by dissolution–precipitation creep resulting in a pronounced foliation of the antigorite matrix, crenulation cleavages and newly precipitated olivine and pyroxene from the pore fluid at sites of dilation, i.e. in strain shadows next to porphyroclasts and folded fine-grained antigorite layers. Antigorite reveals a pronounced associated shape preferred orientation (SPO) and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) with the basal (001) cleavage plane oriented in the foliation plane. In monomineralic antigorite aggregates at sites of stress concentration around porphyroclasts, a characteristically reduced grain size and deflecting CPO as well as sutured grain boundaries indicate also some contribution of crystal-plastic deformation and grain-boundary migration of antigorite. In contrast, the absence of any intragranular deformation features in newly precipitated olivine in strain shadows reveals that stresses were not sufficiently high to allow for significant dislocation creep of olivine at conditions at which antigorite is stable. The porphyroclast microstructures are not associated with the microstructures of the mylonitic matrix, but are inherited from an independent earlier deformation. The porphyroclasts record a high-stress deformation of the peridotite with dislocation creep of olivine in the upper mantle probably related to rifting processes, whereas the serpentinite matrix records dominantly dissolution–precipitation creep and low stresses during subduction and exhumation.


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