scholarly journals Using Cohesive Zone Model to Simulate the Hydraulic Fracture Interaction with Natural Fracture in Poro-Viscoelastic Formation

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Suo ◽  
Zhixi Chen ◽  
Hao Yan ◽  
Daobing Wang ◽  
Yun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Cohesive Zone ◽  
Cohesive Zone Model ◽  
Fracture Propagation ◽  
Natural Fracture ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Fluid Viscosity ◽  
Fluid Diffusion

Hydraulic fracturing is a widely used production stimulation technology for conventional and unconventional reservoirs. The cohesive element is used to explain the tip fracture process. In this paper, the cohesive zone model was used to simulate hydraulic fracture initiation and propagation at the same time rock deformation and fluid exchange. A numerical model for fracture propagation in poro-viscoelastic formation is considered. In this numerical model, we incorporate the pore-pressure effect by coupling fluid diffusion with shale matrix viscoelasticity. The numerical procedure for hydraulically driven fracture propagation uses a poro-viscoelasticity theory to describe the fluid diffusion and matrix creep in the solid skeleton, in conjunction with pore-pressure cohesive zone model and ABAQUS was used as a platform for the numerical simulation. The simulation results are compared with the available solutions in the literature. The higher the approaching angle, the higher the differential stress, tensile stress difference, injection rate, and injection fluid viscosity, and it will be easier for hydraulic fracture crossing natural fracture. These results could provide theoretical guidance for predicting the generation of fracture network and gain a better understanding of deformational behavior of shale when fracturing.

Integration of Dynamic Microseismic Data With a True 3D Modeling of Hydraulic-Fracture Propagation in the Vaca Muerta Shale

SPE Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (06) ◽  
pp. 1714-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Haddad ◽  
Jing Du ◽  
Sandrine Vidal-Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Fracture Propagation ◽  
Natural Fracture ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Fluid Viscosity ◽  
Fracture Intersection ◽  
Vaca Muerta ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture Propagation ◽  
Microseismic Events

Summary Microseismic mapping during the hydraulic-fracturing processes in the Vaca Muerta (VM) Shale in Argentina shows a group of microseismic events occurring at shallower depth and at later injection time, and they clearly deviate from the growing planar hydraulic fracture. This spatial and temporal behavior of these shallow microseismic events incurs some questions regarding the nature of these events and their connectivity to the hydraulic fracture. To answer these questions, in this article, we investigate these phenomena by use of a true 3D fracture-propagation-modeling tool along with statistical analysis on the properties of microseismic events. First, we propose a novel technique in Abaqus incorporating fracture intersections in true 3D hydraulic-fracture-propagation simulations by use of a pore-pressure cohesive zone model (CZM), which is validated by comparing our numerical results with the Khristianovic-Geertsma-de Klerk (KGD) solution (Khristianovic and Zheltov 1955; Geertsma and de Klerk 1969). The simulations fully couple slot flow in the fracture with poroelasticity in the matrix and continuum-based leakoff on the fracture walls, and honor the fracture-tip effects in quasibrittle shales. By use of this model, we quantify vertical-natural-fracture activation and fluid infiltration depending on reservoir depth, fracturing-fluid viscosity, mechanical properties of the natural-fracture cohesive layer, natural-fracture conductivity, and horizontal stress contrast. The modeling results demonstrate this natural-fracture activation in coincidence with the hydraulic-fracture-growth complexities at the intersection, such as height throttling, sharp aperture reduction after the intersection, and multibranching at various heights and directions. Finally, we investigate the hydraulic-fracture intersection with a natural fracture in the multilayer VM Shale. We infer the natural-fracture location and orientation from the microseismic-events map and formation microimager log in a nearby vertical well, respectively. We integrate the other field information such as mechanical, geological, and operational data to provide a realistic hydraulic-fracturing simulation in the presence of a natural fracture. Our 3D fracturing simulations equipped with the new fracture-intersection model rigorously simulate the growth of a realistic hydraulic-connection path toward the natural fracture at shallower depths, which was in agreement with our microseismic observations.

scholarly journals Numerical Investigation of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation Based on Cohesive Zone Model in Naturally Fractured Formations

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxiong Li ◽  
Shiming Dong ◽  
Wen Hua ◽  
Xiaolong Li ◽  
Xin Pan
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Cohesive Zone ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Fracture Propagation ◽  
Fracture Network ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Naturally Fractured ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture Propagation ◽  
Multiple Cluster

Complex propagation patterns of hydraulic fractures often play important roles in naturally fractured formations due to complex mechanisms. Therefore, understanding propagation patterns and the geometry of fractures is essential for hydraulic fracturing design. In this work, a seepage–stress–damage coupled model based on the finite pore pressure cohesive zone (PPCZ) method was developed to investigate hydraulic fracture propagation behavior in a naturally fractured reservoir. Compared with the traditional finite element method, the coupled model with global insertion cohesive elements realizes arbitrary propagation of fluid-driven fractures. Numerical simulations of multiple-cluster hydraulic fracturing were carried out to investigate the sensitivities of a multitude of parameters. The results reveal that stress interference from multiple-clusters is responsible for serious suppression and diversion of the fracture network. A lower stress difference benefits the fracture network and helps open natural fractures. By comparing the mechanism of fluid injection, the maximal fracture network can be achieved with various injection rates and viscosities at different fracturing stages. Cluster parameters, including the number of clusters and their spacing, were optimal, satisfying the requirement of creating a large fracture network. These results offer new insights into the propagation pattern of fluid driven fractures and should act as a guide for multiple-cluster hydraulic fracturing, which can help increase the hydraulic fracture volume in naturally fractured reservoirs.

A Cohesive Model for Modeling Hydraulic Fractures in Naturally Fractured Formations

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.. Gonzalez ◽  
A. Dahi Taleghani ◽  
J. E. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Cohesive Zone Model ◽  
Void Nucleation ◽  
Natural Fracture ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Fluid Viscosity ◽  
Naturally Fractured

Abstract A cohesive zone model (CZM) has been developed to couple fluid flow with elastic, plastic and damage behavior of rock during hydraulic fracturing in naturally fractured formations. In addition to inelastic deformations, this model incorporates rock anisotropies. Fracture mechanics of microcrack and micro-void nucleation and their coalescence are incorporated into the formulation of the CZM models to accurately capture different failure modes of rocks. The performance of the developed elastoplastic and CZM models are compared with the available data of a shale play, and then the models are introduced into a commercial finite element package through user-defined subroutines. A workflow to derive the required model parameters for both intact rock and cemented natural fractures is presented through inverse modeling of field data. The hydraulic fractures' growth in the reservoir scale is then simulated, in which the effect of fluid viscosity, natural fracture characteristics and differential stresses on induced fracture network is studied. The simulation results are compared with the available solutions in the literature. The developed CZM model outperforms the traditional fracture mechanics approaches by removing stress singularities at the fracture tips, and simulation of progressive fractures without any essential need for remeshing. This model would provide a robust tool for modeling hydraulic fracture growth using conventional elements of FEA.

A Cohesive-Zone Model for Simulating Hydraulic-Fracture Evolution within a Fully Coupled Flow/Geomechanics-Simulation System

SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Faruk O. Alpak
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Cohesive Zone ◽  
Cohesive Zone Model ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Simulation System ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Fracture Evolution ◽  
Propagation Criterion ◽  
Fully Coupled ◽  
Fracture Growth

Summary A modular multiphysics reservoir-simulation system is developed that has the capability of simulating multiphase/multicomponent/thermal flow, poro-elasto/plastic geomechanics, and hydraulic-fracture evolution. The focus of the work is on the full-physics hydraulic-fracture-evolution-simulation capability of the multiphysics simulation system. Fracture-growth computations use a cohesive-zone model as part of the computation of fracture-propagation criterion. The cohesive-zone concept is developed using energy-release rates and cohesive stresses. They capture the strain-softening behavior of deforming porous material consistent with real-life observations of poro-plastic deformation. Thus, they can be reliably used within both poro-elastic and poro-plastic geomechanics applications, unlike the conventional stress-intensity-factor-based fracture-propagation criterion. The partial-differential equations (PDEs) that govern the Darcy-scale multiphase/multicomponent/thermal flow, poro-elasto/plastic geomechanics, hydraulic-fracture evolution, and laminar channel flow in the fracture are tightly coupled to each other to give rise to a numerical protocol solvable by the fully implicit method. The ensuing nonlinear system of equations is solved by use of a novel adaptively damped Newton-Raphson method. Example fully coupled single-phase isothermal-flow, geomechanics, and hydraulic-fracture-growth simulations are analyzed to demonstrate the predictive power of the simulation system. Numerical-model predictions of fracture length/radius and width are validated against analytical solutions for plane-strain and ellipsoid-shaped fractures, respectively. Results indicate that the simulation system is capable of modeling hydraulic-fracture evolution accurately by use of the cohesive-zone model as the propagation criterion. We also simulate and explore the sensitivities around a real-life hydraulic-fracture-growth problem by fully accounting for the thermal-, multiphase-, and compositional-flow effects.

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