Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale

Joints are a common structure of heterogeneous shale rock masses, and in situ stress is the environment in which heterogeneous rock masses can be found. The existence of joint plane and confining pressure difference influences the physical properties of shale and propagation of fractures. In this st...

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Main Authors: Xiaoxi Men, Jiaxu Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5538243
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author Xiaoxi Men
Jiaxu Jin
author_facet Xiaoxi Men
Jiaxu Jin
author_sort Xiaoxi Men
collection DOAJ
description Joints are a common structure of heterogeneous shale rock masses, and in situ stress is the environment in which heterogeneous rock masses can be found. The existence of joint plane and confining pressure difference influences the physical properties of shale and propagation of fractures. In this study, jointed shale specimens were simulated under different confining pressures to explore the failure patterns and fracture propagation behavior of hydraulic fracturing. Different from the common research of hydraulic fracturing on signal parallel joint rock mass, the simulations in this study considered three points (parallel joint, multi-dip angle joint, and no-joint points). The effects of the single-dip angle joint, multi-dip angle joint, and confining pressure difference on the hydraulic fracture evolution and stress evolution of the jointed shale were studied comprehensively. The confining pressure difference coefficient proposed in this study was used to accurately describe the confining pressure difference. Results indicate that the larger is the confining pressure difference, the stronger is the control of the maximum principal stress on fracture evolution; by contrast, the smaller is the confining pressure difference, the stronger is the control of the joint plane on fracture evolution. Under the same confining pressure difference, the hydraulic fracture propagates more easily along the small dip angle joint plane. As the value of the confining pressure difference coefficient moves closer to zero, the hydraulic fracture propagates randomly, the tensile stress region around the fracture tip widens, and the joint planes fractured by tensile increase. This study can offer valuable guidance to the design of unconventional reservoir reconstruction.
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spelling doaj-art-9a254e58268f45fdad018a7ed59236952025-02-03T05:47:37ZengWileyAdvances in Materials Science and Engineering1687-84341687-84422021-01-01202110.1155/2021/55382435538243Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed ShaleXiaoxi Men0Jiaxu Jin1College of Civil Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian 116028, ChinaCollege of Civil Engineering, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin 123000, ChinaJoints are a common structure of heterogeneous shale rock masses, and in situ stress is the environment in which heterogeneous rock masses can be found. The existence of joint plane and confining pressure difference influences the physical properties of shale and propagation of fractures. In this study, jointed shale specimens were simulated under different confining pressures to explore the failure patterns and fracture propagation behavior of hydraulic fracturing. Different from the common research of hydraulic fracturing on signal parallel joint rock mass, the simulations in this study considered three points (parallel joint, multi-dip angle joint, and no-joint points). The effects of the single-dip angle joint, multi-dip angle joint, and confining pressure difference on the hydraulic fracture evolution and stress evolution of the jointed shale were studied comprehensively. The confining pressure difference coefficient proposed in this study was used to accurately describe the confining pressure difference. Results indicate that the larger is the confining pressure difference, the stronger is the control of the maximum principal stress on fracture evolution; by contrast, the smaller is the confining pressure difference, the stronger is the control of the joint plane on fracture evolution. Under the same confining pressure difference, the hydraulic fracture propagates more easily along the small dip angle joint plane. As the value of the confining pressure difference coefficient moves closer to zero, the hydraulic fracture propagates randomly, the tensile stress region around the fracture tip widens, and the joint planes fractured by tensile increase. This study can offer valuable guidance to the design of unconventional reservoir reconstruction.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5538243
spellingShingle Xiaoxi Men
Jiaxu Jin
Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
title Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
title_full Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
title_fullStr Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
title_short Numerical Investigation on the Hydraulic Fracture Evolution of Jointed Shale
title_sort numerical investigation on the hydraulic fracture evolution of jointed shale
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5538243
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