Mechanical Property Measurements and Fracture Propagation Analysis of Longmaxi Shale by Micro-CT Uniaxial Compression

Minyue Zhou, Yifei Zhang, Runqing Zhou, Jin Hao and Jijin Yang
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Minyue Zhou: Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Yifei Zhang: Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Runqing Zhou: Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Jin Hao: Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Jijin Yang: Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: The mechanical properties and fracture propagation of Longmaxi shale loading under uniaxial compression were measured using eight cylindrical shale specimens (4 mm in diameter and 8 mm in height), with the bedding plane oriented at 0° and 90° to the axial loading direction, respectively, by micro computed tomography (micro-CT). Based on the reconstructed three-dimensional (3-D) CT images of cracks, different stages of the crack growth process in the 0° and 90° orientation specimen were revealed. The initial crack generally occurred at relatively smaller loading force in the 0° bedding direction specimen, mainly in the form of tensile splitting along weak bedding planes. Shear sliding fractures were dominant in the specimens oriented at 90°, with a small number of parallel cracks occurring on the bedding plane. The average thickness and volume of cracks in the 90° specimen is higher than those for the specimen oriented at 0°. The geometrical characterization of fractures segmented from CT scan binary images shows that a specific surface area correlates with tortuosity at the different load stages of each specimen. The 3-D box-counting dimension (BCD) calculations can accurately reflect crack evolution law in the shale. The results indicate that the cracks have a more complex pattern and rough surface at an orientation of 90°, due to crossed secondary cracks and shear failure.

Keywords: shale; fracture propagation; layer orientation; micro-CT; uniaxial compression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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