Parameter Studies on Hydraulic Fracturing in Brittle Rocks Based on a Modified Hydromechanical Coupling Model

Yulong Zhang, Yiping Zhang, Bei Han, Xin Zhang and Yun Jia
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Yulong Zhang: College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Yiping Zhang: College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Bei Han: Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster Engineering, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Xin Zhang: College of Civil Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
Yun Jia: Laboratory of Mechanics of Lille, University of Lille, 59650 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: In this paper, we present a numerical study of hydraulic fracturing in brittle rock by using particle flow simulation. The emphasis is put on the influence of in situ stress, differential stress, fluid injection rate, fluid viscosity and borehole size on hydraulic fracturing behavior. To this end, an improved hydromechanical coupling model is first introduced to better describe fluid flow and local deformation of particle-based rocks. A series of parameter sensitivity studies are then conducted under the framework of particle flow simulation. Modelling results suggest that the breakdown pressure and time to fracture both linearly increase with confining stress, and hydraulic fracturing patterns present a distinct transition from brittle to ductile. Fluid injection rate and fluid viscosity have similar influences on hydraulic fracturing propagation, their value decrease leads to borehole pressure decrement and time to fracture prolongation. However, the former mainly controls the time to initial cracking, while the latter largely decides the duration of fracturing propagation. As for borehole radius, its increases can directly enhance the fluid diffusion zone, which further intensifies the nonlinear property of borehole pressure, leads to breakdown pressure decrease, prolongs time to fracture and forms more complex hydraulic fractures.

Keywords: hydraulic fracturing; in situ stress; fluid injection rate; fluid viscosity; discrete element method; particle flow simulation (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: 2022
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