Investigation of Fracture Tip Behaviour in Visco-Elastic/ Visco-Plastic Shale Rocks and Its Effect on Fracture Propagation

Abstract

Most shale plays have to be hydraulically fractured to acquire commercial production. Shales are typically characterised by varying quantities of clay, carbonate and organic material, therefore each shale type has different deformational properties, which lead to different outcomes with respect to hydraulic fracture efficiency. Unconsolidated, high clay content or organic rich shales exhibit visco-elastic or visco-plastic behaviour, acoording to many researchers [1][2][3]. Although the effect of this time-dependent behaviour on fracture propagation is considerable it has not yet received much attention. The aim of this paper is to address the time-dependent response of shale under hydraulic stimulation, more specifically, to monitor fracture parameters change and deformation at crack tip area depending on the lag time between stress and strain.In this paper, an innovative method to analyse time-dependent deformation of material at fracture tip and its effect on propagation of hydraulically induced fractures by incorporating visco-elastic behaviour is presented. To characterise fracture state, J integral is revised and implemented in the framework of finite element model. The fracture is treated explicitly with refined mesh around the crack tip in order to obtain detailed information in static state. During loading condition, visco-elasticity and visco-plasticity is not differentiated for practical purposes.The results show that under a centain hydraulic pressure a crack creeps rapidly and possibly propagates. It is shown that stress intensity factor and revised J integral has a rapid changing gradient at the beginning and becomes stable over time. The crack tends to be wider and shorter in creeping shale. Propagation process is hindered by viscous energy dissipation and successive cohesive force. In simulation the experimental data from US shale plays are used to study fracture propagation behaviour under viscoelastic behaviour. Results of this study allow industry gain a better understanding of deformational behaviour of shale when fracturing. The know-how derived from this study will assist planning effective stimulation program in the development of shale gas reservoirs.

Study on the mechanisms of refracturing technology featuring temporary plug for fracturing fluid diversion in tight sandstone reservoirs

“…Peng Tan and Tiankui Guo studied the influences of multiple factors on fracture propagation and fracture morphology based on a series of physical experiments . Song provided an innovative method to analyze time‐dependent deformation of material at fracture tip and its effect on propagation of hydraulically induced fractures by incorporating visco‐elastic behavior . Taleghani studied the hydraulic fracture propagation in naturally fractured formation via numerical simulation and indicated the importance of nonlinear fracture tip effects as in‐situ stress differences increase .…”