Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Mixed-Mode Fracture Modelling of the Near-Wellbore Interaction Between Hydraulic Fracture and Natural Fracture

Xi, Xun; Shipton, Zoe K.; Kendrick, Jackie E.; Fraser‑Harris, Andrew; Mouli-Castillo, Julien; Edlmann, Katriona; McDermott, Christopher I.; Yang, Shangtong

Mixed-Mode Fracture Modelling of the Near-Wellbore Interaction Between Hydraulic Fracture and Natural Fracture Thumbnail


Authors

Xun Xi

Zoe K. Shipton

Jackie E. Kendrick

Andrew Fraser‑Harris

Katriona Edlmann

Christopher I. McDermott

Shangtong Yang



Abstract

The interaction between hydraulic fractures (HF) and natural fractures (NF) is one of the most fundamental phenomena in hydraulic fracturing. The near-wellbore interaction between HF and NF significantly affects fracking-related operations including the injected fluid flow, proppant transport and well productivity. However, the nature of fracturing modes, combined with hydro-mechanical coupling, poses great difficulties and challenges in addressing this problem. Literature review suggests that little research has been undertaken on near-wellbore interaction, especially considering the fully coupled hydro-mechanical mixed-mode fracturing process. This paper develops a new fracture model incorporating the Mohr–Coulomb criterion with the cohesive crack model. The model is implemented into ABAQUS solver by in-house FORTRAN subroutines. The rock matrix and cohesive crack interfaces are both coupled with fluid flow. The developed model is then validated by comparing the results with analytical solutions and experimental results. Moreover, the effects of approach angle, NF location, in situ stress, cohesion strength and friction angle of NF, and flow rate on the near-wellbore interaction are investigated. Three interaction modes, i.e., cross, deflect and offset, are reproduced through the numerical method. The crack deflection into NF is a shear-dominated mixed-mode fracture. A high injection pressure in the wellbore tends to drive the HF to cross a NF located close to the wellbore. The smaller the cohesion strength and friction angle of NF is, the larger the offsetting ratio is. A low injection flow rate can help activate natural fractures near the wellbore when intersected by HF.

Citation

Xi, X., Shipton, Z. K., Kendrick, J. E., Fraser‑Harris, A., Mouli-Castillo, J., Edlmann, K., …Yang, S. (2022). Mixed-Mode Fracture Modelling of the Near-Wellbore Interaction Between Hydraulic Fracture and Natural Fracture. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 55(9), 5433-5452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02922-8

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 5, 2022
Online Publication Date Jun 21, 2022
Publication Date 2022-09
Deposit Date Jul 14, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
Print ISSN 0723-2632
Electronic ISSN 1434-453X
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 55
Issue 9
Pages 5433-5452
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02922-8

Files

Published Journal Article (12.6 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.




You might also like



Downloadable Citations