Hydraulic Fracturing in Anisotropic and Heterogeneous Rocks

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

Valliappan Valliappan Eindhoven University of Technology
Joris J.C. Remmers Eindhoven University of Technology
A. Barnhoorn Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
D.M.J. Smeulders Eindhoven University of Technology
Research Group
Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2017

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Research Group

Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics

Abstract

In this paper, we present a two dimensional model for modelling the hydraulic fracture process in anisotropic and heterogeneous rocks. The model is formulated using extended finite elements (XFEM) in combination with Newton-Raphson method for spatial and Euler's implicit scheme for time. The fracture is modelled with the help of cohesive zone method (CZM). Anisotropy arising due to orientation of grains in a specific direction in rocks is modelled to understand the influence of the degree of anisotropy and the grain orientation direction on fracture propagation. A combination of Tsai-Hill failure criterion and Camacho-Ortiz propagation criteria is used to predict mixed mode fracture propagation in anisotropic media. Effect of heterogeneities due to material inclusions, on fractures are modelled.

No files available

Metadata only record. There are no files for this conference paper.