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Numerical Study on the Formation of Shear Fracture Network

Author

Listed:
  • Zhaobin Zhang

    (Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China)

  • Xiao Li

    (Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China)

Abstract

Shear fracture network is important to the hydraulic fracturing treatment of a shale gas reservoir. In this paper, the formation of shear fracture network is investigated by a Displacement Discontinuity Method (DDM) based model. The results show that the sliding of fracture surface is irreversible but may change significantly after fluid pressure dissipates. The final sliding distance is different for natural and hydraulic fractures. Most of the shear fractures are natural fractures while the newly formed hydraulic fractures tend to be totally closed after pressure dissipates. The effects of in situ stress are investigated. The affected area reaches its maximum value when the maximum principle stress direction is perpendicular to the principal fracture direction. The effects of the injection rate are also investigated. The increasing of the injection rate is helpful in increasing the fracture aperture, but has no effect on the final sliding distance. Moreover, the effects of the injection rate on the affected area depend on the connectivity of natural fractures. The affected area increases with the injection rate when the connectivity is poor but decreases slightly with injection rate when the connectivity is good.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhaobin Zhang & Xiao Li, 2016. "Numerical Study on the Formation of Shear Fracture Network," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:4:p:299-:d:68539
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhaobin Zhang & Xiao Li & Jianming He & Yanfang Wu & Bo Zhang, 2015. "Numerical Analysis on the Stability of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Zhaobin Zhang & Xiao Li & Weina Yuan & Jianming He & Guanfang Li & Yusong Wu, 2015. "Numerical Analysis on the Optimization of Hydraulic Fracture Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-19, October.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Qian Li & Yiyu Lu & Zhaolong Ge & Zhe Zhou & Jingwei Zheng & Songqiang Xiao, 2017. "A New Tree-Type Fracturing Method for Stimulating Coal Seam Gas Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Xin Chang & Yintong Guo & Jun Zhou & Xuehang Song & Chunhe Yang, 2018. "Numerical and Experimental Investigations of the Interactions between Hydraulic and Natural Fractures in Shale Formations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-27, September.
    3. Qiuping Qin & Qingfeng Xue & Zizhuo Ma & Yikang Zheng & Hongyu Zhai, 2021. "Hydraulic Fracturing Simulations with Real-Time Evolution of Physical Parameters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-12, March.
    4. Jianming He & Zhaobin Zhang & Xiao Li, 2017. "Numerical Analysis on the Formation of Fracture Network during the Hydraulic Fracturing of Shale with Pre-Existing Fractures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-10, May.

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