Related papers: Notes on Hydraulic Fracture Mechanics
Many geo-engineering applications, e.g., enhanced geothermal systems, rely on hydraulic fracturing to enhance the permeability of natural formations and allow for sufficient fluid circulation. Over the past few decades, the phase-field…
A continuum model of crack propagation is presented and discussed. We obtain steady state solutions with a self-consistently selected propagation velocity and shape of the crack, provided that elastodynamic and viscoelastic effects are…
The paper presents novel results, obtained on the basis of the modified theory of hydraulic fractures (HF). The theory underlines significance of the speed equation. When applied to numerical simulation of HF, the theory reveals three…
While the hydraulic fracturing technology, aka fracking (or fraccing, frac), has become highly developed and astonishingly successful, a consistent formulation of the associated fracture mechanics that would not conflict with some…
While of paramount importance in material science, the dynamics of cracks still lacks a complete physical explanation. The transition from their slow creep behavior to a fast propagation regime is a notable key, as it leads to full material…
This study analyzes the problem of a constant height hydraulic fracture. It is assumed that the fracture is driven by Newtonian fluid, and the effects of fracture toughness and leak-off are included in the model as well. Analysis of the tip…
Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing is complicated when a fracture reaches a stress barrier. For high barriers, it may require changing of a computational scheme. Despite there are examples of modeling propagation through barriers,…
Fracture is a fundamental mechanism of materials failure. Propagating cracks can exhibit a rich dynamical behavior controlled by a subtle interplay between microscopic failure processes in the crack tip region and macroscopic elasticity. We…
This paper investigates proppant flow and transport in intersected fractures at angles typical for intersections of pre-existing and new hydraulic fractures. Proppant is small granular material, which is placed into hydraulic fractures…
Hydraulic stimulation is a critical process for increasing the permeability of fractured geothermal reservoirs. This technique relies on coupled hydromechanical processes induced by reservoir stimulation through pressurized fluid injection…
It is usually assumed that hydraulic fracture has two symmetrical wings with respect to the fluid injection point. Hence, authors limit themselves to modelling of one half of the fracture. In our work we demonstrate that the case of a…
The propagation of cracks driven by a pressurized fluid emerges in several areas of engineering, including structural, geotechnical, and petroleum engineering. We present a robust numerical framework to simulate fluid-driven fracture…
A liquid droplet resting on a soft gel substrate can deform that substrate to the point of material failure, whereby fractures develop on the gel surface that propagate outwards from the contact-line in a starburst pattern. In this paper,…
Displacement flows are common in hydraulic fracturing, as fracking fluids of different composition are injected sequentially in the fracture. The injection of an immiscible fluid at the center of a liquid-filled fracture results in the…
Natural open joints in rocks commonly present multi-scale self-affine apertures. This geometrical complexity affects fluid transport and heat exchange between the flow- ing fluid and the surrounding rock. In particular, long range…
This paper proposes a phase field model (PFM) for describing hydraulic fracture propagation in transversely isotopic media. The coupling between the fluid flow and displacement fields is established according to the classical Biot…
Fluid driven fractures propagate in the upper earth crust either naturally or in response to engineered fluid injections. The quantitative prediction of their evolution is critical in order to better understand their dynamics as well as to…
In a uniform stress field, a tensile hydraulic fracture will favor propagation in the plane formed by the maximum (most compressive) and intermediate principal stresses. For the propagation of hydraulic fractures in non-uniform stress…
We present a multi-resolution approach for constructing model-based simulations of hydraulic fracturing, wherein flow through porous media is coupled with fluid-driven fracture. The approach consists of a hybrid scheme that couples a…
Characterizing the fluid-driven fracture tip advancing process presents a significant challenge due to the difficulty of replicating real-world conditions in laboratory experiments and the lack of precise field measurements. However, recent…