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A three-dimensional solution of hydraulic fracture width for wellbore strengthening applications.
- Source :
-
Petroleum Science (Springer Nature) . Aug2019, Vol. 16 Issue 4, p808-815. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Determining the width of an induced hydraulic fracture is the first step for applying wellbore strengthening and hydraulic fracturing techniques. However, current 2-D analytical solutions obtained from the plane strain assumption may have large uncertainties when the fracture height is small. To solve this problem, a 3-D finite element method (FEM) is used to model wellbore strengthening and calculate the fracture width. Comparisons show that the 2-D plane strain solution is the asymptote of the 3-D FEM solution. Therefore, the 2-D solution may overestimate the fracture width. This indicates that the 2-D solution may not be applicable in 3-D conditions. Based on the FEM modeling, a new 3-D semi-analytical solution for determining the fracture width is proposed, which accounts for the effects of 3-D fracture dimensions, stress anisotropy and borehole inclination. Compared to the 2-D solution, this new 3-D semi-analytical solution predicts a smaller fracture width. This implies that the 2-D-based old design for wellbore strengthening may overestimate the fracture width, which can be reduced using the proposed 3-D solution. It also allows an easy way to calculate the fracture width in complex geometrical and geological conditions. This solution has been verified against 3-D finite element calculations for field applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *HYDRAULIC fracturing
*FINITE element method
*ANALYTICAL solutions
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16725107
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Petroleum Science (Springer Nature)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 138158496
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-019-0317-7