Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing is a field technology widely used in the petroleum industry in order to increase the effective permeability of the reservoir and thus the production of gas by fracturing the rock by an injection of fluid. Hydrofracturing is often being monitored by detecting and analyzing microseismic events. We present a numerical technique that simulates the occurrence of microseismic events and their deformation modes during hydrofracturing and thus allows us to improve our understanding of hydrofracturing-related microseismicity. We can explain the time and spatial spread in the location of seismic events by the heterogeneity of the reservoir and the variability in the deformation modes as a natural process reflecting the reorganization of stresses in an elastic medium. We show that microseismic activity reflects the macroscopic description of hydrofracturing as a tensile crack even in highly heterogeneous reservoirs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
K. Aki, P. Richards, Quantitative Seismology (University Science Books, Sausalito, CA, 2002)
A. Baig, T. Urbancic, Microseismic moment tensors: a path to understanding frac growth. Leading Edge29, 320–324 (Mar 2010)
J.F. Hazzard, R.P. Young, Moment tensors and micromechanical models. Tectonophysics 356, 181–197 (2002)
J.A. Hudson, R.G. Pearce, R.M. Rogers, Source type plot for inversion of the moment tensors. J. Geophys. Res. 94, 765–774 (1989)
A. Settari, R. B. Sullivan, D.A. Walters, 3-D analysis and prediction of microseismicity in fracturing by coupled geomechanical modeling, SPE 75714 (2002)
C.A. Tang, P.K. Kaiser, Numerical simulation of cumulative damage and seismic energy release during brittle rock failure – Part I: fundamentals. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 35, 113–121 (1998)
T. Wong, R.H.C. Wong, K.T. Chau, C.A. Tang, Microcrack statistics, Weibull distribution and micromechanical modeling of compressive failure in rock. Mech. Mater. 38, 664–681 (2006). doi:10.1016/j.mechmat.2005.12.002
W.C. Zhu, C.A. Tang, Micromechanical model for simulating the fracture process of rock. Rock Mech. Rock Eng. 37, 25–56 (2004)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Guest, A., Settari, A. (2011). Numerical Modeling of Hydrofracturing Using the Damage Theory. In: Bonelli, S., Dascalu, C., Nicot, F. (eds) Advances in Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomaterials. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1421-2_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1421-2_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1420-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1421-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)