Abstract
In this paper, we investigate the problem of the propagation of hydraulic fractures in a poroelastic medium that has a circular cavity. The research was conducted using the extended finite element method (XFEM) implemented in the ABAQUS software package. The problem was considered in a plane formulation. The initial crack was oriented parallel to the surface of the cavity. It was shown that the path of the hydraulic fracture depends strongly on the hydrostatic stress in the medium and the distance between the crack and the cavity. We studied the influences of the poroelastic parameters, such as permeability and the Biot coefficient, on the propagation of cracks. It was shown that the cracks were less curved when the coupled problem of poroelasticity was considered. The features of fluid pressure changes inside the fracture and at the opening of the mouth were studied. It was shown that the fluid pressure in the fracture during injection was minimally sensitive to the state of the stress in the medium, to the position of the initial crack, and to the poroelastic parameters. The solution to the problem in this setting can be used to simulate hydraulic fracturing close to mine workings during a controlled roof’s collapse to prevent it from hanging, and the formation of impervious screens to reduce airflow from the mine to degassing boreholes through the rock, for example.
Highlights
Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is used extensively to increase production in the oil and gas industry as well as for solving various problems associated with mining, underground construction, and the management of nature
This article describes a study that was conducted to determine the propagation of a hydraulic fracture near a circular cavity in a poroelastic medium
Numerical method XFEM implemented in the ABAQUS software package was used for research
Summary
Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is used extensively to increase production in the oil and gas industry as well as for solving various problems associated with mining, underground construction, and the management of nature. In the case of the extraction of coal seams by longwall mining, hydraulic fracturing is applied for the controlled roof’s collapse to prevent it from hanging [17,18,19] This method has many variations for in situ stress measurement based on the analysis of breakdown, shut-in, and reopening pressures [20,21,22]. The propagation of cracks close to hollow inclusions has been considered in several studies, some of which were related to modeling the hydraulic fracture phenomenon near underground work areas. The problem was considered in a plane formulation, and numerical modeling was performed using the XFEM implemented in the ABAQUS software package
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