Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing is a crucial and widely-used technology in shale gas exploitation and enhanced geothermal systems, while the fundamental mechanisms of hydraulic fracturing are not comprehensively understood. This paper aims to promote the understanding of strain localization in hydraulic fracturing of granite specimens based on digital image correlation (DIC) method. Through a specially designed pressure enclosure, the hydraulic fracturing processes were captured by a high-speed camera. The strain localization phenomenon, evolution, and coalescence of SLZs in hydraulic fracturing were analyzed. Results show that obvious strain localization occurs before the specimen failure, which gradually develops into a continuous strain localization zone. With the evolution of SLZs, the specimen will be unable to bear the liquid pressure, and macro cracks occur at SLZs. The statistical data in the query region shows that the strain localization in hydraulic fracturing occurs earlier than previously thought, and the evolution of SLZs can be divided into steady, soaring, and fracture stages according to the changing trend. The coalescence of the patchy distribution SLZs occurs frequently throughout the evolution process of SLZs, and the coalescence of SLZs may be the cause of the increasing speed of evolution.
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