• Login
    • Submit
    View Item 
    •   Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    • Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Hydraulic fracture modeling with finite volumes and areas

    Icon
    View/Open
    BRYANT-THESIS-2016.pdf (3.778Mb)
    Date
    2016-08
    Author
    Bryant, Eric Cushman
    Share
     Facebook
     Twitter
     LinkedIn
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    In Chapter 1, a finite volume-based arbitrary fracture propagation model is used to simulate fracture growth and geomechanical stresses during hydraulic fracture treatments. Single-phase flow, poroelastic displacement, and in situ stress tensor equations are coupled within a poroelastic reservoir domain. Stress analysis is used to identify failure initiation that proceeds by failure along Finite Volume (FV) cell faces in excess of a threshold effective stress. Fracture propagation proceeds by the cohesive zone (CZ) model, to simulate propagation of non-planar fractures in heterogeneous porous media under anisotropic far-field stress. In Chapter 2, we are concerned with stress analysis of both elastic and poroelastic solids on the same domain, using a FV-based numerical discretization. As such our main purposes are twofold: introduce a hydromechanical coupling term into the linear elastic displacement field equation, using the standard model of linearized poroelasticity; and, maintain the continuity of total traction over any multi-material interfaces (meaning an interface over which residual stresses, Biot’s coefficient, Young’s modulus, or Poisson’s ratio vary). In Chapter 3, we are concerned with modeling fluid flow in cracks bounded by deforming rock, and specifically, inside those initial discontinuities, softening regions and failed zones which constitute the solid interfaces of propagating hydraulic fractures. To accomplish this task the Finite Area (FA) method is an ideal candidate, given its proven facility for the discretization and solution of 2D coupled partial differential equations along the boundaries of 3D domains. In Chapter 4, rock formations’ response to a propagating, pressurized hydraulic fracture is examined. In order to initiate CZ applied traction-separation processes, an effective stress tensor is constructed by additively combining the total stress with pore pressures multiplied into a scalar factor. In effect, this scalar factor constitutes the Biot’s coefficient as acts inside the CZ. Integral analysis at the cohesive tip is used to show that this factor must be equal to the Biot’s coefficient in the bounding solid (for a small-strain constitutive relation). Also, effects of an initial residual stress state are accounted for.
    Department
    Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
    Subject
    Hydraulic fracture
    Finite Volume
    Finite Area
    Hydraulic fracture modeling
    Poroelastic solids
    Poroelasticity
    Cohesive zone
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47078
    Collections
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin

    Browse

    Entire RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartmentThis CollectionDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartment

    My Account

    Login

    Information

    AboutContactPoliciesGetting StartedGlossaryHelpFAQs

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin