A fully coupled and full 3D finite element model for hydraulic fracturing and its verification with physical experiments

BAO Jinqing; YANG Chenxu; XU Jianguo; LIU Hongxia; WANG Gaocheng; ZHANG Guangming; CHENG Wei; ZHOU Desheng

doi:10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2021.26.019

Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology) >

2021 , Vol. 61 >Issue 8: 833 - 841

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2021.26.019

Numerical Simulation

A fully coupled and full 3D finite element model for hydraulic fracturing and its verification with physical experiments

BAO Jinqing ,
YANG Chenxu ,
XU Jianguo ,
LIU Hongxia ,
WANG Gaocheng ,
ZHANG Guangming ,
CHENG Wei ,
ZHOU Desheng

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1. School of Petroleum Engineering, Xi'an Shiyou University, Xi'an 710065, China;
2. PetroChina Jilin Oilfield Company, Songyuan 138001, China;
3. PetroChina Zhejiang Oilfield Company, Hangzhou 310023, China;
4. PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China

Received date: 2021-01-02

Online published: 2021-07-14

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Abstract

Two sets of equation are proposed to describe the key mechanic issues in hydraulic fracturing including rock deformation, fracture propagation, fluid flow and leak-off in fractures, where the finite element method is taken as the numerical foundation. The fully coupled and full 3-D numerical model for hydraulic fracturing is set up via solving the coupled two sets of equation simultaneously. Comparisons of the numerical simulations from the model with two classical physical experiments are made, and they have excellent agreements on net pressure, fracture widths, fracture lengths, fracture propagation modes, et al. The numerical model is verified by the experiments, and shows that the cubic law in the hydraulic fracturing theory is still applicable even when the fracture widths are at the order of microns.

Key words： hydraulic fracturing; full 3-D model; finite element method; experimental verification

Cite this article

BAO Jinqing , YANG Chenxu , XU Jianguo , LIU Hongxia , WANG Gaocheng , ZHANG Guangming , CHENG Wei , ZHOU Desheng . A fully coupled and full 3D finite element model for hydraulic fracturing and its verification with physical experiments[J]. Journal of Tsinghua University(Science and Technology), 2021 , 61(8) : 833 -841 . DOI: 10.16511/j.cnki.qhdxxb.2021.26.019

References

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