Modeling Hydraulic Fracturing in a Medium Containing Natural Fractures and a Cavity Using Modified Finite Element Method
A. V. Azarov, M. V. Kurlenya, A. A. Niukkanen, S. V. Serdyukov
Chinakal Institute of Mining, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: Rock mass, cracks, cavity, hydraulic fracture, numerical modeling, finite element method, cohesive elements, 2D model, stress state, software tools, hydraulic fracturing path, hydraulic-natural fracture intersection conditions
Abstract
The method and results of numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing in a medium containing natural fractures and a cavity are discussed. The modified finite element method with additional cohesive elements modeling natural fractures, their growth and fluid flow in them is used. The approach and software tools developed for the approach implementation are described. The results of 2D modeling of hydraulic fracturing in a medium with one natural fracture coming to the surface of a circular opening, with a fractured layer adjoining the opening, and with a system of short fractures distributed all over the model are reported. The influence of the position and orientation of a frac initiator, stress state and properties of the medium on the hydraulic fracturing path is illustrated. The hydraulic fracturing patterns are determined, and the conditions of hydraulic-natural fracture intersection nearby the circular opening are formulated.
|
