Fracture height containment with continuum damage mechanics Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • A recently introduced fracture propagation model, incorporating continuum damage mechanics (CDM) has been found as an adequate and consistent vehicle to predict both the level and trend of the net pressure. In this paper the CDM concept is applied to a pseudo-3D propagation model to describe height growth. In contrast to equilibrium theory, both the vertical stress profile and the (possible different) CDM coefficients are responsible for the final fracture morphology. This model is not burdened by the frequent capricious behavior of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) based models. The paper presents the model development and discusses the computational results. A comparison is made to the results of other fracture simulators published in a recent comparative study. A procedure is suggested to obtain the necessary CDM parameters from minifrac tests.

published proceedings

  • Proceedings - SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

author list (cited authors)

  • Valko, P., & Economides, M. J

complete list of authors

  • Valko, P||Economides, MJ

publication date

  • January 1993