The expansion of unconventional petroleum resources in the recent decade and the rapid development of computational technology have provided the opportunity to develop and apply 3D numerical modeling technology to simulate the hydraulic fracturing of shale and tight sand formations. This book presents 3D numerical modeling technologies for hydraulic fracturing developed in recent years, and introduces solutions to various 3D geomechanical problems related to hydraulic fracturing. In the solution processes of the case studies included in the book, fully coupled multi-physics modeling has been adopted, along with innovative computational techniques, such as submodeling. In practice, hydraulic fracturing is an essential project component in shale gas/oil development and tight sand oil, and provides an essential measure in the process of drilling cuttings reinjection (CRI). It is also an essential measure for widened mud weight window (MWW) when drilling through naturally fractured formations; the process of hydraulic plugging is a typical application of hydraulic fracturing. 3D modeling and numerical analysis of hydraulic fracturing is essential for the successful development of tight oil/gas formations: it provides accurate solutions for optimized stage intervals in a multistage fracking job. It also provides optimized well-spacing for the design of zipper-frac wells. Numerical estimation of casing integrity under stimulation injection in the hydraulic fracturing process is one of major concerns in the successful development of unconventional resources. This topic is also investigated numerically in this book. Numerical solutions to several other typical geomechanics problems related to hydraulic fracturing, such as fluid migration caused by fault reactivation and seismic activities, are also presented. This book can be used as a reference textbook to petroleum, geotechnical and geothermal engineers, to senior undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students, and to geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists and applied mathematicians working in this field. This book is also a synthetic compendium of both the fundamentals and some of the most advanced aspects of hydraulic fracturing technology.

Modern petroleum and petrotechnical engineering is increasingly challenging due to the inherently scarce and decreasing number of global petroleum resources. Exploiting these resources efficiently will require researchers, scientists, engineers and other practitioners to develop innovative mathematical solutions to serve as basis for new asset deve

Hydraulic Fracturing (HF) has many applications in different fields such as stimulation of oil and gas reservoirs, in situ stress measurements, stress relief for tunneling projects as well as in underground mining applications such as block caving mining. In the HF process, high pressure fluid is injected into a well to generate fractures in tight rock formations. This technique is particularly suitable for developing hydrocarbon energy resources in tight rock formations such as shale with very low permeability. An experimental setup was designed and developed to simulate the HF process in the laboratory. Cubic plaster specimens were molded and HF experiments were conducted with simulated plaster models. Five laboratory tests were performed on cubic specimens under different stress conditions. Because the uniaxial compressive strength of the plaster was about 1600 psi, in all experiments the applied vertical stress was 1000 psi to avoid breaking the specimens before injection of fluid. The differential horizontal stress varied from 100 to 500 psi. These stress levels are related to shallow formations in a real environment. It was observed that increasing the differential horizontal stress by 100 psi, the minimum pressure required to initiate HF decreases about 100 psi. These results were in agreement by 2D failure criterion of HF. All in all, the small scale HF experiments were conducted successfully in the rock mechanics lab. It was observed that vertical hydraulic fractures would propagate along maximum horizontal stress, which is in agreement with propagation of HF theory. Three-dimensional (3D) numerical models were developed and computer simulations were conducted with ABAQUS, a commercially available finite element analysis (FEA) software. The numerical simulation results compared favorably with those from the laboratory experiments, and verification and analysis were carried out. Since the results obtained from the numerical model were in agreement with the results of experiments and verified the correctness of the model, further investigation was carried out with developed computer models. Several scenarios with different vertical stresses and different levels of horizontal stress were simulated. A statistical software, R, was used to generate a 3D failure criterion for the HF in shallow formations.... It can be stated that in shallow formations, vertical stress has the least effect among stress components on the minimum pressure required to initiate HF.

Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing Comprehensive single-volume reference work providing an overview of experimental results and predictive methods for hydraulic fracture growth in rocks Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing: Experiment, Model, and Monitoring provides a summary of the research in mechanics of hydraulic fractures during the past two decades, plus new research trends to look for in the future. The book covers the contributions from theory, modeling, and experimentation, including the application of models to reservoir stimulation, mining preconditioning, and the formation of geological structures. The four expert editors emphasize the variety of diverse methods and tools in hydraulic fracturing and help the reader understand hydraulic fracture mechanics in complex geological situations. To aid in reader comprehension, practical examples of new approaches and methods are presented throughout the book. Key topics covered in the book include: Prediction of fracture shapes, sizes, and distributions in sedimentary basins, plus their importance in petroleum industry Real-time monitoring methods, such as micro-seismicity and trace tracking How to uncover geometries of fractures like dikes and veins Fracture growth of individual foundations and its applications Researchers and professionals working in the field of fluid-driven fracture growth will find immense value in this comprehensive reference on hydraulic fracturing mechanics.