TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolution of Friction and Permeability in a Propped Fracture under Shear
AU - Zhang, Fengshou
AU - Fang, Yi
AU - Elsworth, Derek
AU - Wang, Chaoyi
AU - Yang, Xiaofeng
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Young 1000 Talent Program of China, Tongji Civil Engineering Peak Discipline Plan (CEPDP), National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 41772286 and 51674267, and US Department of Energy (DOE) under Grant DE-FE0023354. The useful discussions with Professor Chris Marone are also greatly appreciated.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2017 Fengshou Zhang et al.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - We explore the evolution of friction and permeability of a propped fracture under shear. We examine the effects of normal stress, proppant thickness, proppant size, and fracture wall texture on the frictional and transport response of proppant packs confined between planar fracture surfaces. The proppant-absent and proppant-filled fractures show different frictional strength. For fractures with proppants, the frictional response is mainly controlled by the normal stress and proppant thickness. The depth of shearing-concurrent striations on fracture surfaces suggests that the magnitude of proppant embedment is controlled by the applied normal stress. Under high normal stress, the reduced friction implies that shear slip is more likely to occur on propped fractures in deeper reservoirs. The increase in the number of proppant layers, from monolayer to triple layers, significantly increases the friction of the propped fracture due to the interlocking of the particles and jamming. Permeability of the propped fracture is mainly controlled by the magnitude of the normal stress, the proppant thickness, and the proppant grain size. Permeability of the propped fracture decreases during shearing due to proppant particle crushing and related clogging. Proppants are prone to crushing if the shear loading evolves concurrently with the normal loading.
AB - We explore the evolution of friction and permeability of a propped fracture under shear. We examine the effects of normal stress, proppant thickness, proppant size, and fracture wall texture on the frictional and transport response of proppant packs confined between planar fracture surfaces. The proppant-absent and proppant-filled fractures show different frictional strength. For fractures with proppants, the frictional response is mainly controlled by the normal stress and proppant thickness. The depth of shearing-concurrent striations on fracture surfaces suggests that the magnitude of proppant embedment is controlled by the applied normal stress. Under high normal stress, the reduced friction implies that shear slip is more likely to occur on propped fractures in deeper reservoirs. The increase in the number of proppant layers, from monolayer to triple layers, significantly increases the friction of the propped fracture due to the interlocking of the particles and jamming. Permeability of the propped fracture is mainly controlled by the magnitude of the normal stress, the proppant thickness, and the proppant grain size. Permeability of the propped fracture decreases during shearing due to proppant particle crushing and related clogging. Proppants are prone to crushing if the shear loading evolves concurrently with the normal loading.
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U2 - 10.1155/2017/2063747
DO - 10.1155/2017/2063747
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042363345
SN - 1468-8115
VL - 2017
JO - Geofluids
JF - Geofluids
M1 - 2063747
ER -