Study on the Rock Fracture during Fluid Injection Using a Coupled Flow-Stress-Damage (FSD) Model: Insight into the Stress Shadow Effect

Abstract

In order to investigate the influence of pore pressure on hydraulic fracturing behavior in the local and whole model, the coupled flow-stress-damage (FSD) analysis system RFPA-Flow was used to study the influence of rock heterogeneity, natural stress ratio, double-hole spacing, and water pressure gradient on the stress shadow effect. The numerical results show that the tensile crack induced by pore water pressure is significantly affected by the pore water pressure and water pressure gradient. The larger the pore pressure gradient is, the more asymmetrical the crack development pattern and the smaller the instability pressure of the model. In addition, the shape of hydraulic fracture becomes much more irregular with the increase in rock heterogeneity. The number and shape of tip microcracks under the influence of local water pressure are closely related to the homogeneity of rock. Moreover, when the natural stress difference is large, the hydraulic fracture propagates parallel to the maximum principal stress; when the stress field is close and the spacing between two holes is less than 5 times the diameter, the propagation direction of hydraulic fractures between holes is perpendicular to the maximum principal stress. It is found that no hydraulic fractures occur between the two holes when the distance between holes is greater than 5 times the diameter.