Symmetric coalescence of two hydraulic fractures.

Autor:	O'Keeffe NJ; Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom; okeeffen@damtp.cam.ac.uk., Zheng Z; Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom.; BP Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, United Kingdom.; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom., Huppert HE; Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom., Linden PF; Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2018 Oct 09; Vol. 115 (41), pp. 10228-10232. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Sep 25.
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.1809233115
Abstrakt:	The formation of a fracture network is a key process for many geophysical and industrial practices from energy resource recovery to induced seismic management. We focus on the initial stage of a fracture network formation using experiments on the symmetric coalescence of two equal coplanar, fluid-driven, penny-shaped fractures in a brittle elastic medium. Initially, the fractures propagate independently of each other. The fractures then begin to interact and coalesce, forming a bridge between them. Within an intermediate period after the initial contact, most of the fracture growth is localized along this bridge, perpendicular to the line connecting the injection sources. Using light attenuation and particle image velocimetry to measure both the fracture aperture and velocity field, we characterize the growth of this bridge. We model this behavior using a geometric volume conservation argument dependent on the symmetry of the interaction, with a 2D approximation for the bridge. We also verify experimentally the scaling for the bridge growth and the shape of the thickness profile along the bridge. The influence of elasticity and toughness of the solid, injection rate of the fluid, and initial location of the fractures are captured by our scaling. Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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