Well Control

Lesson 9 Fracture Gradients

TAMU - Pemex

Contents
Allowable Wellbore Pressures Rock Mechanics Principles
Hookes Law, Youngs Mudulus, Poissons Ratio Volumetric Strain, Bulk Modulus, Compressibility Triaxial Tests
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Contents contd
Rock Mechanics Principles (cont.)
Rock Properties from Sound Speed in Rocks Mohrs Circle Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criteria
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Fracture Gradients
Read:
Fracture gradient prediction for the new generation, by Ben Eaton and Travis Eaton. World Oil, October, 1997. Estimating Shallow Below Mudline Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Fracture Gradients, by Barker and Wood.
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Lower Bound Wellbore Pressure

Lower bound of allowable wellbore pressure is controlled by:
Formation pore pressure Wellbore collapse considerations

This sets the minimum safe mud weight.

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Upper Bound Wellbore Pressure

Upper bound allowable wellbore pressure may be controlled by:
The pressure integrity of the exposed formations (fracture pressure) The pressure rating of the casing The pressure rating of the BOP

Chapter 3 deals with fracture gradient prediction and measurement

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Fracture Gradients
May be predicted from:
Pore pressure (vs. depth) Effective stress Overburden stress Formation strength
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Rock Mechanics
How a rock reacts to an imposed stress, is important in determining
Formation drillability Perforating gun performance Control of sand production Effect of compaction on reservoir performance Creating a fracture by applying a pressure to a wellbore!!!
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Elastic Properties of Rock

Elastic Properties of Rock

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Elastic Properties of Rock

The vertical stress at any point can be calculated by:
Fa 4Fa a = = 2 A d1

The axial and transverse strains are:

L1 L 2 a = L1 d1 d 2 tr = d1

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Elastic Properties of Rock

Hookes Law: = E

Youngs Modulus: E = /e = (F/A)/(L/L) E = (F*L)/(A*L)

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Hookes Law
Elastic Limit

Failure

Permanent strain or plastic deformation

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Typical Elastic Properties of Rock

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Poissons Ratio
Poissons Ratio = transverse strain/axial strain = -(x/z) Over the elastic range, for most metals, ~ 0.3 Over the plastic range, increases, and may reach the limiting value of 0.5
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Volumetric Strain

Vf Vi V = Vi
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Bulk Modulus and Compressibility values in rock

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Shear Modulus (G)

G is the ratio of shear stress to shear strain G is intrinsically related to Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio G = / = E/[2*(1+)]
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Bulk Modulus (Kb)

Kb is the ratio between the average normal stress and the volumetric strain Kb can be expressed in terms of Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio. Kb = average normal stress/ volumetric strain Kb = E/[3*(1-2) = [(x+ y+z)/3]/v
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Bulk Compressibility (cb)

cb is the reciprocal of the bulk modulus cb = 1/Kb = 3*(1-2)/E = v / [(x+ y+z)/3]
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Metals and Rocks

Metallic alloys usually have welldefined and well-behaved predictable elastic constants.

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Metals and Rocks

In contrast, rock is part of the disordered domain of nature. Its response to stress depends on (e.g.):
Loading history Lithological constituents Cementing materials Porosity Inherent defects
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Metals and Rocks

Even so, similar stress-strain behavior is observed. Triaxial tests include confining stress

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Rock Behavior Under Stress

Beyond B, plastic behavior may occur. From A-B, linear elastic behavior is observed From 0-A, microcracks and other defects are closed
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Youngs Modulus for a Sandstone

Et = instantaneous slope at any specific stress (tangent method) Es = secant modulus = (Total Stress/Total Strain) at any point Ei = Initial Modulus = initial slope of curve

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Transverse Strains for SS in Fig. 3.5

Youngs Modulus & Poissons Ratio are stress dependent.

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Example 3.1
Using Fig. 3.5, determine Youngs Modulus and Poissons ratio at an axial stress of 10,000 psi and a confining stress of 1,450 psi. From Fig 3.5, the given stress conditions are within the elastic range of the material (e.g. linear stress-strain behavior)
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Et = d/d = (15,000-5,000) /(0.00538-0.00266) Et = 3.7*106 psi

Solution

= - x/ z = -(-0.00044/0.00404) = 0.109

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Rock Properties
Rocks tend to be more ductile with increasing confining stress and increasing temperature Sandstones often remain elastic until they fail in brittle fashion. Shales and rock salt are fairly ductile and will exhibit substantial deformation before failure
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Rock Properties
Poissons ratio for some plastic formations may attain a value approaching the limit of 0.5 Rocks tend to be anisotropic, so stressstrain behavior depends on direction of the applied load.

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1. An alternate form of Eq. 3.6 gives the dynamic Poissons ratio:

2. Use Eq. 3.7 to determine the dynamic Youngs Modulus:

2

E = 0.0268 b v s (1 + )
E = 0.0268 * 2.38 * 7,407 2 * (1 + 0.240 )

E = 4.34 * 10 6 psi

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Fracturing is a static or quasistatic process so elastic properties based on sonic measurements may not be valid.

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We can orient a cubic element under any stress state such that the shear stresses along the six orthogonal planes vanish. The resultant normal stresses are the three principal stresses

2 normal to the page is the intermediate principal stress and is considered to be inconsequential to the failure analysis

3 = minimum principal stress Along an arbitrary plane , a shear stress will exist.
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 max a

max

1 3 = 2

1 3 a = sin 2 2

2 3 a 1

a =

1 + 3 1 3 + cos 2 2 2

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 f = c + f tan

c = cohesion = angle of internal friction

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36

 max =

1 3 2

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38

Note that the failure plane approaches 45o with increasing confining stress
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Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing while drilling results in one form of lost circulation (loss of whole mud into the formation). Lost circulation can also occur into:
vugs or solution channels natural fractures coarse-grained porosity
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For a fracture to form and propagate:

The wellbore pressure
must be high enough to overcome the tensile strength of the rock. must be high enough to overcome stress concentration at the hole wall must exceed the minimum in situ rock stress before the fracture can propagate to any substantial extent.
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In Situ Rock Stresses

The simplest model assumes the subsurface stress field is governed solely by the rocks linear elastic response to the overburden load. When loaded, the block would strain in the x and y transverse directions according to Hookes Law.

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In Situ Rock Stresses

y x z x = E E E and y x z y = E E E If the material is isotropic, x = y = H where the subscript H signifies horizontal
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x =

x ( y + z ) E

In Situ Rock Stresses

Thus

H H z H = E E E

Constraining the block on all sides prevents lateral strain. Setting H = 0,

H z ( 1 ) = E E

Eliminating E and rearranging yields the fundamental relationship

H = 1 z

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In Situ Rock Stresses

The above stressed block is analgous to a buried rock element if the material assumptions remain valid. Using the books nomenclature for overburden stress and substituting Terzaghis effective stress equation leads to:
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In Situ Rock Stresses

H = 1 z From Terzaghi, e = s pp

H pp = 1 ob p p

(with s = 1)

H = 1 ob p p + p p

The poroelasti city constant may be applied to the pore pressure term if desired.
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Fig. 3.13
Rock properties assumed constant with depth

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Fig. 3.14
ob is the max. principal stress Failure (fracture) occurs perpendicular to the least principal stress
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Fig. 3.15
H > ob can be created by Tectonic forces Post-depositional erosion Glacial action or melting of glacier H might be locked in while ob reduces
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Fracture Pressure

Fig. 3.16
Effect of tectonic movements on stresses

Lower ob

Is figure drawn correctly? Or should rock sample come from right side fault?
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Fig. 3.17

Effect of topography on ob

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Overburden stress is not significantly changed by abnormal pressure Under abnormal pore pressure, the difference between pore pressure and the least horizontal stress (fracture pressure) get very small.

Small Tolerance
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Subnormal pressures have little effect on overburden stress But, result in a decrease in fracture pressure

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Stress concentrations around a borehole in a uniform stress field

Tension

Additional compression

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