Simulating subterranean fracture propagation
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorDavid P. Craig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, methods, and instructions encoded in a computer-readable medium can perform operations related to simulating subterranean fracture propagation. A subterranean formation model representing rock blocks of a subterranean formation is received. The subterranean formation model is used to predict a response of each rock block to one or more forces acting on the rock block during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation. The predicted responses of the rock blocks may include, for example, a fracture, a rotation, a displacement, a dilation of an existing fracture, and/or another type of response. In some implementations, an injection treatment may be designed for a subterranean formation based on the predicted response of the rock blocks.
Claims22
A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, perform operations comprising:
- receiving a subterranean formation model comprising:
- a mesh that represents multiple separate rock blocks of a subterranean formation;
- and
- a contact model that models interactions among the separate rock blocks;
- and
- using the mesh and the contact model of the subterranean formation model to predict for each of the separate rock blocks a response of the rock block to one or more forces acting on the rock block during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation, the forces comprising:
- normal contact forces and shear contact forces arising from physical contact between rock blocks;
- and
- fluid forces arising from fluid pressure acting on the rock blocks during fluid injection.
A computer-implemented method for simulating an injection treatment, the method comprising:
- receiving a subterranean formation model comprising:
- a mesh comprising a plurality of elements that represent multiple separate rock blocks of a subterranean formation;
- and
- a contact model that models interactions among the separate rock blocks;
- processing the subterranean formation model, by operation of data processing apparatus, to simulate forces applied to each of the separate rock blocks during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation, the forces comprising:
- normal contact forces and shear contact forces arising from physical contact between rock blocks;
- and
- fluid forces arising from fluid pressure acting on the rock blocks during fluid injection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.