June 2015

Creep deformation of fracture surfaces analysis in a hydraulically fractured reservoir using the finite element method

In this study, we develop a Galerkin-type finite element (FE) solution to assess the creep deformation of fracture surfaces. These surfaces are treated as comparatively compliant rocks which are separated by a comparatively stiff proppant pack. Viscoelastic properties of fracture surfaces are assessed by the temperature and deformation dependent modulus. The key challenge is to appropriately develop the creep and the...

Author(s): Ken Glover, Gholamreza Naser and Hadi Mohammadi