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Procedia Engineering 191 (2017) 287 – 290

Symposium of the International Society for Rock Mechanics

Transverse Hydraulic Fracture Initiation by Indentation in

an Uncased Borehole
Andrey Patutin,*, Sergey Serdyukov
Chinakal Institute of Mining SB RAS, Krasnyi ave., 54, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia

Abstract

The hydraulic fracturing technique has applications in the development of solid mineral deposits. The particularities of
the method performed in a mine condition include confined space and high requirements for the safety of the equipment used in
underground workings. One of the most relevant tasks in in-mine hydraulic fracturing is creating parallel cracks oriented across
the axis of the well. In-seam boreholes with this type of fracture system can be used for coal bed methane production, sealing of
degassing boreholes, controlled collapse of the roof and other applications. In this paper we consider transverse crack formation
on borehole wall in a given plane when the fracture initiation occurs due to an indenter impression located between two inflatable
packers. During indentation fracturing, fluid under high pressure is supplied and this contributes to crack propagation in
the desired direction. On the basis of the calculation of the stress intensity factor for the semi-infinite plane with the edge crack
affected by the forces applied at points on the plane surface the length of the formed crack is obtained. The results show that
the force acting on the wall of the borehole with a 76–105 mm diameter will be sufficient to create an initiation fracture in
a predetermined direction. To implement this approach an experimental device is developed. It is implemented as an additional
module of the hydraulic fracturing tool and equipped with a system of three indenters. The design of the device allows to obtain
a total acting force in one plane and this will increase the effectiveness of the impact.
© 2017
2017TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROCK 2017.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROCK 2017
Keywords: hydraulic fracturing; wedge-shaped indenter; stress intensity factor

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +7-383-335-96-42; fax: +7-383-335-96-42.

E-mail address: andrey.patutin@gmail.com

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROCK 2017
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.05.183
288 Andrey Patutin and Sergey Serdyukov / Procedia Engineering 191 (2017) 287 – 290

1. Introduction

Hydraulic fracturing is a widely used method in oil and gas production to increase hydrocarbon inflow to
the wellbore. Under the influence of the high fluid pressure delivered into an isolated interval of the well,
an artificial crack forms in the reservoir rock.
Subsequently, this method has been adopted in the mining of solid minerals. The in-mine hydraulic fracturing, for
which the method is implemented, in wells drilled in underground conditions possesses distinctive limitations, such
as limited space and strict safety requirements for the operated equipment. Usually hydraulic fracturing solves
the following problems:
x Rock mass breaking for effective mineral extraction or for controllable roof collapse in underground openings
x Rock mass drainage to extract coal bed methane, drain, moisten, intensify in-situ leaching and saturate loose
rocks with the cementing compounds
x Prevention and protection from water and gas showings
x Stress-state measurement of the rock mass
The hydraulic fracturing implementation depends on the information about the crack’s appearance and opening
process. This information provides the opportunity to predict the fracture’s shape and location and to optimise its
parameters. Depending on the mine depth, vertical stress may be bigger or smaller than horizontal components of
the compression field. This leads to the crack tending to turn and spread along the maximum pressure when
the fracturing is being performed, even if initially the crack has another direction.
In the case of in-mine fracturing, one of the most important tasks is to create several parallel cracks located
across the well axis. Extended inseam wells with transverse crack systems can be used to intensify the coal bed
methane production [1], to seal the degassing wells [2] and to weaken hard roof [3, 4], etc.
Analysis of the employed technical solutions of the transverse hydraulic fracturing shows that following methods
can be used to form the initiating cracks:
a) Cutting of the initiating disk crack on the well’s walls with the help of special equipment;
b) Indentation of the well’s walls using hard-alloy tools.
It is a technically complicated and time-consuming task to form an initiating crack by the mechanical cutting of
rock. As a rule, this kind of crack is formed with the help of slot cutting equipment [5, 6]. However, in the case of
extended inseam boreholes, with lengths reaching 1000 m, this method is difficult to apply.

2. Simplified mathematical model and results

Let us consider the method of the transverse crack formation in which the crack is opened in a given plane on
the well’s axis due to the impression of an indenter located in a straddle packer assembly between two packers.
To optimise technical parameters for transverse fracturing initiation we consider the model below (see Fig 1). Let
us assume that a wedge-shaped indenter is being pressed into the well’s wall with the power Fi, thus, opening
the edges of the existing crack with depth a. The force with which the indenter effects the crack edges is calculated
by the formula Fs Fi / 2 tg D , where D is the wedge-shaped indenter angle. The stress intensity factor for
the semi-infinite plane with the edge crack affected by the forces Fs applied at points on the plane surface [7] is:

Fs S
KI 0,8 256 , (1)
l a

where l is the length of the wedge-shaped indenter’s cutting edge.

 Andrey Patutin and Sergey Serdyukov / Procedia Engineering 191 (2017) 287 – 290 289

Fig. 1. Indenter impression and the crack opening.

For the given geometry the stress intensity factor from the compression stress on the infinity is:

K  1,1 2 1 5V S a , (2)

where V is the compression stress in the rock massif.

If the sum KI + K is equal to 0, then we can estimate the length of the crack that is opened by the indenter

0,3681Fi
a (3)
V l t gD

The equation (3) analysis shows that the employment of an indenter with a smaller wedge angle increases
the crack length. However, it is necessary to take into account the operating constraints on the length of
the indenter’s withdrawal from the fracturing tool. The wedge-shaped indenter’s width l (Fig. 1) influences
the initiating crack’s length. If Fi = 103 N, V = 5·106 Pa, l = 5·10-3 m and 2D = 60º, the length of the opening crack
a is 2.55 cm.
In a case when the crack is extended due to the implementation of an indenter the sum KI + K is equal to KIC. For
the sandstone it is 0.59·106 N/m3/2 based on averaged test results [8]. In this case the equation has the following
form:

0, 4 12 8 Fi S
 1,12 15V S a c K IC , (4)
l t gD ac

where a c is the length of the crack that is formed in the rock mass by indenter impression.
Equation (4) goes into the quadratic equation relative to the variable a c . As a solution we get two roots, one of
which corresponds to the physical meaning of the task, which states that the indenter crack length a c is supposed to
be smaller than the length of the existing crack a.
According to the calculations, indenter initiation of transverse hydraulic fracturing with parameters Fi = 103 N,
l = 5ǜ10-3 m and 2D = 60º provides the opportunity to form an initiating crack at least 1.71 cm deep in the sandstone
and at least 2.55 cm deep in the case of an existing fracture opening.
To increase the effectiveness of the directional hydraulic fracturing one should use a system of several indenters
employed on the fracture plane. The equipment, designed for use as an additional module of the hydraulic fracturing
tool, is shown in Fig. 2.
290 Andrey Patutin and Sergey Serdyukov / Procedia Engineering 191 (2017) 287 – 290

Fig. 2. General view of designed module with the system of three indenters: (a) transporting state; (b) operational state.

The summed power action on the rock massif increases along with the number of indenters. It leads to
the formation of an initiating crack with a larger surface. The performed calculations show that in a 76–105 mm
diameter well, for the proper formation of a transverse fracture in sandstone, it is enough to use an initiator
containing three 8–12 mm-wide wedge-shaped indenters with a 60° angle at the top.
Further hydraulic fracture propagation depends mainly on the existing stress state within the rock mass.
Numerical studies show that the reorientation of the direction of cracks propagation is the function of the difference
between the minimum and maximum stresses, the deformation characteristics of enclosing rock, fracturing fluid
injection rate and its viscosity [9].

3. Conclusion

The theoretical investigation of the indentation process has been introduced. The possibility of crack initiation to
perform directional hydraulic fracturing by wedge-shaped indenter impression in to the wall of the borehole was
evaluated. Calculations show that the resulting force acting on the wall of the borehole, with a 76–105 mm diameter,
will be sufficient to create an initiation fracture in a predetermined direction. To implement this approach
the module of the fracturing tool was designed and manufactured. Application of the developed device can be
considered as a replacement for a crack cutting technology to give the initial direction of the fracture propagation.
The device cannot replace the traditional straddle packer assembly, and can be used only as an additional module to
increase the effectiveness of directional hydraulic fracturing.

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project 15-17-00008.

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