Section 300

FRACTURING ENGINEERING MANUAL

Schlumberger May 1998
Dowell
Fracture Modeling
Page 11 of 35

3.1 Two-Dimensional (2D)

Most 2D models require that a value for fracture height be input so the length and
width can be calculated from the volume and flow characteristics governed by the
code for the particular model. The models that will be discussed here are the (1)
Khristianovic and Zheltov, with later contributions by Geertsma and de Klerk (KGD
model), (2) Perkins and Kern, and later Nordgren (PKN model), and (3) the radial or
penny-shaped model.
A common simplifying assumption is that the lateral effects of a fracture are small
compared to the vertical effects and can be neglected. This condition is termed
plane strain and implies that each cross section acts independently of any other
section, so that the mechanical analysis need only be performed in two dimensions.
This plane-strain assumption is an integral part of the 2D fracture models. Two
cases of plane strain can be distinguished for the 2D formulations.
• Horizontal Plane-Strain Geometry: The fracture zone will deform independently
of the upper and lower layers. This will be possible for free slippage on these
layers and represent a fracture with horizontal penetration that is much smaller
than the vertical, and where the fracture shape does not depend on the vertical
position. This describes the KGD fracture geometry as shown in Fig. 4. This
geometry has a constant height with a cross section that is rectangular in shape.

Fig. 4. KGD geometry.

DOWELL CONFIDENTIAL