PETE 625

Well Control

Lesson 9
Fracture Gradients
 Contents
 Allowable Wellbore Pressures
 Rock Mechanics Principles
 Hooke’s Law, Young’s Mudulus,
Poisson’s Ratio
 Volumetric Strain, Bulk Modulus,
Compressibility
 Triaxial Tests
2
 Contents – cont’d
 Rock Mechanics Principles (con’t.)
 Rock Properties from Sound Speed
in Rocks’

 Mohr’s Circle

 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criteria

3
 Assignments
HW # 5: Ch 2, Problems 21- 30
due Friday, June 18

HW # 6: Ch 3, Problems 1- 10
due Wednesday, June 23

HW # 7: Ch 3, Problems 11- 20
due Monday, June 28

Read: Chapter 3
 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.
5
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.
6
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
7
 Fracture Gradients
 May be predicted from:
 Pore pressure (vs. depth)
 Effective stress
 Overburden stress
 Formation strength

8
 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!!!
9
Elastic Properties of Rock

10
Elastic Properties of Rock

11
 Elastic Properties of Rock
 The vertical stress at any point can be
calculated by:
Fa 4Fa
a  
A d12

 The axial and transverse strains are:

L1  L 2
a 
L1
d1  d 2
 tr 
d1
12
 Elastic Properties of Rock

 Hooke’s Law:  Young’s Modulus:

 = E  E = /e = (F/A)/(L/L)
E = (F*L)/(A*L) 13
 Hooke’s Law
Elastic Limit

Failure

Permanent strain or
plastic deformation

14
Typical Elastic Properties of
Rock

15
 Poisson’s Ratio
 Poisson’s 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
16
Volumetric Strain

Vf  Vi
V 
Vi
17
 Bulk Modulus and
Compressibility values in rock

18
 Shear Modulus (G)

 G is the ratio of shear stress

to shear strain

 G is intrinsically related to Young’s

modulus and Poisson’s ratio

 G =  = E/[2*(1+)]

19
 Bulk Modulus (Kb)
 Kb is the ratio between the average
normal stress and the volumetric strain

 Kb can be expressed in terms of Young’s

modulus and Poisson’s ratio.

 Kb = average normal stress/ volumetric

strain

Kb = E/[3*(1-2) = [(x+ y+z)/3]/v

20
 Bulk Compressibility (cb)

 cb is the reciprocal of the bulk modulus

 cb = 1/Kb
= 3*(1-2)/E
= v / [(x+ y+z)/3]

21
 Metals and Rocks

 Metallic alloys usually have well-

defined and well-behaved predictable
elastic constants.

22
 Metals and Rocks
 In contrast, rock is part of the
disordered domain of nature. It’s
response to stress depends on (e.g.):
 Loading history

 Lithological constituents

 Cementing materials

 Porosity

 Inherent defects
23
 Metals and Rocks

 Even so, similar stress-strain behavior

is observed.

 Triaxial tests include confining stress

24
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

25
Young’s 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
26
Transverse Strains for SS in Fig. 3.5

Young’s Modulus
& Poisson’s Ratio
are stress
dependent.

27
 Example 3.1
Using Fig. 3.5, determine Young’s
Modulus and Poisson’s 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)
28
Et = d/d = (15,000-5,000) /(0.00538-0.00266)
Solution
Et = 3.7*106 psi

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

29
 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
30
 Rock Properties
Poisson’s ratio for some plastic
formations may attain a value
approaching the limit of 0.5

Rocks tend to be anisotropic, so stress-

strain behavior depends on direction of
the applied load.

31
1. An alternate form of Eq. 3.6 2. Use Eq. 3.7 to determine the
gives the dynamic Poisson’s ratio: dynamic Young’s Modulus:

2
E  0.0268  b v s (1   )

E  0.0268 * 2.38 * 7,407 2 * (1  0.240)

E  4.34 * 106 psi

32
Fracturing is a static or quasistatic process so elastic
properties based on sonic measurements may not be valid. 33
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 3 = minimum principal stress

intermediate principal stress
and is considered to be
inconsequential to the failure
analysis
Along an arbitrary plane ,
a shear stress will exist.
34
 1   3
 max 
 max 2
a 1   3
a  sin 2
2

2

3 a 1

1   3 1   3
a   cos 2
2 2

35
 f  c   f tan 

c = cohesion
 = angle of
internal friction

36
37
 1   3
 max 
2

38
39
Note that the failure plane approaches 45o
with increasing confining stress
40
 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

41
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.
42
In Situ Rock Stresses
The simplest model
assumes the subsurface
stress field is governed
solely by the rock’s linear
elastic response to the
overburden load.
When loaded, the block
would strain in the x and y
transverse directions
according to Hooke’s Law.

43
 In Situ Rock Stresses
x y z  x    y   z 
x    x 
E 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

44
 In Situ Rock Stresses
H H z
Thus H   
E E E
Constraining the block on all sides
prevents lateral strain.
H z
Setting H = 0, 1   
E E
Eliminating E and rearranging yields
the fundamental relationship

  
 H     z
 1   45
 In Situ Rock Stresses
The above stressed block is analgous
to a buried rock element if the material
assumptions remain valid.

Using the book’s nomenclature for

overburden stress and substituting
Terzaghi’s effective stress equation
leads to:
46
 In Situ Rock Stresses
   From Terzaghi ,
 H     z
 1    e    s pp

  
 H  p p   
  ob  p p  (with s = 1)
 1  
  
 H   
  ob  p p  p p 
 1  

The poroelasticity constant may be applied

to the pore pressure term if desired.
47
Fig. 3.13

Rock
properties
assumed
constant
with depth

48
 Fig. 3.14

ob is the max.

principal stress

Failure (fracture)
occurs
perpendicular to
the least
principal stress

49
 Fig. 3.15

H > ob can be created by

• Tectonic forces
• Post-depositional erosion
Fracture
• Glacial action or melting Pressure
of glacier

H might be locked in
while ob reduces

50
 Fig. 3.16

Effect of tectonic
movements on
stresses Lower ob

Is figure drawn
correctly? Or
should rock
sample come
from right side
fault?
51
Fig. 3.17 Effect of topography on ob

52
 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

53
Subnormal pressures have
little effect on overburden
stress …

… But, result in a
decrease in
fracture pressure

54
Stress concentrations around a borehole in a uniform stress field

Tension

Additional
compression

55