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Axisymmetric displacement flows in fluid-driven fractures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Sri Savya Tanikella  and
Emilie Dressaire Open the ORCID record for Emilie Dressaire [Opens in a new window]
Sri Savya Tanikella
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Emilie Dressaire*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Displacement flows are common in hydraulic fracturing, as fracking fluids of different composition are injected sequentially in the fracture. The injection of an immiscible fluid at the centre of a liquid-filled fracture results in the growth of the fracture and the outward displacement of the interface between the two liquids. We study the dynamics of the fluid-driven fracture, which is controlled by the competition between viscous, elastic and toughness-related stresses. We use a model experiment to characterize the dynamics of the fracture for a range of mechanical properties of the fractured material and fracturing fluids. We form the liquid-filled pre-fracture in an elastic brittle matrix of gelatin. The displacing liquid is then injected. We record the radius and aperture of the fracture, and the position of the interface between the two liquids. In a typical experiment, the axisymmetric radial viscous flow is accommodated by the elastic deformation and fracturing of the matrix. We model the coupling between elastic deformation, viscous dissipation and fracture propagation, and recover the two fracturing regimes identified for single-fluid injection. For the viscous-dominated and toughness-dominated regimes, we derive scaling equations that describe the crack growth due to a displacement flow and show the influence of the pre-existing fracture on the crack dynamics through a finite initial volume and an average viscosity of the fluids in the fracture.

JFM classification

Aerodynamics: Flow-structure interactions Multiphase and Particle-laden Flows: Multiphase flow
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 953 , 25 December 2022 , A36
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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Tanikella and Dressire supplementary movie 1

Time evolution of the pre-fracture formed in experiment 1. The red-dyed oil propagates radially and forms an axisymmetric fracture. The movie is accelerated 50 times.

Download Tanikella and Dressire supplementary movie 1(Video)
Video 11.5 MB

Tanikella and Dressire supplementary movie 2

Time evolution of the fracture formed in experiment 1. The black-dyed water is injected at the center of the pre-fracture. Both the fracture tip and the interface between the two fluids exhibit an axisymmetric propagation. The movie is accelerated 50 times.

Download Tanikella and Dressire supplementary movie 2(Video)
Video 38.4 MB