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Geomechanics Basic

Rock failure and wellbore failure can occur through different mechanisms depending on the in-situ stresses and pore pressure. Tensile failure can occur when hoop stresses exceed the tensile strength of rock. Shear failure can occur between hoop and radial stresses or between axial and radial stresses. Prediction of failure requires modeling mud weight windows to avoid tensile fracture or differential sticking while also avoiding shear failure. Example calculations are shown for determining mud weights to avoid breakouts in vertical and horizontal wells based on known stress profiles, pore pressure, and rock strength. Understanding rock properties, stresses, and failure mechanisms is key for wellbore stability analysis and design.

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Carolina Papaleo
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43 views16 pages

Geomechanics Basic

Rock failure and wellbore failure can occur through different mechanisms depending on the in-situ stresses and pore pressure. Tensile failure can occur when hoop stresses exceed the tensile strength of rock. Shear failure can occur between hoop and radial stresses or between axial and radial stresses. Prediction of failure requires modeling mud weight windows to avoid tensile fracture or differential sticking while also avoiding shear failure. Example calculations are shown for determining mud weights to avoid breakouts in vertical and horizontal wells based on known stress profiles, pore pressure, and rock strength. Understanding rock properties, stresses, and failure mechanisms is key for wellbore stability analysis and design.

Uploaded by

Carolina Papaleo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Rock failure and wellbore failure

1 Initials

Which well would you prefer?


http://www.cambridge.scr.slb.com/~cook/rmmd/start.htm
State of stress underground
 key input for wellbore stability modelling
 three mutually-perpendicular principal stresses
 one is usually vertical, so others are horizontal: sv, sH, sh
 the vertical stress is often but not always the maximum.
 variety of ways to estimate stresses
s2
 stress maps available for some areas

s1

s3
2 Initials
Simple illustration

3 Initials
Failure modes I
 tensile failure - when hoop stress becomes tensile and exceeds
the (rather low) tensile strength of the rock (generally < 10% of
unconfined compressive strength). Tensile hoop stresses are
generated by:
– high wellbore pressure (e.g., leak-off test, excessive mud
weight, hydraulic fracturing)
– big difference between principal stresses normal to
wellbore axis

Pw

4 Initials
3s´B- s´A - (Pw-
P p)
Failure modes II
 shear failure between hoop stress and radial stress,
favoured by
– low wellbore pressure
– big difference in stresses
– low rock strength Pw- Pp

3s´A- s´B - (Pw- Pp)

5 Initials
Failure modes III

 shear failure between axial stress and


radial stress
– low wellbore pressure
– high axial stress

Pw - Pp s 3 - Pp
6 Initials
Prediction of failure: I

 Model for wellbore stability needs to predict mud


weight window:
– not so high that it initiates tensile fracture or
differential sticking
– not so low that it initiates shear failure of one kind or
another
 ......for arbitrary well trajectory, stress state and rock
behaviour
Mud weights for breakouts/fracs
(non-deviated well)
P w- P p s´A
s´B
Pw
3s´A- s´B - (Pw- Pp)
3s´B- s´A - (Pw-
P p)
Stresses

Failure criteria

s1 - N.s3 = F or s3 = 0 s1 = maximum compressive stress


s2 = intermediate compressive stress
s3 = minimum compressive stress

Minimum wellbore pressure for avoiding breakout


Maximum wellbore pressure for avoiding fracture
Example
Wellbore at 10,000 ft
 Vertical stress gradient 1 psi/ft
 Max. horizontal stress gradient 0.8 psi/ft
 Min. horizontal stress gradient 0.7 psi/ft
 Pore pressure 0.5 psi/ft
 Rock strength 5000 psi
 Friction angle 30 degrees (N=3)

What mud pressure do we need to avoid breakouts for a vertical well, and for horizontal
wells parallel to min. and max. horizontal stresses? What else might happen?
Warning: this exercise evolves from nice’n’easy, to not nice’n’not easy!
9 Initials
The influence of well inclination

For the previous example,


with well running from
vertical to horizontal,
parallel to the maximum
horizontal stress.

10 Initials
Deformation mechanisms
Input data
Review reports
Daily drilling reports
Engineering studies
Tectonics/Structural Geology
Geophysical logs
Caliper logs
Porosity
Lithology
Sonic
Borehole Images
UBI/FMI
Rock Samples
Cores
Cavings
Rock characterisation
Mechanical Properties

Dynamic elastic properties from DTCO, DTSM, RHOB,


(not always in overburden - use database)
Data used for strength modelling

Strength also from lithology relationship


Rock texture: grain support or clay support

Core - strength and static elastic properties.


(in reservoir but almost never in overburden)
Rock characterisation
Dynamic to static conversion of elastic properties

Rules of Thumb for Young’s modulus

Weak Sandstone: Dynamic = 7-10 * Static


Strong Sandstone: Dynamic = 2-3 * Static
North Sea correlation

YME.stat = 0.032 * YME.dyn ** 1.623

Built from core measurements of Young’s modulus at 1Mpa


confinement verses same sonic logged interval
G
e
o
m
e
c
á
n
i
c
a
Propiedades mecánicas
 Introducción

 00 =  11   22   33
u u u
 11 = 1 ;  33 = 3  13 = 3
x1 x3 x1 S 00 =
1
S11  S 22  S33 
S11 3
E= Módulo de Young 1S 
 11 G =  13  K=
S 00

2   13   00
Módulo volumétrico
 = - 33 Relación de Poisson
 11 Módulo de corte

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