TAMU - Pemex: Well Control

TAMU - Pemex
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
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.
4
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.
5
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
6
Fracture Gradients
 May be predicted from:
 Pore pressure (vs. depth)
 Effective stress
 Overburden stress
 Formation strength
7
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!!!
8
Elastic Properties of Rock
9
10
 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
11
 Hooke’s Law:  Young’s Modulus:

 = E  E = /e = (F/A)/(L/L)
E = (F*L)/(A*L) 12
Hooke’s Law
Elastic Limit
Failure
Permanent strain or
plastic deformation
13
Typical Elastic Properties of
Rock
14
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
15
Volumetric Strain
Vf  Vi
V 
Vi
16
Bulk Modulus and
Compressibility values in rock
17
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+)]
18
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

19
Bulk Compressibility (cb)
 cb is the reciprocal of the bulk modulus
 cb = 1/Kb
= 3*(1-2)/E
= v / [(x+ y+z)/3]
20
Metals and Rocks
 Metallic alloys usually have well-

defined and well-behaved predictable
elastic constants.
21
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
22
Metals and Rocks
 Even so, similar stress-strain behavior

is observed.
 Triaxial tests include confining stress
23
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
24
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
25
Transverse Strains for SS in Fig. 3.5
Young’s Modulus
& Poisson’s Ratio
are stress
dependent.
26
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)
27
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
28
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
29
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.
30
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
31
Fracturing is a static or quasistatic process so elastic
properties based on sonic measurements may not be valid. 32
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 Along an arbitrary plane ,
analysis a shear stress will exist.
33
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
34
 f  c   f tan 
c = cohesion
 = angle of
internal friction
35
36
1   3
 max 
2
37
38
Note that the failure plane approaches 45o
with increasing confining stress
39
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
40
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.
41
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.
42
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
43
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   44
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:
45
   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.
46
Fig. 3.13
Rock
properties
assumed
constant
with depth
47
Fig. 3.14
ob is the max.

principal stress
Failure (fracture)
occurs
perpendicular to
the least
principal stress
48
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
49
Fig. 3.16
Effect of tectonic
movements on
stresses Lower ob
Is figure drawn
correctly? Or
should rock
sample come
from right side
fault?
50
Fig. 3.17 Effect of topography on ob
51
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
52
Subnormal pressures have
little effect on overburden
stress …
… But, result in a
decrease in
fracture pressure
53
Stress concentrations around a borehole in a uniform stress field
Tension
Additional
compression
54

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TAMU - Pemex

 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criteria

 Wellbore collapse considerations

 This sets the minimum “safe” mud

 Chapter 3 deals with fracture gradient

 The axial and transverse strains are:

 Hooke’s Law:  Young’s Modulus:

= transverse strain/axial strain

 Over the elastic range, for “most

 Over the plastic range,  increases, and

 G is the ratio of shear stress

 G is intrinsically related to Young’s

 Kb can be expressed in terms of Young’s

 Kb = average normal stress/ volumetric

Kb = E/[3*(1-2) = [(x+ y+z)/3]/v

 cb is the reciprocal of the bulk modulus

 Metallic alloys usually have well-

 Even so, similar stress-strain behavior

 Triaxial tests include confining stress

From A-B, linear elastic

From 0-A, microcracks and

From Fig 3.5, the given stress

Rocks tend to be anisotropic, so stress-

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

E  4.34 * 106 psi

2 normal to the page is the 3 = minimum principal stress

must be high enough to overcome stress

must exceed the minimum in situ rock

If the material is isotropic,

Using the book’s nomenclature for

The poroelasticity constant may be applied

ob is the max.

H > ob can be created by

Under abnormal pore

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