Hydraulic fracturing is the key measure for improving recovery of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Prediction of fracture morphology and productivity after fracturing is critical for fracturing design and optimization. The hydraulic fracturing process is to open porous rocks by artificially injecting highly compressed fluid, and the hydraulic fracture will be closed under the compaction of in-situ stress during the production process. In this regard, hydraulic fracturing and production processes are both fluid-solid coupling processes involving fractures and porous rocks.
This Research Topic aims to gather the latest studies addressing how to improve the prediction accuracy of hydraulic fracturing morphology and post-fracturing productivity through experimental and numerical investigation. The experimental research shall underline hydraulic fracturing and fracture conductivity experiments and associated experimental methods, while the numerical research shall pay particular attention to discrete fracture network models, including the calculation efficiency and accuracy as well as the applicability.
Main themes include, but are not limited to:
• Experimental investigation on fracture propagation
• Experimental investigation on fracture conductivity
• Experimental investigation on rock mechanics
• Discrete fracture network models
• Numerical simulation on hydraulic fracture propagation with high efficiency and accuracy
Hydraulic fracturing is the key measure for improving recovery of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Prediction of fracture morphology and productivity after fracturing is critical for fracturing design and optimization. The hydraulic fracturing process is to open porous rocks by artificially injecting highly compressed fluid, and the hydraulic fracture will be closed under the compaction of in-situ stress during the production process. In this regard, hydraulic fracturing and production processes are both fluid-solid coupling processes involving fractures and porous rocks.
This Research Topic aims to gather the latest studies addressing how to improve the prediction accuracy of hydraulic fracturing morphology and post-fracturing productivity through experimental and numerical investigation. The experimental research shall underline hydraulic fracturing and fracture conductivity experiments and associated experimental methods, while the numerical research shall pay particular attention to discrete fracture network models, including the calculation efficiency and accuracy as well as the applicability.
Main themes include, but are not limited to:
• Experimental investigation on fracture propagation
• Experimental investigation on fracture conductivity
• Experimental investigation on rock mechanics
• Discrete fracture network models
• Numerical simulation on hydraulic fracture propagation with high efficiency and accuracy