Quantification of fracture interaction using stress intensity factor variation maps
File(s)TPZ 2017 JGR Submission 3.pdf (4.66 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Thomas, RN
Paluszny, A
Zimmerman, RW
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Accurate and flexible models of fracture interaction are sought after in the fields of mechanics and geology. Stress intensity factors (SIFs) quantify the energy concentrated at the fracture tips and are perturbed from their isolated values when two fractures are close to one another. Using a three-dimensional finite element fracture mechanics code to simulate static fractures in tension and compression, interaction effects are examined. SIF perturbations are characterized by introducing three interaction measures: the circumferential and maximum SIF perturbation provide the “magnitude” of the effect of interaction, and the amplification to shielding ratio quantifies the balance between increased and decreased SIFs along the tip. These measures are used to demonstrate the change in interaction with fracture separation and to find the separation at which interaction becomes negligible. Interaction maps are constructed by plotting the values of the interaction measures for a static fracture as a second fracture is moved around it. These maps are presented for several common fracture orientations in tension. They explore interaction by highlighting regions in which growth is more likely to occur and where fractures will grow into nonplanar geometries. Interaction maps can be applied to fracture networks with multiple discontinuities to analyze the effect of geometric variations on fracture interaction.
Date Issued
2017-10-21
Date Acceptance
2017-09-23
Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, 2017, 122 (10), pp.7698-7717
ISSN
2169-9356
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Start Page
7698
End Page
7717
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth
Volume
122
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
©2017. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Grant Number
309067
NE/L000660/1
Publication Status
Published