Simulating subterranean fracture propagation

摘要

Systems, methods, and instructions encoded in a computer-readable medium can perform operations related to simulating subterranean fracture propagation. A subterranean formation model representing rock blocks of a subterranean formation is received. The subterranean formation model is used to predict a response of each rock block to one or more forces acting on the rock block during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation. The predicted responses of the rock blocks may include, for example, a fracture, a rotation, a displacement, a dilation of an existing fracture, and/or another type of response. In some implementations, an injection treatment may be designed for a subterranean formation based on the predicted response of the rock blocks.

主权项

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, perform operations comprising:
receiving a subterranean formation model comprising:
a mesh that represents multiple separate rock blocks of a subterranean formation; anda contact model that models interactions among the separate rock blocks; and using the mesh and the contact model of the subterranean formation model to predict for each of the separate rock blocks a response of the rock block to one or more forces acting on the rock block during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation, the forces comprising:
normal contact forces and shear contact forces arising from physical contact between rock blocks; andfluid forces arising from fluid pressure acting on the rock blocks during fluid injection.