Effects of Reservoir Rock/Barrier and Interfacial Properties on Hydraulic Fracture Height Containment

In order to estimate effects of reservoir rock/barrier and interfacial properties on hydraulic fracture height control,studies were done to analyze and compare the effects of rock elastic modulus,in situ stress,and tensile strength on fracture height containment ability by Cohesive element based on the ABAQUS computing platform.Through numerical simulation,it was deduced that a barrier with high elastic modulus was not impeded when the fracture grows through the bonding interface,but was had an impact on the fracture height in the barrier.A barrier with minimum in situ stress and high tensile strength could significantly hinder the fracture height.The fracture height increased quickly when the interfacial shear strength of reservoir rock/barrier was beyond a critical value,and the fracture height was confined fully by the reservoir when the interfacial shear strength was lower than the critical value.Under proper conditions,the fracture propagated vertically in the reservoir and horizontally the interface,and thus develop into a T-shaped fracture.The research results showed that barrier with a high elastic modulus adversely affected fracture height containment.A barrier with minimum in situ stress and high tensile strength could strongly inhibit the fracture height propagation.The impact of in situ stress was about 1.6 times of tensile strength.The lower the shear strength of the interface,the easier for the reservoir rock/barrier to slip,which helped to contain the fracture height.