Abstract
The influence of hydrostatic and uniaxial stress states on the porosity and permeability of sandstones has been investigated. The experimental procedure uses a special triaxial cell which allows permeability measurements in the axial and radial directions. The core sleeve is equipped with two pressure samplers placed distant from the ends. They provide mid-length axial permeability measure as opposed to the overall permeability measure, which is based on the flow imposed through the pistons of the triaxial cell. The core sleeve is also equipped to perform flows in two directions transverse to the axis of the sample. Two independent measures of axial and complementary radial permeability are thus obtained. Both Fontainebleau sandstone specimens with a porosity of about 5.8% to 8% and low permeability ranging from 2.5mD to 30 mD and Bentheimer sandstone with a porosity of 24% and a high permeability of 3D have been tested. The initial and permeability values obtained by each method are in good agreement for the Fontainebleau sandstone. The Bentheimer sandstone samples present an axial mid-length permeability 1.6 times higher than the overall permeability. A similar discrepancy is also observed in the radial direction, also it relates essentially to the shape of flow lines induced by the radial flow. All the tested samples have shown a higher stress dependency of overall and radial permeability than mid-length permeability. The effect of compaction damage at the pistons/sample and radial ports/sample interfaces is discussed. The relevance of directional permeability measurements during continuous uniaxial compression loadins has been shown on the Bentheirmer sandstone until, the failure of the sample. We can efficiently measure the influence of brittle failure associated to dilatant regime on the permeability: It tends to increase in the failure propagation direction and to decrease strongly in the transverse direction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Al-Harty, S.S., Jing, X.D., Marsden, J.R., and Dennis, J.W. (1999), Petrophysical properties of sandstones under true triaxial stresses I: Directional transport characteristics and pore volume change, SPE 57287.
Bai, M., Meng, F., Roegiers, J.C., and Green, S. (2002), Improved determination of stress-dependent permeability for anisotropic formations, SPE 78188.
Benson, P.M., Meredith, P.G., Platzman, E.S., and White, R.E. (2005), Pore fabric shape anisotropy in porous sandstones and its relation to elastic wave-velocity and permeability anisotropy under hydrostatic pressure, Int. J. Rock. Mech. 42, 890–899.
Bourbie, T. and Zinszner, B. (1985), Hydraykuc abd acoustic properties as a function of porosity in Fontainebleau sandstone, J. Geophys. Res. 90, 11524–11532.
Bruno, M.S. (1994), Micromechanics of stress-induced permeability anisotropy and damage in sedimentary rock, Mech. of Mat. 18, 31–48.
Clavaud, J.-B., Maineult, A., Zamora, M., Rasolofosoan, P., and Schlitter, C. (2008), Permeability anisotropy and its relations with porous medium structure. J. Geophys. Res. 113, B01202.
Colins, R.E., Flow of Fluids through Porous Materials (Reinhold Publishing Co., New York, 1961).
Dautriat, J., Gland, N., Youssef S., Rosenberg, E., Bekri, S., and Vizika, O. (2009), Stress-dependent directional permeabilities of two analog reservoir rocks: A prospective study on contribution of μ-tomography and pore network models, SPE Res. Eval. Eng. (in press).
David, C., Wong, T.F., Zhu, W., and Zhang, J. (1994), Laboratorsy measurements of compaction-induced permeability change in porous rock: Implications for the generation and mainternance of pore pressure excess in the crust, Pure Appl. Geophys. 143, 425–456.
Forin, J., Schubnel, A., and Gueguen, Y. (2005), Elastic wave velocities and permeability evolution during compaction of Bleurswiller sandstone, Int. J. Rock Mech. and Min. Sci. 42, 873–889.
Fourie, A.B. and Xiaobi, D. (1991). Advantages of midheight measurements in undrained triaxial testing, ASTM Geotech. Test. J. 14, 138–145.
Grisoni, J.C. and Thiry, M. (1988), Répartition des grès dans les sables de Fontainebleau: implications géotechniques des études récentes, Bull. Liaison Labo P. et Ch. 157, Réf. 3333.
Heiland, J. and Raab, S. (2000), Experimental investigation of the influence of differential stress on permeability of a Lower Permian (Rotliegend) sandstone deformed in the brittle deformation field, Phys. Chem. Earth (A) 26, 33–38.
Heiland, J. (2003), Laboratory testing of coupled hydro-mechanical processes during rock deformation, Hydrogeol. J. 11, 122–141.
Holt, R.M. (1990), Permeability reduction induced by a non-hydrostatic stress field, SPE Form. Eval. 5, 444–448.
Klein, E. and Reutschlé, T. (2003), A model for the mechanical behaviour of Bentheim sandstone in the brittle regime, Pure Appl. Geopphys. 160, 833–849.
Korsnes, R.I., Risnes, R., Faldaas, I., and Norland, T. (2006), End effects on stress dependent permeability measurements, Tectonophys. 426, 239–251.
Lee, K.L. (1978), End restraint effects on undrained static triaxial strength of sand, J. Geotech. Eng. Div. 104, 687–704.
Louis, L., David, C., and Robion, P. (2003), Comparison of the anisotropic behaviour of undeformed sandstones under dry ad saturated conditions, Tectonophys. 370, 193–212.
Morita, N., Gray, K., Srouji, F.A.A., and Jogi, P.N., (1984), Rock property changes during reservoir compaction, SPE 13099.
Morrow, C.A., Bo-Chong, Z., and Byerlee, J.D. (1984), Effective pressure law for permeability of Westerley Granite under cycle loading, J. Geophys. Res. 91, 3870–3876.
Rheit, D.W. and Teufel, L.W., Stress path dependence of matrix permeability of North Sea sandstone reservoir rock. In Rock Mechanics (ed. Tillerson and Wawersik ) Balkema, Rotterdam 1992a) pp. 345–353.
Rhett, D.W. and Teufel, L.W. (1992b), Effect of reservoir stress path on compressibility and permeability of sandstones, SPE 24756.
Schutjens, P.M.T.M. and De Ruig, H. (1997), The influence of stress path on compressibility and permeability of an overpressured reservoir sandstone: Some experimental data, Phys. Chem. Earth., 22, 97–103.
Sheng, D., Westerberg, B., Mattsson, H., and Axelsson, K. (1997), Effects of end restraint and strain rate in triaxial tests, Comp. and Geotech. 21, 163–182.
Sulem, J. and Ouferoukh, H. (2006a), Shear banding in drained and undrained triaxial tests on a saturated sandstone: Porosity and permeability evolution, Int. J. Rock Mech. and Min. Sci. 43, 292–310.
Sulem, J. and Ouferoukh, H. (2006b), Hydromechanical behaviour of Fontainebleau sandstone Rock Mech. and Rock Eng. 39, 185–213.
Trautwein, U. and Huenges, E. (2005), Poroelastic behaviour of physical properties in Rotliegend sandstones under uniaxial strain, Int. J. Rock Mech. and Min. Sci. 42, 924–932.
Vadova, V., Baud, P., and Wong, T.-F. (2004), Permeability evolution during localized deformation in Bentheim sandstone, J. Geophys. Res. 109, B10406.
Walsh, J.B. and Brace, W.F. (1984), The effect of pressure on porosity and the transport properties of rock, J. Geoph. Res. 89, 9425–9431.
Wong, T.-F., David, C., and Zhu, W. (1997), The transition from brittle faulting to cataclastic flow in porous sandstones: Mechanical deformation, J. Geophys. Res. 102, 3009–3026.
Zhang, J., Wong, T.-F., and Davis, D.M. (1990a), Micromechanics of pressure-induced grain crushing in porous rocks, J. Geoph. Res. 95, 341–352.
Zhu, W. and Wong, T.-F. (1997), The transition from brittle faulting to cataclastic flow: Permeability evolution, J. Geophys. Res. 102, 3027–41.
Zoback, M.D. and Byerlee, J.D. (1975), Permeability and effective stress, Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 59, 154–158.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dautriat, J., Gland, N., Guelard, J., Dimanov, A., Raphanel, J.L. (2009). Axial and Radial Permeability Evolutions of Compressed Sandstones: End Effects and Shear-band Induced Permeability Anisotropy. In: Vinciguerra, S., Bernabé, Y. (eds) Rock Physics and Natural Hazards . Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0122-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0122-1_14
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-0346-0121-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-0346-0122-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)