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Hydraulic fracture closure in a pressure-sensitive elastoplastic medium

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Abstract

This paper examines fracture closure in a Mohr-Coulomb pressure-sensitive dilatant material. The analysis is based on fracture propagation and closure of a plane strain geometry using a fully coupled elastoplastic hydraulic fracturing model. It is shown that the closure pattern of a fracture which has first been propagated is completely different from the closure pattern of a pressurized stationary fracture. A pressurized stationary elastoplastic fracture closes uniformly but remains open after the applied load is released. An elastoplastic fracture which has first been propagated, makes surface contact initially near the fracture tip and subsequently towards the mouth of the fracture. Applications of fracture closure pattern can be found in different aspects of hydraulic fracturing such as in the insitu parameters determination from the inversion of the pressure vs time record and in the closure stress on propped fractures.

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  1. Schlumberger Cambridge Research, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0EL, England

    Panos Papanastasiou

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  1. Panos Papanastasiou
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Papanastasiou, P. Hydraulic fracture closure in a pressure-sensitive elastoplastic medium. International Journal of Fracture 103, 149–161 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007634723191

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007634723191

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