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Influence of stress-induced microcracks on viscoplastic creep deformation in Marcellus shale

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Abstract

Time is one of the often-neglected factors in the assessment of the erratic failure of shale rock. Laboratory-creep experiments showed that constant stress induces time-dependent failure in brittle shale. However, the microscopic reason for time-dependent deformation in shale is still unknown. In the current study, triaxial creep and recovery experiments showed that the brittle shale specimens exhibit viscoelastic and viscoplastic creep deformation at constant stress state. In addition, the X-ray computed tomography scan of Marcellus shale showed that the shale specimens contained significant volume of preexisting microcracks. The statistical correlation among permanent strain during the triaxial experiment and stress-induced change in the three-dimensional geometry of microcracks showed that the microcracking is the microscopic reason for viscoplastic creep deformation in shale. In addition to the time and level of constant differential stress, factors such as orientation of bedding planes and specimen heterogeneity also influence the nature of creep deformation.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this work was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (No. 200-2016-92214). The authors would also like to thank Dustin Crandall, Sarah Brown, Johnathan E. Moore, and Bryan Tennant at National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, WV for X-ray CT Scan of shale specimen. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Karen Martin and Sarah McLaughlin from Animal Models and Imaging Facility (AMIF) of West Virginia University (WVU) to provide the access to Bruker CTAn software.

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  1. Department of Mining Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA

    Neel Gupta & Brijes Mishra

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  1. Neel Gupta
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Gupta, N., Mishra, B. Influence of stress-induced microcracks on viscoplastic creep deformation in Marcellus shale. Acta Geotech. 16, 1575–1595 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-01108-2

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