RESERVOIR COMPACTION, STRAIN LOCALIZATION AND HYDROMECHANICAL COUPLING

摘要

In the constitutive modeling and numerical simulation of mechanical compaction in reservoir mechanics, it is often assumed that the deformation is delocalized so that the possibility of strain localization is ignored. However, recent field and laboratory observations in porous sandstones have documented the pervasive occurrence of compaction localization, and in particular compaction bands have been observed to develop as tabular zones subperpendicular to the maximum compression direction. As a failure mode compaction bands have proved to be very effective in reducing the permeability by orders of magnitude over relativelysmall amount of strain. In this paper we summarize recent advances in our understanding of several questions related to compaction and hydromechanical coupling, specifically (1) constitutive modeling of mechanical compaction and bifurcation analysis of strain localization; (2) influence of compaction and strain localization on permeability; and (3) CT-imaging of compaction band and the micromechanics of compaction localization.