Hydro-mechanical modeling of hydraulic injection inside a fault zone

摘要

Fluid propagation inside a fracture crossing another one is investigated. A fully hydro-mechanical coupled numerical model has been used to simulate different three-dimensional configurations. These configurations provide insight on how the crossed fracture is mechanically or hydraulically activated depending on well-defined parameters. It has been shown that the natural fracture can be either activated hydraulically without any shear displacement or mechanically activated while not loaded hydraulically. These configurations are controlled at a first order level by the combination of the in-situ differential stress state and the crossed fracture orientation.