Effect of Principal Stress Magnitudes on Hydrofracturing Orientation

摘要

The emphasis during the reported period of the project was on the effect of borehole fluid viscosity on hydrofracturing results. To carry out these tests we used different hydraulic oils of known viscosities under a preset state of stress. Two conditions were investigated: one in which the largest horizontal compressive stress (sigma/sub H/) was only slightly larger than the least horizontal stress (sigma/sub h/), and both were considerably smaller than the vertical stress (sigma/sub V/), and another in which sigma/sub V/ was substantially less than either sigma/sub H/ or sigma/sub h/. (ERA citation 05:024791)