Effect mechanism of seepage force on the hydraulic fracture propagation

The flow of fluid through the porous matrix of a reservoir rock applies a seepage force to the solid rock matrix.Although the seepage force exerted by fluid flow through the porous matrix of a reservoir rock has a notable influence on rock deformation and failure,its effect on hydraulic fracture(HF)propagation remains ambiguous.Therefore,in this study,we improved a traditional fluid–solid coupling method by incorporating the role of seepage force during the fracturing fluid seepage,using the discrete element method.First,we validated the simulation results of the improved method by comparing them with an analytical solution of the seepage force and published experimental results.Next,we conducted numerical simulations in both homogeneous and heterogeneous sandstone formations to investigate the influence of seepage force on HF propagation.Our results indicate that fluid viscosity has a greater impact on the magnitude and extent of seepage force compared to injection rate,and that lower viscosity and injection rate correspond to shorter hydraulic fracture lengths.Furthermore,seepage force influences the direction of HF propagation,causing HFs to deflect towards the side of the reservoir with weaker cementation and higher permeability.

Wave-Induced Seepage Force Acting on Cylinder Groups

Wave-induced seepage force acting on cylinder groups is studied by using Biot consolidation theory in this paper. Both tandem arrangement and side by side arrangement are considered simultaneously. The variations of the coefficient of grouping effect with the distance between cylinders for different KD are discussed. In order to verify the numerical solution, several sets of experiments are conducted. The agreement between numerical and experimental solutions is satisfactory.

THE COMPUTATION OF SEEPAGE FORCE ON MARINE STRUCTURES WITH FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The wave-induced seepage force is investigated on marine structures resting on or buried in the seabed.The bed is modelled as a poroelastic medium containing a nearly saturated water.The governing equations are solved with Finite Element Method.For a pipeline buried in the seabed,agreement between the present numerical results and that of Cheng H.D.(1986)is quite satisfactory.

Irregular wave－induced seepage action on cylinders resting on rubble mound foundation

In this paper, the irregular wave-induced seepage action on cylinders resting on rubble mound foundatoin (RMF) is studied by means of finite element method (FEM). The hydraulic resistance inside RMF is assumed to satisfy the nonlinear Forchheimer's equation and the seepage in the scabed is also considered. Model tests show good agreementwith the numerical results. The influence of several main parameters is discussed on the basis of vast calculations. In addition, the ratio of seepage forces, induced by regular and irregular waves respectively, is analyzed and thus a computaional method is put forward for practical engineering application to simplify the calculation of irregular wave-induced seepage forces.

Elastoplastic Analysis of Circular Tunnel in Saturated Ground Under Different Load Conditions

When a tunnel is excavated below the groundwater table,groundwater flows in through the excavated wall of the tunnel and seepage forces act on it.These forces significantly affect the ground reaction curve,which is defined as the relationship between the internal pressure and radial displacement of the tunnel wall.This study investigates analytical solutions for seepage forces acting on the lining of a circular tunnel under steady-state groundwater flow.Considering the tunnel’s construction or service period and boundary conditions,the direction of maximum principal stress changes,and the input stress of the Mohr-Coulomb criterion varies.The stress distribution and yield range of the surrounding soils and linings are studied.The first,second,and third critical inner pressures are defined and evaluated.The influence of the seepage field on the plastic radius,first critical pressure,and stress distribution of the tunnel is analyzed.It is shown that during the construction period,the seepage force promotes the expansion of the yield area,whereas during the service period,the opposite is the case.The first critical pressure increases nearly linearly with the distant water pressure.The radial stress distribution decreases clearly in comparison with that when the seepage force is not considered,and the reduction is more prominent when internal pressure increases.The tangential stress distribution increases clearly compared with that when the seepage force is not considered.

Mechanism of Reservoir Water in the Deformation of Hefeng Landslide

The trial impoundment was carried on in Three Gorges Reservoir from September 27, 2008. There were strong deformation and failure in Hefeng （鹤峰） landslide when the reservoir water level descended from the altitude of 173 m. It indicates that the deformation is closely related to reservoir water fluctuation. For this reason, the effect of reservoir water in the deformation was studied, taking Hefeng landslide as an example in this article. First, the geological characteristics and deformation situation of strong deformation region are analyzed to disclose the intrinsic factors and the pattern of the deformation under the condition of water level fluctuation. Second, the stabilities of the landslide are calculated during the rising and descending processes, and the corresponding relationship between reservoir water level fluctuation and landslide deformation is further identified. At last, the seepage fields and the force condition of landslide body below the phreatie line are analyzed to reveal the effect of reservoir water. Moreover, it can be concluded that for better permeable reservoir landslide, during reservoir water rising, the favorable effect of seepage force weakens the unfavorable effect of uplift force, so the rising of reservoir water has little effect on the stability, and no deformation is caused; but during the descending of reservoir water, the unfavorable effect of seepage force is superimposed on the unfavorable effect of the uplift force, which causes the stability to dramatically decrease and leads to the failure of the accumulation body in front of the landslide.