Influence of Perforation on Formation Fracturing Pressure

Hydraulic fracturing treatments of oil wells are greatly affected by the perforation parameters selected. The three-dimensional finite element model together with the tensile criterion of rock materials is employed to systematically investigate the influence of perforation parameters, such as perforation density, perforation orientation, perforation diameter, and perforation length as well as wellbore ellipticity, in vertical wells on the formation fracturing pressure. Based on a six-month simulation research in the University of Petroleum, China, several conclusions are drawn for the first time. Perforation density and perforation orientation angle are the most important parameters controlling the formation fracturing pressure. As the perforation density increases, the fracturing pressure decreases, not linearly but progressively. The fracturing pressure increases with the perforation orientation angle only when the angle is less than 45 degrees, and the relationship becomes very flat when the angle is 45 degrees. However, with regards to the perforation diameter and perforation length, their influences are much slighter. The wellbore ellipticity has a significant effect on the formation fracturing pressure. It is obvious that fracturing pressure increases linearly with the ellipticity of the wellbore.

Assessment of the Design Displacement Values at Seismic Fault Crossings and of Their Excess Probability

Line structures such as pipelines that cross active faults should be designed to retain leak-tightness if the design displacement (Ddesign) occurs. Principal approaches to the Ddesign and rupture kinematics assessment are described. They are based on relationships between earthquake magnitude, rupture length and displacement, and on the detailed field data on a specific fault that crosses the pipeline route. Since the future offset at the crossing may exceed the design value, the probability of a displacement occurrence where the safety of the structure can not be ensured should be estimated. Assessment method on such event probability is described and exemplified through active fault studies carried out at several pipeline projects in Russia.

Quantifying growth and breakage of agglomerates in fluid-particle flow using discrete particle method

The cohesive solids in liquid flows are featured by the dynamic growth and breakage of agglomerates, and the difficulties in the development, design and optimization of these systems are related to this significant feature.In this paper, discrete particle method is used to simulate a solid–liquid flow system including millions of cohesive particles, the growth rate and breakage rate of agglomerates are then systematically investigated. It was found that the most probable size of the agglomerates is determined by the balance of growth and breakage of the agglomerates the cross point of the lines of growth rate and breakage rate as a function of the particle numbers in an agglomerate, marks the most stable agglomerate size. The finding here provides a feasible way to quantify the dynamic behaviors of growth and breakage of agglomerates, and therefore offers the possibility of quantifying the effects of agglomerates on the hydrodynamics of fluid flows with cohesive particles.

Experimental research on breakup of 2D power law liquid film

On account of limited knowledge of the breakup of power law liquid film, the process of its disintegration and atomization was studied by using a planar liquid film. A linear stability analysis was adopted to predict the breakup characteristics of the power law film. The predicting formulas of stripping breakup length and diameter of ligament were put forward presently. Through high-speed photography and laser light sheet illumination,different breakup characteristics of flat power law film under different conditions were derived. The characteristic dimension of breakup regimes were defined and extracted. The effects of several parameters(injection pressure,ambient pressure, nozzle structure and fluid property) on the stripping breakup length and spray angle were investigated. The results revealed that increasing both the velocity of liquid film and the ambient pressure facilitated the breakup of film, reduced the stripping breakup length and enlarged the spray angle in different extents. The comparison between theoretical and experimental results was conducted to validate the feasibility of the linear stability theory.

Directivity Effect on PGV Attenuation Relationships in Silakhor Earthquake （2006, Mw6.1）

Rupture directivity effect causes spatial variation in strong ground motion parameters. It causes difference between the strike- normal （V.） and strike-parallel （Vp） components of horizontal ground motion amplitudes. These variations become significant for strong ground motion velocity and the authors have developed a modification to define directivity effect factor to account for the effect of rupture directivity in empirical velocity attenuation relations which are based on modeling Silakhor earthquake, using finite element method by ANSYS. The ground motion parameters that are modified include ratio of Vn/Vp component of horizontal velocity and Vn component to average horizontal velocity （V）. The ratio of Vn to Vp is large in both the forward directivity direction, where velocity is larger, and in the backward directivity direction, where velocity is smaller. Therefore the authors expected that the Vn/Vp was mainly controlled by directivity angle. Also the variation of fault normal velocity to average horizontal velocity ratio by directivity angle （0） is defined from earthquake modeling. It shows Vn/V is controlled by directivity angle, distance between the site, epicenter and rupture length. This ratio has the same trend in Silakhor earthquake strong ground velocity data. In this paper the equation for Vn/Vp variations by directivity angle is recommended. The authors used Somervill et al. （1997） directivity model parameters as （R/L） cos2 ~ to define directivity effect on Vn/V ratio and therefore directivity factor is determined to account in near field empirical strong ground velocity attenuation relationships.

甘孜-玉树断裂的平均滑动速率与近代大地震破裂

野外调查获得甘孜-玉树断裂晚第四纪活动及近代地震破裂的新证据,由7个地点的断错地貌及其相关沉积物年龄确定出近5万年来断裂的平均左旋滑动速率(122)mm/a,该结果与鲜水河断裂的平均左旋滑动速率估值很接近,反映了沿川滇～羌塘活动地块的北～东北边界的晚第四纪水平运动总体上是协调的,沿断裂的3个段落均发现近代大地震地表破裂的遗迹,其中,北西段1896年破裂至少长70km,相应地震的矩震级为7.3;中段的最新破裂长约180km,是一次矩震级约为7.7、未知年代的大地震形成的;东南段未知年代的最新破裂长约65km,最大同震左旋位移5.3m,估计相应地震的矩震级约为7.3,已根据调查资料推断了后两次大地震可能分别发生在1854年和1866年,这些证明该断裂的不同段落均具有发生大地震的能力。

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF FENESTRATED DISCECTOMY FOR LUMBAR DISC

Objective To evaluate the long-term outcomes of fenestrated discectomy for lumbar disc herniation and analyze the correlative influence factors. Methods Eighty-two cases of lumbar disc herniation, from February 1996 to May 1999, were retrospectively studied. All patients were treated with simple fenestrated discectomy. The average follow-up time was 8 years and 7 months （from 7 years tolO years and 3months）. There were 13, 38 and 31 cases at 13 - L4, L4 - L5 and L5 - S1 level, respectively. Results The average scales before operation were as following ： Japanes Orthopaedics Association （ JOA ） scale 6. 5 （ 5 - 9 ） , visual analysis scale （ VAS） of low back pain4.8 （0-8）. and VAS of sciatica 7.2 （4-10）. At the final follow-up, the above parameters were 13.2 （ 10 - 14 ）, 1.8 （0 - 10） and 1.2 （0 - 7）, respectively. The average increase ratio of JOA scale was 78. 8%. The average disc-vertebra height ratio （ Mochida method） was 80.2%. At the final follow-up, 7 cases reoccurred disc herniation. The final clinical satisfaction rate was 80% （ modified Macnab method ）. Conclusion With appropriate surgical indications, the successfid long-term outcomes could be expected with fenestrated discectomy. Discectomy improves sciatica to a greater extent than low back pain. The occurrence of low back pain is related to intervertebral disc height, segment stability, disc degeneration, and lumbar muscle disability.

Study on the Cylindrical Liquid Nanojet Break-up Phenomenon

In this paper the liquid argon nanojet break-up phenomenon was studied using the molecular dynamics method. The effects of temperature, nozzle diameter and body force on the nanojet break-up length and time were simu- lated. Meanwhile, the particle size, wave length and the frequency of the disturbance were compared with the re- suits of linear stability analysis. The results showed that even though the fluid becomes discontinuous, the tradi- tional linear stability analysis can be used to make a rough calculation of the nanojet break-up.