Compaction, dilatancy, and failure in porous carbonate rocks

[1] The analysis of dilatant and compactant failure in many sedimentary and geotechnical settings hinges upon a fundamental understanding of inelastic behavior and failure mode of porous carbonate rocks. In this study we acquire new mechanical data on the Indiana and Tavel limestones, which show that the phenomenology of dilatant and compactant failure in these carbonate rocks is similar to that of the more compact Solnhofen limestone as well as sandstones. Compressibility and porosity are positively correlated. Brittle strength decreases with increasing porosity and the critical stresses for the onset of pore collapse under hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic loadings also decrease with increasing porosity. Previously, two micromechanical models were used to interpret mechanical behavior of Solnhofen limestone: viewing cataclasis and crystal plasticity as two end-members of inelastic deformation mechanisms, the wing crack and plastic pore collapse models were applied to brittle and ductile failure, respectively. Synthesizing published data for carbonate rocks with porosities between 3% and 45%, we investigate to what extent the same micromechanisms may be active at higher porosity. Application of the plastic pore collapse model indicated that crystal plasticity cannot be the only deformation mechanism. To arrive at a more realistic interpretation of shear-enhanced compaction in porous carbonate rocks cataclastic processes must be taken into account. We infer that mechanical twinning dominates in the more porous limestones and chalk, while dislocation slip is activated in the more compact limestones.

[1]  T. Wong,et al.  Laboratory measurement of compaction-induced permeability change in porous rocks: Implications for the generation and maintenance of pore pressure excess in the crust , 1994 .

[2]  I. Sevostianov,et al.  On the yield condition for anisotropic porous materials , 2001 .

[3]  Shaun D. Fitzgerald,et al.  A note on induced stress changes in hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs , 1998 .

[4]  R. Groshong.  Experimental Test of Least-Squares Strain Gage Calculation Using Twinned Calcite , 1974 .

[5]  R.M.M. Smits,et al.  Prediction of abrupt reservoir compaction and surface subsidence caused by pore collapse in carbonates , 1988 .

[6]  J. Geertsma,et al.  Land subsidence above compacting oil and gas reservoirs , 1973 .

[7]  Teng-fong Wong,et al.  The transition from brittle faulting to cataclastic flow in porous sandstones: Mechanical deformation , 1997 .

[8]  E. Rutter.  The influence of temperature, strain rate and interstitial water in the experimental deformation of calcite rocks , 1974 .

[9]  E. C. Robertson.  EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE STRENGTH OF ROCKS , 1955 .

[10]  J. Mackenzie,et al.  The Elastic Constants of a Solid containing Spherical Holes , 1950 .

[11]  A. E. Schwartz.  Failure Of Rock In The Triaxial Shear Test , 1964 .

[12]  W. Olsson,et al.  Microcrack nucleation in marble , 1976 .

[13]  H. C. Heard,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL DEFORMATION OF CALCITE CRYSTALS , 1954 .

[14]  Paul Tapponnier,et al.  Development of stress-induced microcracks in Westerly Granite , 1976 .

[15]  Lawrence W. Teufel,et al.  Effect of Reservoir Depletion And Pore Pressure Drawdown On In Situ Stress And Deformation In the Ekofisk Field, North Sea , 1991 .

[16]  D. Fabre,et al.  Poroelastic properties of limestones and sandstones under hydrostatic conditions , 1997 .

[17]  M. Paterson,et al.  Dilatancy during rock deformation at high temperatures and pressures , 1989 .

[18]  W. Brace.  Volume changes during fracture and frictional sliding: A review , 1978 .

[19]  Robert W. Zimmerman,et al.  Compressibility of Sandstones , 1991 .

[20]  M. Paterson,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL DEFORMATION AND FAULTING IN WOMBEYAN MARBLE , 1958 .

[21]  Jose G. Arguello,et al.  Geomechanical Modeling of Reservoir Compaction, Surface Subsidence, and Casing Damage at the Belridge Diatomite Field , 2000 .

[22]  J. Fredrich,et al.  Micromechanics of the brittle to plastic transition in Carrara marble , 1989 .

[23]  P. Choquette,et al.  DIAGENESIS #12. Diagenesis in Limestones - 3. The Deep Burial Environment , 1987 .

[24]  Herbert F. Wang,et al.  Single Crystal Elastic Constants and Calculated Aggregate Properties. A Handbook , 1971 .

[25]  N. Nagel.  Compaction and subsidence issues within the petroleum industry: From wilmington to ekofisk and beyond , 2001 .

[26]  Teng-fong Wong,et al.  MICROMECHANICS OF FAULTING IN WESTERLY GRANITE , 1982 .

[27]  E. Rutter,et al.  Palaeostress estimation using calcite twinning: experimental calibration and application to nature , 1990 .

[28]  Michael F. Ashby,et al.  The damage mechanics of brittle solids in compression , 1990 .

[29]  M. M. Carroll,et al.  Shear stress enhancement of void compaction , 1979 .

[30]  Karl B. Coyner.  Effects of stress, pore pressure, and pore fluids on bulk strain, velocity, and permeability in rocks , 1984 .

[31]  T. Wong,et al.  Micromechanics of pressure-induced grain crushing in porous rocks , 1990 .

[32]  L. Teufel,et al.  Stress path dependence of matrix permeability of North Sea sandstone reservoir rock , 1992 .

[33]  Mark Kachanov,et al.  Elastic Solids with Many Cracks and Related Problems , 1993 .

[34]  H. C. Heard.  Chapter 7: Transition from Brittle Fracture to Ductile Flow in Solenhofen Limestone as a Function of Temperature, Confining Pressure, and Interstitial Fluid Pressure , 1960 .

[35]  L. R. Myer,et al.  STRESS INDUCED MICROCRACK . GEOMETRY AT FAILURE IN UNCONFINED AND CONFINED AXIAL COMPRESSIVE TESTS , 1989 .

[36]  G. A. Cooper,et al.  Indentation by pore collapse in porous rocks : Rock Mechanics Contributions and Challenges: Proc 31st US Symposium, Golden, 18–20 June 1990 P671–678. Publ Rotterdam: A A Balkema, 1990 , 1991 .

[37]  George T. Hahn,et al.  Influence of microstructure on fracture propagation in rock , 1973 .

[38]  C. C. Barton,et al.  Microstructure and the Resistance of Rock to Tensile Fracture , 1985 .

[39]  Teng-fong Wong,et al.  Dilatancy, compaction, and failure mode in Solnhofen limestone , 2000 .

[40]  J. grasso,et al.  Ten years of seismic monitoring over a gas field , 1990 .

[41]  J. B. Walsh.  The effect of cracks on the compressibility of rock , 1965 .

[42]  R. A. Schmidt,et al.  Fracture-toughness testing of limestone , 1976 .

[43]  Teng-fong Wong,et al.  Mechanical Compaction of Porous Sandstone , 1999 .

[44]  J. Shao,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigations on transient creep of porous chalk , 1995 .

[45]  B. Atkinson,et al.  Fracture mechanics parameters of some rock-forming minerals determined using an indentation technique , 1980 .

[46]  H. C. Heard,et al.  Chapter 4: Deformation of Rocks at 500° to 800° C. , 1960 .

[47]  M. Biot.  General Theory of Three‐Dimensional Consolidation , 1941 .

[48]  Teng-fong Wong,et al.  Effect of Loading Path and Porosity on the Failure Mode of Porous Rocks , 1992 .

[49]  Larry R. Myer,et al.  Extensile Cracking in Porous Rock Under Differential Compressive Stress , 1992 .

[50]  T. Wong.  A note on the propagation behavior of a crack nucleated by a dislocation pileup , 1990 .

[51]  John M Kemeny,et al.  Micromechanics of Deformation in Rocks , 1991 .

[52]  Paul Segall,et al.  Earthquakes triggered by fluid extraction , 1989 .

[53]  W. R. Wawersik,et al.  A study of brittle rock fracture in laboratory compression experiments , 1970 .

[54]  E. Rutter,et al.  The influence of interstitial water on the rheological behaviour of calcite rocks , 1972 .

[55]  D. K. Riley,et al.  Static uniaxial deformation of 15 rocks to 30 kb , 1972 .

[56]  Jian-Fu Shao,et al.  Mechanical behaviour of a porous chalk and effect of saturating fluid , 2000 .

[57]  A. N. Stroh.  A theory of the fracture of metals , 1957 .

[58]  M. S. Bruno,et al.  Empirical relations between compressive strength and porosity of siliciclastic rocks , 1993 .

[59]  E. Rutter.  Experimental Rock Deformation—the Brittle Field , 1979 .

[60]  R. N. Schock,et al.  Stress‐strain behavior of a granodiorite and two graywackes on compression to 20 kilobars , 1973 .

[61]  S. Nemat-Nasser,et al.  Brittle failure in compression: splitting faulting and brittle-ductile transition , 1986, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[62]  J. Fredrich,et al.  Effect of grain size on brittle and semibrittle strength: Implications for micromechanical modelling of failure in compression , 1990 .

[63]  David J. Hart,et al.  Laboratory measurements of a complete set of poroelastic moduli for Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone , 1995 .

[64]  Further development of a plasticity approach to yield in porous rock , 1986 .

[65]  F. J. Turner,et al.  Experimental Deformation of Constrained Crystals of Calcite in Extension , 1970 .

[66]  R. T. Ewy,et al.  DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE AROUND CYLINDRICAL OPENINGS IN ROCK - I. OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF DEFORMATIONS , 1990 .

[67]  L. Robinson,et al.  The Effect Of Pore And Confining Pressure On The Failure Process In Sedimentary Rock , 1959 .

[68]  J. Rice,et al.  Slightly curved or kinked cracks , 1980 .

[69]  M. M. Carroll,et al.  A Spherical Model Calculation for Volumetric Response of Porous Rocks , 1975 .