Hydraulic fracture with multiple segments II. Modeling

Abstract It is now well recognized that multiple fracturing, hydraulic fracture (HF) process zone, fracture width vs. height, and net-pressure calibration procedures are inter-related critical issues that need to be studied for making significant improvements in HF treatment design. To the best of our knowledge, there are no systematic studies of multiple HFs. Multiple fractures can occur as a result of the fracture initiation process, i.e., “near-wellbore” multiple fractures, and/or as a result of fracture propagation in rock mass, i.e., “far-field” multiple fractures. In the current study we consider only far-field HFs. In a companion paper (see Part I-Germanovich et al. 1997), we reviewed laboratory and field observations of multiple HF. Possible causes for fracture segmentation and branching were discussed. In this Part II we quantify the effect of multisegmented fracture interaction for several observed segmented fracture geometries and discuss the implications for hydraulic fracturing.