The Role of Plastic Deformation in Hydraulic Fracturing
Special Warren Lecture in Honor of Ioannis Vardoulakis
Panos Papanastasiou
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus
ABSTRACT: Among the outstanding technical issues in hydraulic fracturing is prediction of the fracturing pressure and fracture geometry. Related issues appear in CO2 geological storage, as there are risks of hydraulic fracturing and CO2 migrating into upper formations and to the atmosphere. Papanastasiou will present results obtained from modeling hydraulic fracturing in weak formations. The work was carried out with a fully coupled elastoplastic hydraulic fracturing numerical model, and later it was extended to analytical work based on a Mohr-Coulomb dislocation model, in which the complete slip process distributed around the crack tip was replaced by superdislocations placed in the effective centers of plastic deformation. (Pictured: Joseph Labuz (left) presents Papanastasiou (right) with a plaque commemorating the 2016 Vardoulakis Lecture.)
