Petroleum Geomechanics

Fundamentals of
Petroleum
Geomechanics
Schlumberger Private
An Introduction
Schlumberger, Data & Consulting Services

September 2009
i
Table of Contents
Module 1 Introduction........................................................................................ 1
Learning Objectives ..........................................................................................................1
Prerequisites .....................................................................................................................1
What to Expect..................................................................................................................2
Module 2 Geomechanics in the petroleum industry ..................................... 3

Geomechanics in the petroleum industry .........................................................................3
Review Questions. ............................................................................................................5
Summary...........................................................................................................................5
Module 3 Normal and shear stress .................................................................. 6

Lesson 1. Stress............................................................................................................6
Lesson 2. Mohr’s circle................................................................................................11
Review Questions ...........................................................................................................13
Summary.........................................................................................................................14
Module 4 Elasticity ........................................................................................... 15

Learning Objectives ........................................................................................................15
Lesson 3. Elasticity......................................................................................................15
Summary.........................................................................................................................20
Module 5 Yield................................................................................................... 21
Lesson 4. Yield............................................................................................................21
Summary.........................................................................................................................23
Module 6 Failure ............................................................................................... 24

Lesson 6. Failure.........................................................................................................24
Summary.........................................................................................................................29
ii
Schlumberger Introduction
Module 1 Introduction
This course is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts of petroleum geomechanics.
Geomechanics is a specialised branch of engineering that applies solid mechanics, mathematics
and physics to quantify how rocks and fractures respond to excavation during drilling, changes in
stress, fluid pressures in the rock often caused by fluid flow, and changes in temperature, which
cause expansion and contraction of the rock and hence changes in stress.
Geomechanics is becoming an accepted part of oilfield development planning and operations. By
comparison with mining and civil engineering, the oil and gas industry has been somewhat slow
to recognize the value of the discipline. One doesn’t have to look far perhaps, to find the reasons:
rock failure in a mine or a dam has devastating consequences, often causing loss of life. Rarely
does a rock failure in a wellbore or oilfield have similar fatal results. Now, however, the economic
consequences of these failures, in terms of loss of hydrocarbon production and recovery, are
becoming significant..
This introduction assumes no prior knowledge of rock mechanics or mechanics in general.
John Fuller, Schlumberger DCS
Acknowledgements: John Cook, Schlumberger Cambridge Research, Philip Hyde, Schlumberger
SIS and Robert Marsden, Schlumberger DCS.
Learning Objectives
16B
After completing this training, you will know :

• the fundamental concepts of geomechanics
o how stress is defined and principal stresses
o the relationship between shear and normal stress, and Mohr’s Circle
o about effective stress
o about strain, elastic behaviour and properties
o about yielding
o how failure is defined in geomechanics
o about the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterium
Prerequisites
17B
To successfully complete this training, you must:

• Read Fundamentals of rock mechanics, Jaeger, Cook, Zimmerman; Fourth edition,
Blackwell Publishing: Chapter 1 and Introduction of Chapter 2
1
Schlumberger Introduction
What to Expect
In each of the following modules within this training material, you will encounter the following:
• Overview of the module
• Prerequisites to the module (if necessary)
• Learning objectives
• Lesson(s), which explain about a subject or an activity in more detail
• Exercises, which allow you to practice what you have learnt
• Questions about the module
• Summary of the module
2
Schlumberger Geomechanics in the
petroleum industry
Module 2 Geomechanics in the petroleum

industry
This module introduces the general topic of geomechanics and its application to the petroleum
industry.
Learning Objectives
24B
After completing this training, you will know:

• Historically where geomechanics began to be applied in the oil industry
• The geomechanical applications associated with the wellbore
• An outline of the geomechanical changes that occur to a reservoir and subsurface during
production and depletion
Geomechanics in the petroleum industry
Geomechanics is a quantitative discipline. Like other branches of mechanics, it is involved in
measuring and estimating stress and examining how materials respond to that stress Figure 1.
However, unlike many other branches of mechanics, in geomechanics one can’t select the
materials.
Figure 1 Sample cores
Drillers and production engineers have to work with the materials with which they are presented.
This involves not only dealing with solid, continuous formations, but also having to predict the
behaviour of fractured rocks. By contrast, a mechanical engineer would probably not choose to
work with a fractured girder.
Typically, the oil and gas industry wants to know when the load bearing capacity of a rock, or
formation, is likely to be exceeded. When, for instance, these materials no longer allow us to drill
a well, or produce a field as efficiently as the economics require.
Unlike mining and civil engineering, where material behaviour can be easily observed and
measured, in the oil and gas industry the access to data is limited: It is quite difficult to measure
the state of stress acting on a borehole or the strength of rock in the borehole wall. This makes
prediction of geomechanical behaviour in oil and gas wells more difficult and means it is important
to build internally consistent models, which honour all data, observations and measurements
available.
3
petroleum industry
Figure 2 Geomechanical effects associated with wellbores in oil and gas fields
The origins of geomechanics in the oil and gas industry were in hydraulic fracturing (item 1 in
Figure 2 ), where the stimulation engineer wanted to know the wellbore pressures required to
X X
overcome formation stress and split the rock, and the likely extent and direction of the induced
fracture. Later geomechanics started to be applied to sand production (item 2 in Figure 2 ). Here
X X
the increase in stress on a wellbore or perforation during production can cause failure of the
material at the sand-face and the influx of solids into the fluid stream. Stuck pipe and tight hole
problems during drilling, especially in more complex well trajectories initiated interest in wellbore
stability modelling for drilling to predict wellbore enlargement (item 3 in Figure 2 ) and mud losses
X X
(item 4 in Figure 2 ). While drilling, over-pressure can be a serious hazard causing the wellbore to
X X
kick or even blow-out if not controlled effectively. Geomechanics is used regularly to estimate
these formation pressures in overburden shales (item 5 in Figure 2 ).
X X
Figure 3 Geomechanical changes during reservoir production
4
petroleum industry
Geomechanics is not confined to supporting wellbore activity. It will have effect on the entire
subsurface as oil and gas fields produce. The reservoir during production and depletion will often
see changes, often decreases, in porosity and permeability with associated compaction (item A in
Figure 3) as the state of stress in the field changes. These can include changes in fracture
X
permeability (item B in Figure 3 ). Compaction in the reservoir is often accompanied by

X X
subsidence (item C in Figure 3 ) in the overburden. The activation of faults (item D in Figure 3 )
X X X X
within the field as stresses change, can provide connectivity to adjacent, undepleted blocks or,
alternatively, may isolate those same blocks. The integrity of the cap rock is also influenced by
reservoir pressure changes (item E in Figure 3 ). This is of particular significance in the design of
X X
underground gas storage facilities where the reservoir may be pressured above the initial field
pressure, even returning to the original field pressure can cause problems if the rock has been
physically changed by yielding during earlier production. One of the most significant factors
affecting 4D seismic response is the displacement of rock due to stress changes during
production. In order to monitor fluid movements in a reservoir it is important to be able to subtract
the mechanical effects.
To understand the effect of geomechanics on either perforations, wellbores or entire reservoirs, it
is important to build a coherent view of the earth stresses, their magnitudes and directions, the
mechanical properties of the rock such as the elastic properties and rock strength, and the fluid
pressure inside the rock. These parameters are organized in a Mechanical Earth Model, which
provides a logical source of information for geomechanical planning of well construction and
reservoir management.
Review Questions.
• Give four operations associated with wellbore construction where geomechanics is
applied?
• Give four geomechanical consequences that might affect a reservoir during production?
• Why is it more difficult to predict geomechanical behaviour in an oil well compared to a
mine?
6B Summary
In this module, you learned:
• Historically where geomechanics began to be applied in the oil industry
• The geomechanical applications associated with the wellbore
• The geomechanical effects observed in the subsurface during field production
In the next module, you will learn about:
• Normal and shear stress
• The general state of stress and the conditions for principal stresses
• The relationship between normal and shear stress and Mohr’s Circle
• Effective stress
5
Schlumberger Normal and shear stress
Module 3 Normal and shear stress

This module discusses stress and principal stresses as well as the effect of pressure in the pore
spaces of a rock.
Learning Objectives
28B
After completing this module, you will know how to:

• Define and differentiate normal and shear stress
• Define the general state of stress on an element of rock and recognize the conditions for
principal stresses
• Construct a Mohr’s circle and calculate normal and shear stress on a plane
• Calculate effective stress
Lesson 1. Stress
Stress is force divided by the area over which the force is applied. Force is a vector, and has an
orientation as well as a magnitude. Similarly, the area over which the force is applied also has an
orientation and magnitude. This means that stress is not such a simple quantity.
In Figure 4 , a column with cross-sectional area A is loaded in compression by a weight L. The

X X
force from the loading acts normal (i.e., at right angles) to the surface we have chosen, so we say
that the cross-section of the column is subjected to a normal stress of L/A.
Figure 4 Normal stress
In Figure 5 , the same load L hangs from a hook glued to a wall over an area A. The force acts
X X
parallel to the surface, and we say that the indicated plane is subjected to a shear stress of L/A.
6
Figure 5 Shear stress
If in the previous example of normal stress, we choose to examine a plane in the column that was
not horizontal, there would be components of force both perpendicular and parallel to the surface,
and so there would be both normal and shear stresses acting on this plane.
This example illustrates two points that are true in general of stress:
• The relative magnitudes of shear and normal stress acting on a plane vary with the
orientation of the plane; and
• There are orientations of planes that have only normal stress acting on them.
In general stress has 6 independent components, or can be represented by 6 numbers; the
examples of Figure 4 and Figure 5 appear to have only one but this is because the others are all
X X X X
negligible.
Figure 6 The general state of stress on an element of rock
Imagine a small cube drawn within the material of an engineering component - the wall of a
drillpipe, say ( Figure 6 ). The loads imposed on the drillpipe by weight-on-bit, torque, mud
X X
7
pressure, etc., generate stresses on the faces of the cube. Each opposite pair of faces will have
a normal stress and two shear stresses acting on it, and the magnitudes of these are the 6
components mentioned above (one normal stress and two shear stresses on three pairs of faces
implies 9 components rather than 6, but only three of the shears are independent).
A similar picture could be drawn for a cube in a sandstone formation, where the loads on the
cube come from gravity, tectonics, wellbore pressure, etc.
σ xx σ xy σ xz 
 
σ yx σ yy σ yz 
σ zx σ zy σ zz 

Figure 7 Stress matrix
We can represent this state of stress mathematically using a matrix of normal and shear stresses
( Figure 7 ). The three normal components are represented by the three terms on the leading
X X
diagonal; σ xx, σ yy, σ zz. The off diagonal terms represent the six shear components.
Now imagine drawing another cube in the same place but with a different orientation; the values
of the 6 components will change, although the stress state itself does not. This is equivalent to
changing the orientation of the plane in Figure 9 ; the loading on the system does not change, but
X X
the normal and shear stresses on the plane do. It can be shown mathematically that we can
draw a cube in the material that has only normal stresses acting on its faces, just as we can find
orientations of the plane in Figure 4 with only normal stresses. The 6 numbers representing the
X X
stress state are then the normal stresses acting on the three pairs of faces, and the orientation of
the cube ( Figure 8 ). The normal stresses in this geometry are called the principal stresses. In
X X
petroleum geomechanics, as in most other branches of mechanics, specifying the magnitudes

and orientations of the principal stresses is the most common way of describing a stress state.
Figure 8 Principal stresses
8
Stress is a type of mathematical quantity called a tensor, and the stress state is often referred to
as the stress tensor. The process of finding the principal stresses is often called rotating the
axes, or diagonalizing the stress tensor. The directions of the principal stresses are called
principal directions or principal axes; they are always mutually perpendicular.
σ 1 0 0
0 σ2 0 

 0 0 σ 3 
Figure 9 Principal stress matrix
The three principal normal stresses are represented by sigma (σ), the largest, or major principal
stress is sigma 1 (σ1) and the minor or least principal stress is sigma 3 (σ3), Figure 9.
• σ1 = maximum compressive principal stress
• σ2 = intermediate compressive principal stress
• σ3 = minimum compressive principal stress
Principal stresses in the earth are usually under compression and so to make the mathematics
simpler compression is taken as positive. This is unlike many other fields of mechanics where
compression is regarded as a negative quantity.
Exercise 1. Estimating stress on a plane
Figure 10 Stress (exercise)
Figure 10 is a 2D example of stress (the intermediate stress has been ignored). Given that the
X X
horizontal principal stress in Figure 10 is the major and the vertical principal stress is the minor,
X X
which of the two planes shown (black or blue) has the higher shear stress, which plane has the
higher normal stress and which plane is likely to slip more easily?
9
Exercise 2. Calculating stress on a plane

In the example in Figure 11 two principal stresses are shown, σ1 and σ2. If the angle β= 30°, σ1
X X
is 10 Mpa and σ2 is 6 Mpa what is the normal stress on the plane, σn, and what is the shear
stress, τ
The equations for calculating these answers are shown in Figure 12 and Figure 13 .
X X X X
Figure 11 Stress example
σn =
1
(σ 1 + σ 2 ) + 1 (σ 1 − σ 2 ) cos 2β
2 2
Figure 12 Equation for calculating normal stress on a plane
τ=
1
(σ 1 − σ 2 )sin 2β
2
Figure 13 Equation for calculating shear stress on a plane
10
Lesson 2. Mohr’s circle

Mohr’s circle is a geometric construction for illustrating the magnitudes of normal and shear
stresses on a specified plane, and also for relating stresses to Coulomb (or other) failure criterion.
Figure 14 Principal stresses used in Mohr's circle
The Mohr's Circle diagram ( Figure 15 ) is a very common and useful way of illustrating the
X X
properties of stress. It is usually seen as a geometric construction involving two of the three
principal stresses (sometimes extended to include all three). Consider a sample of rock ( Figure
X
14 ) with two principal stresses acting on it. The two principal stress values are plotted along a
X
horizontal line, and the point midway between them is found. A semi circle is then drawn centred
on this point, with a diameter equal to the difference between the stresses.
Figure 15 Mohr's circle
Mohr's Circle provides a graphical way of examining how normal and shear stresses on a plane
vary with the orientation of that plane. This is particularly useful for rock mechanics, because the
yield and failure of intact or fractured rock depends on these quantities. Mohr's Circle allows us to
predict graphically when yield or failure will occur in an intact rock, and the orientation of the
planes on which failure will occur, and also allows us to predict the stress levels under which
further deformation will occur on a pre-existing fracture or fault.
Although only a semi circle is presented the circle is completed under the normal stress axis by
considering the set of planes for angles of beta from 90 – 180degs, the conjugate planes. It can
be appreciated that these planes form a symmetrical set to the planes represented above the
normal axis.
11
Uses for Mohr’s circle

84B
Mohr’s circle is an important tool because:

• metal deformation and failure depend only on shear stress - always maximized at 45º to
principal stresses.
• rock deformation and failure depend on the shear stress and the normal stress on planes
within the sample or earth or wellbore wall.
Therefore, with a Mohr’s circle analysis, we can tell:
• when deformation will start to occur on a predetermined plane,
or even,
• where deformation will occur in an intact piece of rock (which plane will it shear on, and
when)
Exercise 3. Mohr’s circle calculation
Figure 16 Mohr's circle calculation exercise
A cube has 10 MPa stress on its top and bottom faces, 5 MPa stress on its left and right faces
and 0 on its front and back faces, as shown in Figure 16 .
X X
Use the Mohr’s circle method to calculate the normal and shear stresses on the top face (blue
line), left face (green line), and on planes sloping at 30°, 45°and 60°to the horizontal.
12
Pore pressure and effective stress

85B
If a material is porous, as are most rocks, its mechanical response is influenced not just by the
stresses applied to it but also by the pressure of the fluid within its pores. We can often
approximate the behaviour by using ‘effective stress’ in elasticity or failure calculations. As
reservoir pressure decreases effective stresses increase and the risk of rock failure increases
Figure 17 Pore pressure and effective stress
If the applied stress and pressure change with time, the combined effects can be understood (for
elastic materials at least) using poro-elastic models, usually based on the work of Biot. A great
deal of effort has been devoted to obtaining mathematical solutions to Biot's equations that
include the effects of temperature, anisotropy, chemical interactions, plasticity, etc., and these are
useful in understanding the general principles of rock behaviour. When stress and pressure are
relatively steady, or when the permeability of the rock is so high that fluid pressure gradients die
away very rapidly, a simpler approach can be used, with the concept of effective stress.
The effective stress for a particular process, such as elastic deformation or failure, is the
combination of stress and pore pressure that controls the process. Some of these processes will
be discussed below, and the effective stress for each of them will be introduced.
The formula for effective stress is:
σ′ = σ - α Pp
where σ′ = effective stress, σ = total stress, α= Biot’s constant and Pp is pore pressure
Review Questions
29B
• Define normal stress?

• When is a normal stress equivalent to a principal stress
13
• If the pore pressure in an element of rock is 5000psi and one of the principal stresses is
9000psi, what is that principal stress expressed as an effective stress? Assume Biot’s
constant is 1.
Summary
30B
In this module, you learned how to:

• Define and differentiate normal and shear stress
• Define the general state of stress on an element of rock and recognize the conditions for
principal stresses
• Construct a Mohr’s circle and calculate normal and shear stress on a plane
• Calculate effective stress
• Strain
• Simple elastic behaviour
• Elastic moduli and properties
• Dynamic and static measurements of elastic properties
14
Schlumberger Elasticity
Module 4 Elasticity
This module introduces the concept of elastic behaviour and discusses elastic properties of rock.
Learning Objectives
32B

• Quantify strain
• Define elastic behaviour
• Calculate elastic properties from static measurements
• Differentiate between static and dynamic measurements of elastic properties
Lesson 3. Elasticity
Elastic behaviour is characterised by being reversible with no permanent deformation. For
isotropic materials the rock can be described by two independent moduli, often Young’s modulus
and Poisson’s ratio.
Elastic behaviour is influenced by the pore pressure in the rock; poro-elastic behaviour. Biot’s
constant, α, can be seen to be a function of the bulk modulus of the rock frame and same
material with no porosity (solid). Hence Biot’s constant takes values between 0 and 1. In reservoir
rocks and overburdens, α, is typically closer to one unless the material is particularly stiff.
Elastic behaviour is determined by pore pressure as well as stress state. For simple situations,
use effective stress σ' = σ - α Pp, where
α is close to 1 for rocks with low stiffness, close to 0 for stiff rocks
Strain
87B
Strain, ε, is a measure of the change in shape of a material in response to stress, Figure 18.
Normal strains result in lengthening or shortening; shear strains result in changes in the angles
between pairs of lines in the material. Strain has no units.
Strain is a tensor quantity like stress, and can be referred to different axis orientations, and
diagonalized, just like stress. Geomechanics methods rarely need to calculate strains explicitly
(because geomechanical failure criteria are expressed in terms of stresses); the next section will
mention them briefly in connection with elastic moduli, but after that we will not need them.
In geomechanics, shortening is considered to be a positive quantity, lengthening, a negative
quantity. (Note: in VISAGE shortening is treated as negative, adopting the conventional
mechanics protocol).
Stress and strain are related through material properties, such as elastic properties. They can be
simple (linear isotropic elastic) or very complicated.
15
Strain can be quoted as ratio, %, millistrain, microstrain, Figure 19.
Figure 18 Strain
L1 − L0
εa =
L0
Figure 19 Calculation of strain
Poisson’s Ratio and Young’s Modulus

88B
Rocks (and materials in general) can deform in a variety of ways when stresses are applied to
them. They can deform reversibly, so that the original shape is recovered when the stresses are
removed, or irreversibly, so that it is not, or they can fail, so that (perhaps) the material breaks into
two pieces. The real behaviour of rocks is very complex, and it is usually represented by
simplified models. Some of the complications will be mentioned later.
The simplest link between stress and strain for a material is elastic behaviour, where any strain or
deformation is recovered on removal of the applied stress. The simplest form of elasticity is linear
isotropic elasticity; linearity means that applying twice the stress generates twice the strain, and
isotropy means that a given stress will generate the same strain levels whatever the orientation of
the stress state relative to the material (i.e., the material looks the same in all directions).
If rock behaviour is linear, isotropic, and elastic, it can be described by two well-known elastic
constants: Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio.
16
Figure 20 Young's modulus
Young’s modulus is the ratio of applied stress and the resultant strain in the same direction,
(Figure 20). It can be thought of as the stiffness of the rock. Poisson’s ratio is a measure of the
lateral expansion to the longitudinal contraction. Elastic properties can be measured using sonic
and density logs, or by testing core in the lab.
Young’s modulus, E, is calculated by measuring the applied compressive stress acting on a unit
of material divided by the dimensionless, resulting strain. The dimensions of Young’s modulus are
therefore stress.
As the length of the cylinder decreases when the stress is applied, its diameter increases, (Figure
21). The ratio these strains is known as Poisson’s ratio , ν..
Figure 21 Poisson's ratio
The Poisson's ratio is the negative of the ratio of the lateral strain to the axial strain. Poisson's
ratio in practice lies between 0 and 0.5, and between 0.2 and 0.4 for many rocks and other
materials. It is dimensionless.
17
Figure 22 Triaxial test
Elasticity can be considered in this triaxial rock test, (Figure 22). The cylindrical rock sample is
subject to an axial loading (vertical) and a confining pressure, Pc. The confining pressure
provides two equal minor principal stresses while the axial stress is often the major principal
stress. During axial loading the confining pressure remains constant. Typically the sample is left in
communication with the atmosphere to allow fluid to drain from the sample as the volume
changes under loading. This avoids any complications with changes in effective stress. Under this
conditions the effective stresses and total loading or stress are the same. In the elastic region the
rock behaviour is reversible; if the load is removed then the rock will return to its original condition
without any deformation (residual strain).
Figure 23 Results graph from triaxial test
18
Figure 23 shows a typical stress/strain response for a sample of weak rock with a 20 MPa
X X
confining pressure in a triaxial test. At this point the elastic response will be considered. The red
curve shows the relationship between axial loading, measured in Mpa, on the left hand vertical
axis and axial strain along the base. A linear elastic response can be seen.
89B Static and dynamic elastic moduli

Elastic moduli can be determined either by laboratory tests on core, known as static
measurements, or using acoustic methods, usually wellbore sonic. These measurements are
known as dynamic due to the loading and unloading frequency the rock is subject to. Dynamic
properties can also be obtained from seismic and ultra-sonic. Dynamic measurements are almost
always larger than static and there are a number of reasons for this. Although there are
observable links between the two methods as a rule the static measurement is required as it is
more closely characterises the rock response during loading in a reservoir or wellbore.
Static moduli are measured from slope of loading line in ‘elastic’ region, for example, Young’s
modulus:
Estat = ∆σ/∆ε
Dynamic moduli are measured from acoustic wave speeds:
Edyn = ρvp2 (3vp2-4vs2)/ (vp2-vs2)
Some of the reasons why the dynamic moduli are different to the static moduli:
• much smaller strains
• very high rate
• different volume sampled
• reversed strains
• crack sliding
These differences are important in the estimation of rock strength from sonic log data
Exercise 4. Strain and Young’s modulus

The length of a cylindrical sample sandstone is 75.000mm. The sample is subjected to an axial
load of 50Mpa the axial and the axial length is remeasured at 74.994mm.
• What is the strain in millistrains?
• Assuming the rock has not exceeded its elastic limit calculate the Young’s modulus of the
rock?
33B Review Questions

• What characteristic defines elastic behaviour?
• Define Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio?
• List the reasons why the dynamic (Young’s) modulus of a rock is almost always higher
than the static modulus?
19
Summary
34B

• Quantify strain
• Define elastic behaviour
• Calculate elastic properties from static measurements
• Differentiate between static and dynamic measurements of elastic properties
• Non-reversible behaviour of rock
• Where it is important to understand this behaviour in the oilfield
20
Schlumberger Yield
Module 5 Yield
This module describes yielding or non-reversible mechanical behaviour.
Learning Objectives
36B

• Recognise yielding
• Qualitatively describe plastic behaviour
Lesson 4. Yield
When a rock or other material is stressed beyond its elastic limit, it may yield, i.e., undergo
permanent or plastic deformation. When the material is unloaded, it does not return to its original
shape. This happens very widely on a geological timescale (for example, folding) but can also
happen in the shorter term. For example, many types of shale are brittle (i.e., they break abruptly
with little or no plasticity) in conventional laboratory tests, but can yield and sustain high plastic
strains without breaking when loaded very rapidly, as happens under the tooth of a roller-cone bit.
Yield and plasticity in general are caused by shear stresses, i.e., they are favoured by large
differences between principal stresses. The action of yield or plasticity is to reduce shear
stresses, and so to reduce the differences between principal stresses.
Yield and plasticity are important in the oilfield environment in:
• Influencing the in-situ stress field;
• Determining the stress field in and around salt;
• Modifying the behaviour of the tips of hydraulic fractures;
• Modifying the stress field around wellbores and perforations.
The last of these has received a lot of attention, with the development of mathematical models for
mud weight limits when drilling in soft rocks.
For plasticity the effective stress is given by:
σ′ = σ– Pp
Note that there is no coefficient in front of the pore pressure.
In summary, yield is the start of non-elastic, non-reversible deformation. Not equivalent to failure
mechanisms:
• microcracking
• grain rearrangement
• mineral dissolution ,faulting, defect motion, etc....
Yielding generally leads to strengthening of the rock
The effect on deformation is modelled with elastoplastic theories. Many solutions are available for
metals (not pressure sensitive) but not so many for rock.
21
Schlumberger Yield
Figure 24 Yield in an engineer’s shale sample
Figure 24 shows an example of a yielded shale. Note the swelling of the material against the
X X
engineer’s square.
Figure 25 Yielding in a tri-axial test
Figure 25 shows yielding in the same triaxial test configuration shown in Figure 22 and results
X X X X
shown in, Figure 23 . Yielding represents the onset of non-reversible behaviour, although not
X X
necessarily non-linear behaviour. If the sample was unloaded in the Yielding zone, the permanent
deformation or residual strain would be evident when the load was completely removed. During
loading the onset of yielding is know as the Yield Point.
22
Schlumberger Yield
Review Questions
37B
• What characteristic defines yielding of a rock?

• Does yielding generally lead to strengthening or weakening of a material?
• Give three mechanisms in a rock that occur during yielding?
• Specify four areas in the oilfield where yielding has an effect?
Summary
38B

• Recognise yielding
• Qualitatively describe plastic behaviour
• Rock failure
• Failure criterion
23
Schlumberger Failure
Module 6 Failure
This module discusses what is meant by rock failure and describes the concept of a failure
criterion.
Learning Objectives
40B

• Identify rock failure in a tri-axial core test
• Calculate the stress state required to fail a rock sample
• Determine the failure criterion for a rock
• Recognise how failure should be defined for engineering purposes
Lesson 5. Failure
Elasticity and plasticity are straightforward to describe and define (although they can be difficult to
model, of course). Failure, surprisingly, is more difficult. A piece of metal tested in tension may
undergo small or large plastic strains before breaking into two pieces. A piece of copper pipe in a
central heating system can be bent through a right angle to fit its function; a large plastic strain is
actually necessary for it to work properly. The same plastic strain in the structure of an aircraft
would spell disaster. In the geomechanics world, a core of rock tested under confining pressure
may break into two or more pieces, and yet still support enough load to be a viable structure. So
failure needs to be defined in terms of function; elastic and plastic deformations are
characteristics of a material, but failure is a characteristic of an engineering structure or function.
This characteristic is fundamental to understanding the application of geomechanics to well
construction and field development.
How can we define failure? Not so easy.
• peak or plateau stress on stress/strain curve
• softening of stress/strain curve
• loss of load-bearing capacity
• loss of function....
24
Figure 26 Fault plane in triaxial test model
Figure 27 Failure curve in triaxial test results
Rock failure in compression and tension are very different. Most predictions of compressive
failure in rock structures are made on the basis of the failure of cylinders of rock under
compression in laboratory tests, (Figure ). The failure point of such tests is usually taken as the
maximum load supported by the sample, (Figure ), although it is quite common for the sample to
25
continue to support a residual load after failure. The most common type of test is carried out on a
cylinder of rock under atmospheric pressure. The peak stress in such a test is called the
Unconfined Compressive Strength or UCS. Because there is no side restraint in such a test,
failure is often through axial splitting of the sample, and is also often violent, because of the
sudden release of stored elastic energy. The triaxial test, briefly introduced previously, is another
common, but more complex, measurement. The core is surrounded by a flexible jacket, with two
steel end plates, then placed in a pressure vessel. Confining pressure is applied via hydraulic oil,
and then an additional axial stress is applied to deform and fail the sample. The axial and radial
strains of the sample are usually measured.
• Almost all current failure criteria for rocks are based on peak stress of triaxial test curve
• criteria derived from triaxial tests are usually used for prediction of failure in other
geometries - but this is not always valid. E.g., thick-walled cylinder test.
What influences failure in rocks?

• stress and pore pressure
o only the maximum and the minimum principal effective stresses influence failure.
(this is a simplification; intermediate stress may have some effect)
o evidence indicates that the effective stress σ-Pp governs failure.
• sample size and shape
• moisture content of sample
• defects in sample, stiffness of loading system, strain rate, friction on sample surfaces....
Mohr’s circle and the Mohr-Coulomb criterion

The most common failure criterion used for rocks is the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, (Figure 28).
Combinations of shear and normal stress on planes below the blue, Mohr Coulomb, criterion will
not fail the sample. When a combination of shear and normal stress touch the criterion then the
rock will shear. This point defines the stress required and the angle, β, relative to the principal
stresses of the shearing.
Figure 28 Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
It is common practice to test a rock at a series of confining pressures (using either separate core
plugs for each pressure, alternatively a single plug can be used for all the pressures - the multiple
stage triaxial test), and then plot the peak stresses against confining pressure. This generates a
26
failure envelope for the rock. The strength of the rock increases as the confining pressure is
increased.
Mohr-Coulomb Criterion
σ′1 - N. σ′3 = F (mathematically simple)
where F equals the UCS, N is (1+sin φ)/(1-sin φ). φ is the angle of internal friction.
Note: effective stresses (σ′= σ - Pp)
The effective stress for failure, as for plasticity, is given by σ′ = σ - Pp . The coefficient N does not
have a commonly used name but includes the angle of internal friction of the rock. The angle of
internal friction is typically 30-40 degrees for sandstone, giving a value for N of 3 or more. Lower
values are typical of shales. Here the angle of internal friction is typically around 20 degrees,
N=2. The angle of internal friction can be read from the Mohr Coulomb plot as the angle between
the criterion and the normal stress axis. When a rock plug fails under compressive loading it
usually either splits along its axis (under low confining pressure), or shears on a fault-like plane
across the sample.
An alternative expression of Mohr Coulomb is:
| τ | = S0 + µ. σ′n
S0 is the cohesion, µ is the coefficient of internal friction (= tan φ).
This is physically meaningful:

shear stress to slip on a plane = strength + friction coefficient*normal stress on the plane
Note that a rock with no cohesion can sustain a shear stress providing principal stresses are
above zero. This is due to the friction inherent in the rock.
Effect of pore pressure

93B
This promotes failure ( Figure 29 ).

X X
Figure 29 Decreasing effective stresses
27
If the total stresses stay the same, but pore pressure increases, then the effective stresses
decrease. Therefore, an increase in pore pressure reduces the effective stress of the major and
minor principal stresses by equal amounts moving the Mohr’s circle left and promoting failure
(Figure 29 and Figure 30 ).
X X
Effect of increasing
pore pressure
Figure 30 Decreasing effective stresses
If the failure criterion is as shown in Figure 31 , β must lie between 45 and 90 degrees; in other
X X
words, the active shear planes lie at an acute angle to the maximum compression acting on the
rock. This is observed in geological fault planes.
Figure 31 Geometric rule for Mohr-Coulomb criterion
Exercise 5. Triaxial tests

A cylindrical sample of sandstone is prepared and loaded into a triaxial cell. The confining
pressure on the sample is 5Mpa, the unconfined compressive strength of the sandstone is 30Mpa
and the angle of internal friction is 30 degrees. The triaxial test is run under drained conditions so
that the pore fluid is at atmospheric pressure (i.e. approximately zero psi). What is the axial stress
(σ1) required to fail the sample?
A second, identical sandstone sample is now tested. The confining pressure is again 5 Mpa. This
time the axial stress is raised to 40Mpa and held. The pore pressure in the sample is increased
from zero. At what pore pressure does the sample fail?
28
Review Questions
• For the purposes of petroleum geomechanics what is the best definition of failure?
• A rock test performed on a cylindrical sample with no confining pressure applied
measures which rock strength?
• Give five factors that influence failure in rocks?
• On a Mohr Coulomb construction, how is the internal friction angle easily determined?
Summary
42B

• Identify rock failure in a tri-axial core test
• Calculate the stress state required to fail a rock sample
• Determine the failure criterion for a rock
• Recognise how failure should be defined for engineering purposes
This brief course will have provided an introduction to the fundamental concepts of petroleum
geomechanics. With this information you will now be ready to start learning about the application
of geomechanics in the petroleum industry, to understand the geomechanical behaviour of the
wellbore during drilling and hydraulic fracturing and the wellbore or perforation tunnel during
production. This course will also have provided you with the basics to go on to study the
behaviour of the reservoir and subsurface during production.
29

Petroleum Geomechanics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Petroleum Geomechanics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fundamentals of

Schlumberger, Data & Consulting Services

Module 2 Geomechanics in the petroleum industry ..................................... 3

Module 3 Normal and shear stress .................................................................. 6

Module 4 Elasticity ........................................................................................... 15

Module 6 Failure ............................................................................................... 24

Acknowledgements: John Cook, Schlumberger Cambridge Research, Philip Hyde, Schlumberger

After completing this training, you will know :

To successfully complete this training, you must:

Module 2 Geomechanics in the petroleum

After completing this training, you will know:

Geomechanics in the petroleum industry

Figure 1 Sample cores

Figure 3 Geomechanical changes during reservoir production

permeability (item B in Figure 3 ). Compaction in the reservoir is often accompanied by

Module 3 Normal and shear stress

After completing this module, you will know how to:

In Figure 4 , a column with cross-sectional area A is loaded in compression by a weight L. The

Figure 4 Normal stress

Figure 5 Shear stress

Figure 6 The general state of stress on an element of rock