Maintaining the stability of deviated and horizontal wells: Effects of mechanical,chemical and thermal phenomena on well designs

Wellbore instability, particularly in shale formations, is regarded as a major challenge in drilling operations. Many factors, such as rock properties, in-situ stresses, chemical interactions between shale and drilling fluids, and thermal effects, should be considered in well trajectory designs and drilling fluid formulations in order to mitigate wellbore instability-related problems. A comprehensive study of wellbore stability in shale formations that takes into account the three-dimensional earth stresses around the wellbore as well as chemical and thermal effects is presented in this work. The effects of borehole configuration (e.g. inclination and azimuth), rock properties (e.g. strength, Young's modulus, membrane efficiency and permeability), temperature and drilling fluid properties (e.g. mud density and chemical concentrations) on wellbore stability in shale formations have been investigated. Results from this study indicate that for low-permeability shales, chemical interactions between the shale and water-based fluids play an important role. Not only is the activity of the water important but the diffusion of ions is also a significant factor for saline fluids. The cooling of drilling fluids is found to be beneficial in preventing compressive failure. However, decreasing the mud temperature can be detrimental since it reduces the fracturing pressure of the formation, which can result in lost-circulation problems. The magnitude of thermal effects depends on shale properties, earth stresses and wellbore orientation and deviation. Conditions are identified when chemical and thermal effects play a significant role in determining the mud-weight window when designing drilling programmes for horizontal and deviated wells. The results presented in this paper will help in reducing the risks associated with wellbore instability and thereby lowering the overall non-productive times and drilling costs.     

Effect of polyvinyl acetate grout injection on geotechnical properties of fine sand

This laboratory project aims to investigate the influence of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) grout injection on sandy soil improvement. In order to make the polymeric material injectable through the soil particles, adhesive polymer is mixed with water in certain weight percentages. Fine grained sand with different dry densities in its loose, medium and dense state, is prepared in a cylindrical mould and subjected to this polymeric grout injection. Unconfined compression tests are conducted on grouted samples after passing their curing period. Results illustrate that increasing the polymer percent in grout leads to significant compressive strength and elastic modulus enhancement. On the other hand, by increasing grout concentration, loose sand demonstrated higher compressive strength and elastic modulus improvement in comparison with medium and dense sand.     

Dynamic shear modulus of undisturbed soil under different consolidation ratios and its effects on surface ground motion

The dynamic shear modulus for three types of undisturbed soil under different consolidation ratios is presented by using the resonant column test method. Its effects on surface ground motion is illustrated by calculation. The test results indicate that the power function is a suitable form for describing the relationship between the ratio of the maximum dynamic shear modulus due to anisotropic and isotropic consolidations and the increment of the consolidation ratio. When compared to sand, the increment of the maximum dynamic shear modulus for undisturbed soil due to anisotropic consolidation is much larger. Using a one-dimensional equivalent linearization method, the earthquake influence factor and the characteristic period of the surface acceleration are calculated for two soil layers subjected to several typical earthquake waves. The calculated results show that the difference in nonlinear properties due to different consolidation ratios is generally not very notable, but the degree of its influence on the surface acceleration spectrum is remarkable for the occurrence of strong earthquakes. When compared to isotropic consolidation, the consideration of actual anisotropic consolidation causes the characteristic period to decrease and the earthquake influence factor to increase.     

关于“用单元降刚法探索中国大陆强震远距离跳迁及主体活动区域转移”的讨论——横向各向同性“杀伤单元”才是更好的途径

《地球物理学报》第55卷第1期的"用单元降刚法探索中国大陆强震远距离跳迁及主体活动区域转移"一文提出用减小剪切模量的方法模拟地震断层错动的效应,这种处理虽然可以模拟压扭性走滑断层错动时的剪应力降低,但会导致垂直于断层的正应力也剧烈变化,因此这种简单的减小弹性模量的方法并不合理.本文探讨了一种更好的方法--横向各向同性"杀伤单元",利用该方法模拟断层滑动效应得到了较为合理的结果,与Okada解析解吻合较好,能够正确反映断层滑动时的应力变化.     

中国南海北部陆坡孔隙度的求取

孔隙度在岩石物理和地震勘探领域都是一个非常重要的参数,水饱和地层的孔隙度可以用于求海底地层的弹性模量进而求取纵横波速度、识别水合物以及估计水合物的储量等.然而在没有打钻的情况下要相对准确地了解海底未固结成岩地层的孔隙度变化趋势是困难的.历史上有学者提出了几个模型,都是基于孔隙度随深度的增加呈现指数下降的趋势,并且需要知道指数模型中的若干参数,因此就产生了两个问题,一是孔隙度是否随深度增加而呈现指数下降,二是指数模型中参数如何选取.本文从另外一个角度,即利用海底介质的压实性从表层开始往下逐层求取水饱和地层的孔隙度,此方法被称之为"体积模量法",它仅需要知道表层孔隙度和地层矿物组分,从而节省了勘探成本.本文将该方法应用于我国南海地区和美国ODP井数据,结果与测井数据以及地震反演数据吻合得较好.     

Modeling nonlinear response of fractured rocks and reservoirs

Since the early work of Athey (1930), there have been many attempts to describe the various nonlinear behaviors of rocks and soils in terms of functionals having only a few parameters, while nevertheless being able to fit the complicated available data with satisfactory accuracy. Such approaches have not been universally applied however, and the present analyses are intended to draw attention to the possibility of using such nonlinear fitting methods on old as well as new data sets. In particular, some special emphasis is placed here on re‐examining the well‐known laboratory data of Coyner (1984) on rocks in light of such modeling tools, and we find that the nonlinear approach again has several clear advantages – especially in terms of reducing the number of variables needed to describe the observed behavior of both bulk modulus and porosity of rocks undergoing large changes in pressure. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EPS颗粒混合轻质土反复荷载下变形和阻尼特性

通过反复荷载三轴剪切试验研究了EPS颗粒混合轻质土在反复荷载下的变形和阻尼特性,分析了不同围压、不同水泥掺入比及不同土质条件下轴向累积应变、回弹模量及阻尼比随轴向总应变的变化规律。结果表明：轴向累积应变与轴向总应变呈线性关系,与轴向总应变的比值较大,且在不同条件下基本不变;回弹模量随围压和水泥掺入比的增大而增大。在一定的围压和水泥掺入比下,当应变小于8%时,砂土EPS颗粒混合轻质土的回弹模量大于淤泥质土EPS颗粒混合轻质土的回弹模量;当应变大于8%时,情况相反。回弹模量与轴向总应变的关系曲线可用递减的幂函数来拟合;EPS颗粒混合轻质土的阻尼比随轴向总应变的增大而增大,随围压和水泥掺入比的增大而减小,砂土EPS颗粒混合轻质土的阻尼比小于淤泥质土EPS颗粒混合轻质土的阻尼比,但以上变化和差别都非常小,阻尼比基本保持为一常数。     

马兰黄土剪应力松弛特性研究

运用Riemann-Liouville的分数阶导数理论及经典模型理论相结合的方法,采用Abel黏壶取代在经典模型理论中的Newton黏壶,得出了分数阶标准线性体模型剪应力松弛的解析表达式。采用不同含水量马兰黄土在不同正压力条件下进行直接剪切松弛试验,并对得到的9组剪应力松弛曲线特征进行了研究。考虑到最小二乘法对分数阶标准线性体模型参数进行拟合无法获得确切的结果,采用Monte Carlo方法对试验结果拟合。拟合结果表明,马兰黄土的松弛特性可由分数阶标准线性体模型有效的表征。确定了马兰黄土的松弛时间和粘滞系数,揭示了马兰黄土在直接剪切试验条件下的松弛特性。     

饱和砂土最大动剪切模量的不同试验对比研究

对233个饱和砂土土样室内试验确定的最大动剪切模量和同一位置现场原位试验确定的最大动剪切模量进行了对比研究。结果表明：两者相差很大,室内试验结果基本上小于现场试验结果,埋藏深的土样相差更大;室内试验的最大动剪切模量与深度符合幂函数规律,且与砂土的密实度有关,与砂土的颗粒成分关系不大。通过工程实例,比较了2种试验最大动剪切模量对地震反应分析的影响,得到了室内试验最大动剪切模量与现场剪切波速的统计经验关系式。该经验关系式对工程场地地震反应分析具有一定的参考应用价值。     

某核电厂岩体动静弹性模量的对比研究

以福清核电站二期详细勘察为依托,采用现场原位测试的方法获取岩体的动、静参数,研究其空间分布特征和相关性。结果表明,中等～微风化岩体的动态参数随深度变化具有一定的规律性,而静态参数随深度的变化规律性不强,但裂隙的发育程度对岩体动、静弹性模量均有明显的影响;在动、静弹性模量关系方面,回归分析结果表明,动、静弹性模量之间具有较好的相关性,动、静弹模的比值不随深度而变化,Ed/Es比值分布在0.9～2.19之间。系统地总结岩体动、静参数的分布规律和其相互关系,对岩土工程设计具有重要意义