Study on the Propagation of Interface Cracks in Layered Reservoirs for Hydraulic Fracturing

Study on the Propagation of Interface Cracks in Layered Reservoirs for Hydraulic Fracturing | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Study on the Propagation of Interface Cracks in Layered Reservoirs for Hydraulic Fracturing Ziqi Cao, Leqing Lin, Jingbo Wang, Daihong Li, Xiaoyu Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7209291/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The behavior of interface cracks at different rock characters greatly affects fracturing efficiency. In this paper, stress intensity factor (SIF) derived through interface model is analyzed theoretically for predicting interface crack behavior. Then hydraulic fracturing experiments on samples of shale and salt combination were carried to verify the criterion. Based on these, the effects of stress state, lithological difference, displacement, fracturing fluid viscosity and pump pressure on interface cracks are discussed and quantified. The results indicate that the SIF is the function of geostress difference Δσ and lithology difference factor ξ. Wherein Δσ depends on the distribution of geostress, and ξ is determined by rock mechanical properties (Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio µ ) ; Higher pumping pressure facilitates the opening of the interface. However, with the increase of displacement and fluid viscosity, the crack is reluctant to propagate along the interface. Multi-lithology layers interface hydraulic fractures propagation criterion Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7209291","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":492191773,"identity":"b9efe549-04d9-4d3b-9fea-0abee3312af9","order_by":0,"name":"Ziqi Cao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"the University of Melbourne","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ziqi","middleName":"","lastName":"Cao","suffix":""},{"id":492191774,"identity":"eb38c9be-2b3c-4422-b8d5-1b5480f0f2b7","order_by":1,"name":"Leqing Lin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leqing","middleName":"","lastName":"Lin","suffix":""},{"id":492191775,"identity":"524f4eb2-26f6-4baa-bc22-966936af5185","order_by":2,"name":"Jingbo Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jingbo","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":492191776,"identity":"36aa0ce2-fc48-432c-9b7c-45d59b22e5e5","order_by":3,"name":"Daihong Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of New South Wales","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daihong","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":492191778,"identity":"f0647710-1ad1-441c-be4d-4a3d68eee655","order_by":4,"name":"Xiaoyu Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Wenzhou University of Technology;","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-25 01:23:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7209291/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7209291/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108579042,"identity":"a5efedb2-f4cf-4d08-9d87-5ddabed68470","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-06 07:43:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":662331,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptclean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7209291/v1_covered_0b6b8ca4-0801-496a-bf29-7c5be7426d9c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Study on the Propagation of Interface Cracks in Layered Reservoirs for Hydraulic Fracturing","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Multi-lithology layers, interface, hydraulic fractures, propagation criterion","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7209291/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7209291/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe behavior of interface cracks at different rock characters greatly affects fracturing efficiency. In this paper, stress intensity factor (SIF) derived through interface model is analyzed theoretically for predicting interface crack behavior. Then hydraulic fracturing experiments on samples of shale and salt combination were carried to verify the criterion. Based on these, the effects of stress state, lithological difference, displacement, fracturing fluid viscosity and pump pressure on interface cracks are discussed and quantified. The results indicate that the SIF is the function of geostress difference \u003cem\u003eΔσ\u003c/em\u003e and lithology difference factor \u003cem\u003eξ.\u003c/em\u003e Wherein \u003cem\u003eΔσ\u003c/em\u003e depends on the distribution of geostress, and \u003cem\u003eξ\u003c/em\u003e is determined by rock mechanical properties (Young's modulus \u003cem\u003eE\u003c/em\u003e and Poisson's ratio \u003cem\u003e\u0026micro;\u003c/em\u003e) ; Higher pumping pressure facilitates the opening of the interface. 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