STABILITY OF BOREHOLES IN A GEOLOGIC MEDIUM INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF ANISOTROPY

Abstract

Abstract: An analytical formulation is developed to investigate the stability of a deep, inclined borehole drilled in a geologic medium and subjected to an internal pressure and a non_hydrostatic stress field. The formulation consists of a three_dimensional(3_D)analysis of stresses around a borehole, combined with internal pressurization of the borehole to obtain an approximate solution of the overall stress distribution. The orientation of the borehole, the in_situ stresses and bedding plane can all be arbitrarily related to each other to represent the actual field situations. Both tensile failure and shear failure potentials of a borehole are investigated. The failure criteria applied assume that when the least principal stress exceeds the strength of the formation in tension, a tensile failure occurs. Shear failure is represented using the modified Drucker_Prager failure criterion for anisotropic materials. A parametric study is carried out to assess the effect of material anisotropy, bedding plane inclination and in_situ stress conditions on borehole stability. Results of the parametric study indicate that wellbore stability is significantly influenced by a high borehole inclination, high degree of material anisotropy, in_situ stress conditions and high formation bedding plane inclination. The stability of a borehole in an elasto_plastic medium is also investigated. In order to evaluate the extent of the plastic zone around a borehole and the effect of anisotropy of the material on this plastic zone, a mathematical formulation is developed using theories of elasticity and plasticity. The borehole is assumed to be vertical, subjected to hydrostatic stresses, and drilled in a transversely isotropic geologic medium. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of material anisotropy on the plastic behavior of the geologic medium. Results indicate that the stress distribution around a borehole, the extent of the plastic zone, and the failure pressure are influenced by the degree of material anisotropy and value of in_situ overburden stresses. It was observed that the borehole becomes less stable as the degree of anisotropy of the geologic medium increases.

Key words: stability of borehole, tensile failure, shear failure, failure criteria, stress distribution

2010 MSC Number:

TB122
TE21

Dinesh Gupta;Musharraf Zaman. STABILITY OF BOREHOLES IN A GEOLOGIC MEDIUM INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF ANISOTROPY. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 1999, 20(8): 837-856.

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