Stress field in the vicinity of a natural fault activated by the propagation of an induced hydraulic fracture

Abstract

This paper presents a semi-analytical model based on the theory of dislocations to predict the reactivation of a natural fault due to the presence of an approaching hydraulic fracture. In particular the model allows the analysis of the stress field along the interface to determine the most probable location of the induced fracture re-initiation. The influence of fault friction angle, fault orientation and pressure in the induced fracture are shown. In absence of fault cohesion, it is shown that the induced fracture cannot, in most of the cases, cross the fault without an offset. © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group.