Shale experiment and numerical investigation of casing deformation during volume fracturing

The casing deformation issues have occurred widely in Changning-Weiyuan National Shale Gas Demonstration Area. During multi-stage volume fracturing process, a large amount of fracturing fluid is injected into the formation, leading to tremendous change of stratum property and formation stress field. To assess the influence of shale formation on casing deformation, the acoustic velocity is measured to obtain the shale rock elastic modulus after saturation with water for different times. Then, the three-dimensional physical and finite element models are established using the stage finite element method considering transient thermal-pressure coupling. Shale anisotropy, shale stiffness degradation, and formation slip are taken into account to investigate the influences on casing deformation. Experiment results indicate that shale stiffness degrades dramatically after saturation with water for 24h. Numerical simulations indicate that the shale modulus degradation mainly leads to large casing stress. Formation slipping not only causes excessive casing stress, but also causes large casing displacement. When slipping distance is larger than 15mm, casing stress can reach up to the yield stress for P110 grade casing. Meanwhile, the casing deformation will be 14.95mm, blocking the fracturing tools into the well bottom. Shale anisotropy has a minor influence on casing deformation.