Numerical Analysis on the Formation of Fracture Network during the Hydraulic Fracturing of Shale with Pre-Existing Fractures

In this paper, configurations of pre-existing fractures in cubic rock blocks were investigated and reconstructed for the modeling of experimental hydraulic fracturing. The fluid-rock coupling process of hydraulic fracturing was simulated based on the displacement discontinuities method. The numerical model was validated against the related laboratory experiments. The stimulated fracture configurations under different conditions can be clearly...