Effect of rock anisotropy on wellbore stresses and hydraulic fracture propagation

Using a newly developed 2D numerical model based on the displacement discontinuity method (DDM) and the fictitious stress method (FSM), hydraulic fracture propagation near and away from a horizontal wellbore in anisotropic mudstones is studied. In addition to elastic anisotropy, the effect of fracture toughness anisotropy on hydraulic fracture propagation is included and fluid flow in fractures is fully coupled with rock deformation. Simulations...