Numerical modeling of crack reorientation and link-up
The FRANC3D/BES software system has been used to simulate the reorientation and link-up of hydraulic fractures in three-dimensional (3D) problems. The adopted technique only needs to discretize the body surface and the crack surface. The crack propagation direction is determined using the minimum strain energy criterion. Crack propagation amount is calculated using the mode I stress intensity factor. In hydraulic fracturing, the number of multiple cracks for a given number of perforations depends on the resulting interaction of the cracks. The interaction may be expressed by the fracture stiffness which has been obtained for 3D problems in this paper.
franc3d/bes crack propagation multiple cracks