Sharif Digital Repository

It is generally accepted that a hydraulically induced fracture in the reservoir is approximately a plane fracture perpendicular to the direction of the in situ minor principal stress. However, field observations, in some cases, do not support the above traditional assumption. This is especially true when hydraulic fracturing technique is applied to the uncemented porous materials such as oil sands. In this article, the pattern of hydraulically induced fractures in oil sands and other geomaterials is discussed. Field observations and experimental investigation results are combined with the outcomes of the numerical simulations of hydro-fracturing in oil sands conducted by the authors to...