Fault slip controlled by stress path and fluid pressurization rate

French, M. E.; Zhu, Wenlu; Banker, Jeremy

doi:10.1002/2016gl068893

Cited by 60 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From triaxial shear experiments on permeable and impermeable sandstones with saw-cut fractures, Rutter and Hackston (2017) demonstrated that dynamic slip may be easily generated by fluid pressurization in the case of a less permeable rock matrix. Creep experiments conducted on carbonate-bearing and shale-bearing fault gouges by increasing pore pressure under conditions of constant shear stress indicate that dynamic slip instability may be triggered, even if fault friction is characterized by rate-strengthening behavior (Scuderi et al, 2017;Scuderi & Collettini, 2018). French Melodie et al (2016 performed axial compression and lateral relaxation tests on permeable sandstones with saw-cut surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Study on Fluid‐Induced Fault Slip Behavior: The Role of Fluid Pressurization Rate

Wang

Kwiatek

Rybacki

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the physical mechanisms governing fluid‐induced fault slip is important for improved mitigation of seismic risks associated with large‐scale fluid injection. We conducted fluid‐induced fault slip experiments in the laboratory on critically stressed saw‐cut sandstone samples with high permeability using different fluid pressurization rates. Our experimental results demonstrate that fault slip behavior is governed by fluid pressurization rate rather than injection pressure. Slow stick‐slip episodes (peak slip velocity < 4 μm/s) are induced by fast fluid injection rate, whereas fault creep with slip velocity < 0.4 μm/s mainly occurs in response to slow fluid injection rate. Fluid‐induced fault slip may remain mechanically stable for loading stiffness larger than fault stiffness. Independent of fault slip mode, we observed dynamic frictional weakening of the artificial fault at elevated pore pressure. Our observations highlight that varying fluid injection rates may assist in reducing potential seismic hazards of field‐scale fluid injection projects.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Study on Fluid‐Induced Fault Slip Behavior: The Role of Fluid Pressurization Rate

Wang

Kwiatek

Rybacki

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A few researchers have conducted triaxial-injection shear tests on saw cut fractures (Bauer et al, 2016;French et al, 2016;Nemoto et al, 2008;Rutter & Hackston, 2017). French et al (2016) conducted saw cut fracture slip tests on dry or saturated sandstones (permeable Berea and Darley Dale sandstones) to investigate the effects of stress path and fluid pressurization rate on fracture slip characteristics (slip velocity, shear stress drop, etc.). Rutter and Hackston (2017) competed similar triaxial shear tests on permeable (Darley Dale sandstone) or impermeable (tight Pennant sandstone) saw cut fractures to study friction change and shear failure of fractured rocks with or without gouge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Injection‐Induced Shear Slip and Permeability Enhancement in Granite Fractures

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Shear stimulation, so‐called hydroshearing, is believed to reactivate critical or near‐critical preexisting fractures by pressurized fluid injection, causing them to slip and dilate for economic production from geothermal and unconventional petroleum reservoirs. However, little or no experiments have been conducted to directly probe the coupled hydromechanical responses and permeability evolution during fracture shearing. In this paper, we present the results of novel injection‐induced shear tests on cylindrical granite samples each containing a single tensile or saw cut fracture. The shear test on rough fractures demonstrates that retainable permeability enhancement can be achieved through dilatant shear slip. The characteristic stick‐slip behavior of the fracture during shearing is also observed. Fracture aperture controlled by effective normal stress dominates the fluid flow in stick state, while in slip state, the major contributor to production increase is the irreversible normal dilation caused by fracture shear slip. The experimental data show that depending on the fracture roughness, the fracture slip process includes two quasi‐static slip intervals with a slip velocity of ~10−9 to ~10−6 m/s and a dynamic slip interval with a slip velocity of ~10−7 to ~10−5 m/s. The fracture slip correlates well with the associated stress relaxation: a faster fracture slip induces a quicker stress relaxation, and vice versa. The influence of surface roughness on the hydromechanical responses during fracture shearing and the shear‐induced asperity degradation are also studied. The various experimental observations on rough and smooth fractures clearly indicate that the key component to shear stimulation is fracture self‐propping by asperities.

show abstract

“…Several experimental studies have investigated the role that P f has on fault stability with different results (French et al, ; Ikari et al, ; Rutter & Hackston, ). For instance, Sawai et al () demonstrate that decreasing effective pressure (

σ_{n}^{'}

) causes a transition from stable to unstable slip behavior in blueschist samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ougier‐Simonin and Zhu (, ) also observed that shear localization in porous rocks could become unstable by decreasing effective pressure as pore pressure increases during the post failure stage of faulting. In addition, French et al () and Scuderi et al () show that fluid pressurization can overcome velocity‐strengthening friction to result in accelerated fault slip. On the other hand, slow slip events may arise or when the effective pressure is low (e.g., Leeman et al, ), and the low

σ_{n}^{'}

associated with high pore fluid pressure is expected to stabilize slip.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilizing Effect of High Pore Fluid Pressure on Slip Behaviors of Gouge‐bearing Faults

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We conducted experiments to investigate the influence of pore fluid pressure on the frictional strength and slip behavior of gouge bearing faults. Saw cut porous sandstone samples with a layer of gouge powders placed between the precut surfaces were deformed in the conventional triaxial loading configuration. A series of velocity‐step tests were performed to measure the response of the friction coefficient to variations in sliding velocity. Pore volume changes were monitored during shearing of the gouge. Our results demonstrate that under constant effective pressure, increasing pore pressure stabilizes the frictional slip of faults with all four gouge materials including antigorite, olivine, quartz, and chrysotile. The stabilizing effect is the strongest in antigorite gouge, which shows an evolution of friction parameters from velocity‐weakening toward velocity‐strengthening behavior with increasing pore pressure. Experiments with controlled pore volume show that the pore volume reduction diminishes under high pore fluid pressures, implying an increasing dilation component at these conditions. The dilatant hardening mechanism can explain the observed strengthening. These results provide a possible explanation to the observed spatial correlation between slow slip events and high pore pressure in many subduction zones.

show abstract

Fault slip controlled by stress path and fluid pressurization rate

Cited by 60 publications

References 39 publications

Laboratory Study on Fluid‐Induced Fault Slip Behavior: The Role of Fluid Pressurization Rate

Laboratory Study on Fluid‐Induced Fault Slip Behavior: The Role of Fluid Pressurization Rate

Injection‐Induced Shear Slip and Permeability Enhancement in Granite Fractures

Stabilizing Effect of High Pore Fluid Pressure on Slip Behaviors of Gouge‐bearing Faults

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About