Scale Effect in Modeling of Mechanical Processes in the Vicinity of a Borhole on a True Triaxial Loading Setup

Abstract

One of the main problems when conducting laboratory tests of rock specimens aimed at determining their mechanical and strength properties is to transfer the test results of relatively small specimens to sufficiently large areas of a rock massif, often with a complex structure. This is due to the fact that generalized numerical indicators characterizing the degree of influence of structural heterogeneities of various sizes on the deformation and destruction of rocks and massifs are not yet available. In addition to heterogeneity, other factors also affect the processes under study, such as the stress state of the massif, the presence of geological disturbances, macrofractures, etc. These issues are studied in this paper based on a comparison of the results of experiments performed on the Triaxial Independent Loading Test System of the Institute of Problems in Vechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences using the “hollow cylinder” scheme on specimens with a central hole of 10 and 20 mm in diameter and physical modeling of deformation processes in the vicinity of wells with a decrease in pressure at their bottomhole for reservoir rocks of the Prirazlomnoye oil field.