Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

Experimental and numerical investigations of accumulated plastic

deformation in cement sheath during multistage fracturing in shale
gas wells
Yan Xi a, *, Jun Li b, Qian Tao c, Boyun Guo d, Gonghui Liu a
a
Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
b
China University of Petroleum- Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
c
SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Beijing 100101, China
d
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette 70504, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP) has become a serious problem in the development of shale gas fields, which is
Multistage fracturing believed to relate to the multistage fracturing. However, few researches were on this, especially the study of
Accumulated plastic deformation micro-annulus at the interface between the cement sheath and casing, which was one of the mechanisms of the
Cyclic loading
cement sheath integrity failure, and always caused by accumulated plastic deformation. This paper presented
Cement sheath integrity
experimental and numerical investigations of the emergence and development of plastic deformation occurred at
the interface between the cement sheath and casing during multistage fracturing. Mechanical tests and physical
simulation experiments were carried out so as to analyze the plastic deformation variation characteristic of the
cement sheath under cyclical loading and unloading. 3-D numerical models were established to analyze the
emergence and development of the accumulated plastic deformation based on the test results, considering the
actual engineering and geological conditions during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells, which presented a
new method to calculate the width of the micro-annulus between the cement sheath and casing. The research
showed that the numerical results were in accordance with the experimental results. With the increase of cycle
times, the accumulated plastic deformation increased, which was the greatest for the first time, and then
increased linearly. Decreasing elastic modulus and increasing Poisson’s ratio, cohesive force and internal friction
angle could facilitate the protection of the cement sheath integrity. Finally, a new cement slurry system was
proposed based on the results of study and applied in 5 wells with good effects acquired, none of them showed
SCP after fracturing.

1. Introduction
For the reason that the matrix of shale reservoirs is featured by low-
porosity and low-permeability, multistage fracturing has been an
effective technology to improve well productivity by creating complex
fracture networks within them (Meyer and Bazan, 2011; Chen et al.,
2015; Zhou et al., 2016; Guo et al., 2018). Nowadays, an increasing
number of shale gas fields are explored in the United States, Canada and
China, thousands of shale gas wells are drilled and fractured. But some
problems, such as casing deformation or Sustained Casing Pressure
(SCP), affect shale gas continuous development. At present, many
effective solutions have been given for the first problem (Yan et al.,
2017; Xi et al., 2018a; Yin and Gao, 2015; Guo et al., 2019), but nearly
no effective measures to avoid or control SCP. It is well known that once
the SCP occurs, gas migrates along the wellbore and accumulates in the
wellhead, then may cause environmental problems or even endanger
public security (Wang and Taleghani, 2014a,b; Arash et al., 2015;
Shadravan et al., 2015; Chad and Catalin, 2016; Tao and Chen, 2017; Xi
et al., 2018b). And the influence of SCP in the same well will be more
and more outstanding over time, therefore it is necessary to carry out
relevant research to figure out the generating mechanism and propose
the effective solutions of SCP during multistage fracturing in shale gas
wells, so as to increase the wellbore integrity and prolong the production
life of shale gas wells (Xu and Wojtanowicz, 2016).
Researchers have undertaken a large-scale investigation of SCP in the
conventional oil and gas wells, and pointed out that cement sheath

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: garfield0510@163.com (Y. Xi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106790
Received 19 December 2018; Received in revised form 1 November 2019; Accepted 7 December 2019
Available online 19 December 2019
0920-4105/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Y. Xi et al.
integrity failure was the main cause (Goodwin and Crook, 1992; Jackson
and Murphey, 1993; Ladva et al., 2005; Teodoriu et al., 2010; Valadez
et al., 2014; Li et al., 2017). Goodwin and Crook (1992) conducted
mechanical tests and analyzed the permeability change of the set
cement, noted that the permeability increased after cyclic loading was
applied. Jackson and Murphey (1993) reached a similar conclusion on
the basis of the test results of the cement sheath. But the permeability
change of cement sheath was not considered as the chief threat to the
integrity failure of the cement sheath in the engineering practice. Ac­
cording to the recent researches, there were three main mechanisms
which could lead to the cement sheath integrity failure: disking cracks,
radial cracks and debonding (Ladva et al., 2005; Ugwu, 2008; Bois et al.,
2014; Lecampion and Prioul, 2013; Arash et al., 2015; Chad and Catalin,
2016; Xi et al., 2018b). Disking cracks was arisen from axial contraction
of the cement sheath when it could not slid at its boundaries. Radial
cracks occurred when the cement sheath inner pressure was higher than
outer pressure, or coupling effects of temperature and pressure acting on
the cement sheath. Debonding was always found at the outer or inner
interface of the cement sheath, which provided shale gas with a
migration path to the wellhead. Previous studies showed that debonding
appeared at the outer interface was caused by leakage and pressure
buildup around the casing shoe (Feng et al., 2016), debonding appeared
at the inner interface was usually induced by accumulated plastic
deformation, which can create micro-annulus if the cement sheath is
unable to follow contraction deformation of the casing.
Unlike that SCP occurred in the course of conventional oil and gas
development, it was observed during multistage fracturing in recent
years, and there were very few studies, which took the influence of
multistage fracturing into account, on the integrity failure of the cement
sheath. Some scholars believed that cement sheath integrity was en­
dangered due to the large fluid discharge capacity and high fluid pres­
sure fluctuation (Wang and Taleghani, 2014a; Shadravan et al., 2015).
In the report of Liu et al. (2014), many shale gas wells were found to
have happened SCP after multistage fracturing in Sichuan-Chongqing
region of China, multistage fracturing was thought as the main reason
of cement sheath integrity failure. Landry et al. (2015) observed that
SCP occasionally appeared before fracturing but almost always after
fracturing in Cana-Woodford shale gas field in the USA, indicated that
SCP was typically caused by poorly placed cement or not taking into
account all factors of stimulation conditions, and pointed out that the
stress change of cement sheath during stimulation and the life of the well
should be taken into account. Xi et al. (2018b) presented the varying
ratios of SCP wells before and after multistage fracturing, which
demonstrated that multistage fracturing was the critical factor. Ac­
cording to the above analysis, multistage fracturing could be identified
as the inducement of the integrity failure of the cement sheath. During
the progress of multistage fracturing, cement sheath faced an extremely
complex mechanical environment under the combined effect of the
tremendous high casing inner pressure, dramatic temperature fluctua­
tions and geological conditions. Hence, identifying the major controlling
factors, which made a direct contribution to the cement sheath integrity
failure during multistage fracturing, appeared to be particularly
important.
In view of this, some experts and scholars started to study the major
controlling factors in different directions of the three main mechanisms
mentioned above. Liu et al. (2018) established an analytical model
which took the well completion steps into account to calculate the
cement sheath stress, and came to a conclusion that tensile stress caused
by the high fluid pressure in the production casing during fracturing was
the main reason of cement sheath integrity failure. Guo et al. (2018)
developed a new mathematical model for the prediction of the cement
sheath integrity failure, drew a conclusion that the radial cracks of
cement sheath were responsible for the gas migration which may
resulted in the SCP problem. Xi et al. (2018b) developed a numerical
model which took the coupling effects of transient temperature-pressure
into account, used the Molar-Coulomb criterion to evaluate the integrity
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
of cement sheath, pointed out that the coupling effect increased the
tangential stress in the cement sheath, easily leading to a high risk of
tensile failure. Feng et al. (2017) and Wang and Taleghani (2017) used a
coupled numerical model to simulate the progress of hydraulic frac­
turing, noted that pressurized fluid may cause annulus fracture around
the wellbore between cement sheath and formation, which would turn
into a pathway for gas migration. From the above analysis, it could be
seen that some induction factors of cement sheath failure were analyzed,
but little research was conducted to analyze the debonding between
casing and cement sheath during multistage fracturing. This is mainly
due to that the research in this area should be based on the systematic
tests, including uniaxial compression tests, triaxial compression tests,
and cyclic loading-unloading tests, most of which were costly to carry
out.
As mentioned above, some scholars believed that debanding between
casing and cement sheath was usually induced by accumulated plastic
deformation in the inner interface of the cement sheath, which was
commonly caused by cyclical loading and unloading. Casing inner
pressure increased and decreased frequently during multistage frac­
turing, then cyclical loading was applied to the casing and also the
cement sheath. Previous studies indicated that even if the cement sheath
may not fail under the static load, but may easily fail if the same load
was applied periodically, such as casing inner pressure was raised and
lowered many times during multistage fracturing (Arash et al., 2015),
but all of the studies did not focus on the accumulated plastic defor­
mation which occurred in the inner interface of cement sheath. Chu et al.
(2015) developed a theoretical model so as to estimate the width of the
micro-annulus by using Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion, and the calcu­
lation results showed that the micro-annulus was more likely to appear
at the casing-cement sheath interface, but the model did not take the
cyclical loading into account. Liu et al. (2016) and Tao and Chen (2017)
carried out some physical simulation experiments, indicated that plastic
deformation took place in the cement sheath internal wall under cyclic
loading and unloading. As alternating goes on, the plastic deformation
becomes accumulated which led to micro-annulus between casing and
cement sheath. But the relationship between the cyclic loading and the
degree of accumulated plastic deformation was not quantified, and the
micro-annulus between casing and cement sheath could not be calcu­
lated. Therefore it is still a great challenge to analyze the accumulated
plastic deformation in the inner interface of cement sheath during
multistage fracturing in shale gas wells.
This study aims at investigating the emergence and development of
plastic deformation which occurred at the interface between casing and
cement sheath during multistage fracturing. A series of mechanical tests
were carried out to quantify stress-strain relationship and obtain the
fundamental mechanical parameters of set cement. A new full-size
physical simulation experimental facility was built, and systemic phys­
ical simulation experiments were conducted, in order to simulate the
deformation of the cement sheath under cyclical loading and unloading.
To overcome the limitation of the limited laboratory tests, a new nu­
merical model was established to analyze the emergence and develop­
ment of the accumulated plastic deformation, considering the actual the
actual engineering and geological conditions during multistage frac­
turing in shale gas wells, which presented a new method to calculate the
width of the micro-annulus between the cement sheath and casing. The
influence of single factor and multi-factor, including elasticity modulus,
Poisson’s ratio, cohesive force, and internal friction angle, on accumu­
lated plastic deformation at the interface between the cement sheath and
casing were analyzed. In order to verify the experimental and computed
results, a new cement slurry system which exhibited lower elastic
modulus was designed based on this study and the formula was applied
in 5 wells.
Y. Xi et al.
2. SCP in the fuling shale gas field
2.1. Overview of the SCP problem
Fuling shale gas field is one of the important blocks in Sichuan Basin,
China. In order to analyze the SCP problem, the characteristics of the
SCP were investigated. Take SCP occurred in between the production
casing and intermediate casing (B annulus) as an example, statistical
data showed that the proportion of SCP wells was relatively low before
fracturing (19.04%), but increased significantly after multistage frac­
turing (63.70%), as shown in Fig. 1. It fully indicated that multistage
fracturing significantly increased the ratio of SCP wells. In addition, as
time went on the proportion of SCP wells was growing, the proportion
has exceeded 95% three months later after production. The means that it
is of great significance to carry out relevant research to reduce the
probability of SCP problem in the long run.
2.2. Analysis of gas sources
Gas source was the analytical criteria of the cement sheath integrity
failure. In order to confirm the gas source, the gases from the target
stratum, B annulus (between the production casing and intermediate
casing), and C annulus (between intermediate casing and surface casing)
were collected. All the gas samples were analyzed based on the isotopic
analysis of CH4 by using the δ13CPDB method. Table 1 shows the analysis
results, which indicates that the δ13CPDB value of production gas is
31.52, and the δ13CPDB values of gas samples from B annulus are
basically the same. But there is a significant difference in the δ13CPDB
value between the production gas ( 31.52) and C annulus gas ( 52.08)
samples. It is reasonable to confirm that the SCP of B annulus was caused
by the integrity failure of the cement sheath in the target stratum.
Therefore it is necessary for the analysis of cement sheath integrity in the
horizontal segment.
2.3. Evaluation of inducement by physical simulation experiments
2.3.1. Physical simulation experiment system
In order to evaluate the inducement of the integrity failure of the
cement sheath, a physical simulation experimental facility named Long
Term Sealing Evaluation Device of Cement Sheath was build, as shown
in Fig. 2. The casing, cement sheath, and outer steel cylinder were used
to simulate the casing - cement sheath - formation assembly. The outside
diameter and the thickness of the casing and outer cylinder were 139.7
mm and 9.17 mm, 244.5 mm and 25.7 mm, respectively, and the heights
of both of them were 1200 mm. In addition, the steel grades of the casing
and outer cylinders were P110 and N80, respectively. Conventional
cement slurry and latex cement slurry, which were widely used in the
Fuling area, were injected into the annulus between the casing and outer
Fig. 1. Proportional change of SCP wells with time.
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
Table 1
Isotopic analysis of gas in the annulus.
Well Sampling place δ13CPDB/‰
F7-1HF Production gas 31.52
F7-1HF C annulus 52.08
F7-1HF B annulus 31.49
F7-2HF B annulus 31.52
F20-2HF B annulus 31.11
cylinders, and then solidified into the cement sheath.
Pressure was loaded and unloaded on the casing inwall so as to
simulate the process of multistage fracturing. There were stress sensors
between the outer cylinder and the cement sheath, the cement sheath
and the casing, which was employed to monitor the stress-strain state of
the cement sheath during the loading-unloading process. Gas was
injected into the annulus between casing and outer cylinder at the
bottom of the equipment, and could be detected and measured at the top
if there was a pathway for gas migration. Therefore using this physical
simulation experimental facility, gas channeling could be monitored and
the gas flow rate variation during the loading-unloading process also
could be recorded.
2.3.2. Results of the full-size physical simulation tests
During the tests, the internal pressure of 70 MPa was applied to the
casing inwall. When the internal pressure was unloaded, the casing
pressure was 0 MPa. And a series of loading-unloading cycles were
carried out. Figs. 3 and 4 show the results of two group of tests for
conventional and latex cement slurries, respectively. The test results
demonstrate that: (1) For the conventional slurry sample, gas channeling
occurred after the first loading and unloading cycle in the first test, and
after the second cycle in the second test; (2) For the latex slurry sample,
gas channeling occurred after the 15th cycle in the first test, and after
the 14th cycle in the second test.
For the conventional slurry sample, when the casing inner pressure
was applied to the casing inwall, casing was expanded and it made the
cement sheath bear high circumferential tensile stress. According to the
measurement results from stress sensors, it could be seen that the tensile
stress reaches to 4.2 MPa (Fig. 5), which was more than the tensile
strength and could resulted in radial cracks (brittle failure) in the cement
sheath (Fig. 6 (a)).
For the latex slurry sample, during the progress of loading and
unloading, no brittle failure occurred in the cement sheath. But micro-
annulus was found at the interface between casing and cement sheath
(Fig. 6 (b)), which could turn into the pathway for gas migration and
induced SCP. The reason for this was that plastic deformation occurred
in the inner interface of the cement sheath during the process of loading
and unloading, and as alternating goes on, the plastic deformation
became accumulated and then led to micro-annulus (Liu et al., 2016;
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Fig. 2. Long term sealing evaluation device of cement sheath.

Fig. 3. Two tests of conventional cement slurry sample.

Fig. 4. Two tests of latex cement slurry sample.

Tao and Chen, 2017).

3. Mechanical experiments of set cement
Based on the analysis of the test results above, it can be known that
under cyclic loading: (1) Brittle failure (radial cracks) always occurred
Conventional cement slurry and latex cement slurry were conducted
in the cement sheath solidified by the conventional slurry, but could be
for sample preparation, and in accordance with the formula requirement
avoided by using latex cement slurry during cyclic loading; (2) Micro-
used in the engineering field. The cement slurry was firstly evenly stir­
annulus, which was caused by accumulated plastic deformation, was
red, and poured in the cylindrical mould (internal sizeΦ50 mm � 120
found in the inner wall of the cement sheath solidified by latex cement
mm). Then the samples were cured in the water bath for 7 days at 80 � C
slurry, and became the key factor of cement sheath integrity failure. As a
and 15 MPa, which could restore the temperature and pressure envi­
result of this, the appearance and development of plastic deformation at
ronment in deep formation, and guarantee cement hydration and
the interface between the cement sheath and casing need to be deeply
strength fully development. Finally, the cement samples were prepared
investigated during the analysis process of mechanisms of cement sheath
into standard rock cores with the size of Φ 50 mm � 100 mm.
integrity failure.
Three groups of experiments were carried out. In the first and second
group of tests, Uniaxial Compression Test (UCT) and Triaxial

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Y. Xi et al.
Fig. 5. Stress curve of conventional cement slurry sample during the test.
Compression Test (TCT) of conventional and latex cement slurry sam­
ples were carried out, the peak stress, elastic modulus, and Poisson’s
ratio of both two types of cement slurry samples can be measured during
the tests. In the third group of test, both of the samples were used to
conduct the accumulated plastic deformation tests under cyclic loading,
and the upper limit of the cyclic load was set based on the results of the
first and second group of tests.
3.1. Results of UCT and TCT
Figs. 7 and 8 show the stress-strain curves and fracture morphologies
of the samples after UCT and TCT, which indicate that: (1) During the
uniaxial compression test, the stress increased linearly with strain
change, and dropped rapidly after the peak value, showing obvious
elastic brittleness. After the test, many crossed main cracks and small
cracks were formed along the axis. 2) During the triaxial compression
test, the bearing capacity and the ability to resist deformation of the
cement core were enhanced. “Post-peak platform” was formed after
failure, showing strong elastic-plastic characteristics. Additionally, the
triaxial compression fracture form was single, forming a shear crack.
According to the test results, the mechanical parameters of the
samples were obtained, as shown in Table 2. The peak stress, elastic
modulus and Poisson’s ratio of conventional cement slurry sample were
higher than those of latex cement slurry sample. Previous researches
showed that the lower elasticity modulus was favorable to protect the
cement sheath integrity (Xi et al., 2018b; Guo et al., 2018), which was
the reason that latex cement slurry was employed much more widely
Fig. 6. Morphology of cement sheath after experiments.
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
than conventional cement slurry.
In addition, it is worth noting that elastic modulus and Poisson’s
ratio of the same type of specimens under TCT were higher than those
under UCT. For the reason that the mechanical environment in triaxial
compression test was relatively similar to it in the downhole during
fracturing, 70% of the peak value of the deviatoric stress under TCT was
selected as the upper limit of the cyclic pressure in the third group test.
3.2. Results of cyclical loading-unloading tests
During the progress of multistage fracturing in shale gas wells, casing
internal pressure increased and decreased frequently. Cement sheath,
which was under the confining pressure of ground stress, was exposed to
the cyclical loading-unloading of fracturing pressure. In order to restore
the situation, the confining pressure was 15 MPa during the tests, and
the upper limit of loads for conventional and latex cement slurry samples
were 40 MPa and 32 MPa, the lower limit of loads for both of them were
5 MPa, based on Table 2. Considering the convenience of equipment
operation, the rates of loading and unloading were 0.12 mm/min and
0.5 kN/s respectively, and the test was repeated for 20 times, as shown
in Table 3.
3.2.1. Accumulated plastic deformation
Fig. 9 shows the stress-strain curves of the two types of samples
during the cyclical loading and unloading process. It can be observed
that the stress-strain curve increased in an approximate linear state
during the initial loading process. When the stress reached the upper
limit, the unloading started. The unload curve approximated a straight
line, suggesting a slight convex. When the stress reached the lower limit,
the sample was reloaded, the reloading curve approximated a straight
line, and the unloading and reloading curves formed a hysteresis loop.
Although each loading curve approximated a straight line, each loading
and unloading cycle had new plastic strain. Moreover, the new hyster­
esis loop moved to the right and the cumulative plastic strain increased.
Additionally, the conventional cement slurry and latex cement slurry
samples had the similar rules.
In order to quantify the accumulated plastic deformation, the strain
value appeared after the first unloading was defined as “Initial Plastic
Strain”, and the increment of plastic deformation in each cycle is defined
as“Accumulated Plastic Increment” (Fig. 9). Fig. 10 presents the varia­
tion of accumulated plastic strain with the number of cyclic loads. With
the increase of cycle times, the accumulated plastic deformation
increased. The first increment, which was also the initial plastic strain,
was the greatest accumulated plastic increment, and from the second
cycle the accumulated plastic deformation increased linearly. It can be
seen from Fig. 10, after the first cycle, the plastic deformation of con­
ventional cement slurry sample is 0.1154%, and the accumulated plastic
deformation is 0.4509% after the 20th cycle. Besides, the value of the
latex cement slurry sample after the first cycle is 0.1789% and 0.5649%
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Fig. 7. Conventional cement slurry samples. Fig. 8. Latex cement slurry samples.

after the 20th cycle.

The above tests showed that accumulated plastic deformation caused Table 2
by cyclic loading was significant. When the inner pressure was unloa­ Mechanical properties of conventional and latex cement slurry samples.
ded, elastic deformation of casing restored, but plastic deformation of Specimen Loading Confining Peak value Elastic Poisson’s
cement sheath could not be completely recovered. Incongruous defor­ No. rate pressure of deflection modulus ratio
(mm/ (MPa) stress (MPa) (GPa)
mation at the interface between casing and cement sheath caused tensile
min)
stress, and when the tensile stress exceeded the bond strength at the
interface, there was a micro-annular gap, leading to the failure of the 1–1 0.12 0 51.9 7.5 0.15
1–2 0.12 15 56.8 8.2 0.21
cement sheath integrity.
2–1 0.12 0 40.2 7.2 0.13
2–2 0.12 15 45.8 7.6 0.28
3.2.2. Test results of acoustic emission
Acoustic emission test was used to reflect the damage evolution of
samples during loading-unloading cycles. Fig. 11 (a) and (b) are the test 3.2.3. Variation of elastic modulus
results of the two types of samples, which present that: (1) For the The research conducted by Arash et al. (2015) proved that the me­
conventional cement slurry sample, a large number of signals were chanical properties of cement sheath changed under cyclic loading, but
received during the initial loading, the loading-unloading cycles from 4 did not analyze the law of it. And the relevant research was relatively
to 7 and the last, which indicated that the set cement was seriously scarce at present. During the experiments in this study, the elastic
damaged in the process of loading and unloading. According to the modulus of set cement cores was calculated after every cycle, making
signal, it can be known that the sample experienced brittle failure. (2) use of the straight line of the unloading curve.
For the latex cement slurry sample, the acoustic emission was relatively The results are shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that with the
stable during the whole process. Besides, the acoustic emission signal increasing cycle times, the unloading elastic modulus of cement stone
was weak during the initial and the first three loading and unloading tends to decrease. The unloading modulus of conventional cement slurry
cycles. During the fourth loading and unloading cycle, the acoustic sample is 8.91 GPA after 20 loading and unloading cycles, which reaches
emission signals remained stable. The signal type showed that the about 7.95% lower than the initial unloading modulus of 9.68 GPa. The
sample was damaged by plastic deformation. And these conclusions elastic modulus of latex cement slurry sample under initial loading is
were in accordance with the test results in Section 2.3.2. 6.37 GPa, which is about 8.34% lower than the initial unloading elastic
modulus 6.95 GPa. The reason for the decrease of elastic modulus is that
the micro-pore structure of the samples is gradually damaged during

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Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Table 3
Test conditions.
Specimen No. Confining pressure (MPa) Upper limit (MPa) Lower limit (MPa) Number of cycles Loading rate (mm/min) Unloading rate (kN/s)

3–1 15 40 5 20 0.12 0.5

3–2 15 32 5 20 0.12 0.5

4. Numerical simulation

Although the mechanical experiments can simulate the accumulated

plastic deformation of cement sheath under cyclical loading-unloading,
the simulated conditions are not completely consistent with the com­
bined action of non-uniform in-situ stress and casing internal pressure
during multistage fracturing. As a result of this, a new numerical model
was established, aiming to analyze the accumulated plastic deformation
at the interface between the cement sheath and casing during multistage
fracturing. In this study, the commercial software Abaqus (6.14-1) was
used to conduct the numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis.

4.1. Model geometry and discretization

Fig. 9. Stress-strain curve of load-unload cycles.
loading and unloading cycles, resulting in the decrease of the overall
stiffness and the attenuation of the elastic modulus.
Based on the test results, the attenuation rule can be fitted by
exponential functions:
� and changed with the increase of cyclic load times. To simulate this
ENco ¼ 9:677ðN þ 1Þ 0:0293 R2 ¼ 0:9504 (1)
�
ENla ¼ 6:695ðN þ 1Þ 0:0270
R2 ¼ 0:9502
where, ENco represents the unloading elasticity modulus of conventional
cement slurry sample after N cycles, GPa; ENla represents the unloading
elasticity modulus of latex cement slurry sample after N cycles, GPa; N
represents the cycle index, dimensionless.
Physical model. For the reason that the fracturing fluid friction was
different in different position of the horizontal section, the assembly
which was composed of casing-cement sheath-formation and located at
the heel of the horizontal segment was selected as the research object, as
shown in Fig. 13. During the progress of this study, it was assumed that
the production casing was centered, and the cement sheath showed
complete integrity. The elastoplastic mechanical property of the as­
sembly was assumed to remain unchanged in the horizontal direction.
Numerical model. A three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite
element model was established to simulate the progress of cyclical
loading-unloading and the mechanical behaviors of the cement sheath.
The outer diameter of the model was 3 m � 3 m � 3 m, which was ten
times greater than that of the borehole, thus allowing the influence of
the boundary to avoid the effects on the stress. And also, the casing-
cement interface was modeled using a layer of cohesive elements with
zero thickness. It was worth noting that shale has the anisotropic char­
acteristic, in order to take it into account, the global (XYZ) and local
(material, X’Y’Z0 ) coordinate systems were transformed into a compre­
hensive system. All of the anisotropy parameters could be calculated on
the basis of the Attachment A.
Discretization. During the simulation, the materials in the model
were assumed that casing follows the elastic-perfectly plastic constitu­
tive relationship with Von Mises yield criterion, and the cement sheath
and formation follow the elastic-plastic constitutive relationship with
the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The casing was discretized using 3D linear
full-integration solid stress elements without degree of freedom of pore
pressure. Cement sheath and formation are discretized using 3D linear
full-integration poroelastic elements. During the meshing progress of the
finite element model, the structured grid and the variable density
meshing method was applied to the whole model.
During the cyclical loading-unloading, when plastic deformation in
the cement sheath occurs, the stiffness in the deformed area decreased
situation, the interfaces between cement sheath and casing, cement
sheath and formation were discretized with cohesive elements, which
(2) allowed for propagation of the attenuation of elasticity modulus. And
also, both two interfaces set to allow separation when the accumulated
plastic deformation reached a certain level. As a result of this, debonding
occurred in which interface could be determined. In the cohesive failure
model, the damage evolution model is based on the Benzeggagh-Kenane
fracture energy criterion (Benzeggagh and Kenane, 1996) was used:
� �
� GS β
GCn þ GCs GCn ¼ GC (3)
GT

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Y. Xi et al.
Fig. 10. Variations of accumulated plastic deformation.
Fig. 11. Law of acoustic emission signal amplitude under loading-unloading cycles.
where, Gn, Gs and Gt represent the energies dissipated of the normal, the
first shear, and the second shear, respectively.
GCn , GCs and GCt represent the critical energies of the normal, the first
shear, and the second shear, respectively; GS ¼ Gs þ Gt represents the
total energy dissipated of the first and second shear directions; GT ¼ Gn þ
Gs þ Gt represents the total energy dissipated of the normal, the first
shear and the second shear directions; GC ¼ GCn þ GCs þ GCt represents the
total critical fracture energy of the normal, the first shear and the second
shear.
4.2. Material parameters
Casing. The steel casing was assumed to follow the elastic-perfectly
plastic constitutive relationship in this study, with elasticity modulus,
Ec, and Poisson’s ratio, υc, equal to 2.1 � 102 GPa and 0.30, respectively.
Cement sheath and Formation. The cement and formation rock
were modeled as elastic/perfectly plastic porous materials, the elastic
material properties consist of elasticity modulus, Ece and Ef, and Pois­
son’s ratio, υce and υf. The Mohr-Coulomb plasticity model was used, and
the properties consist of internal friction angle, ϕ, and cohesive strength,
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
C, as shown in Equation (3). The properties of cement and formation
used in this paper were reported in Table 4. For sensitivity study pur­
poses, the elasticity modulus, Poisson’s ratio, internal friction angle, and
cohesive strength of cement sheath would be changed in order to find
the optimal parameter during simulation.
Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was used for cement sheath and
formation:
1
ðσθ
1
σ r Þ þ ðσθ þ σ r Þsin ϕ ¼ C cos ϕ (4)
2 2
where, σθ is the tangential stress, MPa, σr is the radial stress, MPa, C is a
cohesive strength, MPa and ϕ is the internal friction angle, � .
Interface Bond. As stated above, the interface between casing and
cement was modeled using cohesive elements, which incorporated a
traction separation law to describe the accumulated plastic deformation
and fracture propagation behavior. A major challenge in using a cohe­
sive model was the determination of cohesive properties of the casing-
cement interface. Very little data were available in the literature. Here
the cohesive properties used for the casing-cement interface, including
tensile strength, shear strength, cohesive stiffness, and critical energy,
were based on data reported by Wang and Taleghani (2014b), where
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Fig. 12. Change rule of elasticity modulus with loading-unloading cycles.

Fig. 13. Numerical model of casing-cement sheath-formation assemble.

Table 4 Table 5
Mechanical properties of cement sheath and formation. Mechanical properties of the cohesive elements.
Name Elasticity Poisson’s Friction Cohesive Name Normal Shear stiffness Critical Cohesive
(GPa) ratio angle (� ) strength (MPa) stiffness (MPa) (MPa) energy (J/m2) strength (MPa)

Cement 10 0.17 27 8 Interface 4.5 0.2 100 8.5

sheath
Formation 22 0.22 30 5
4.3. Boundary Conditions and Simulation Steps

they estimated cohesive properties of the cement interface through
numerically simulating and matching the pipe (casing) push-out tests by
Carter and Evans (1964). The parameters utilized for the cohesive
interface bond were summarized in Table 5.
Boundary Conditions. In terms of load and constraint set, the
composite boundary was fixed by imposing displacement constraints.
Through finite element predefined field function, the far-field stress was
applied, and the hydraulic pressure was added to the inner wall of the
casing. The rotation and displacement of the formation outer edges were
fixed. Thus, the assembly stress was only a consequence of the combined

9
Y. Xi et al.
effect of casing inner pressure and situ stresses. Besides, the maximum
internal pressure was the sum of the pumping pressure and the hydro­
static column pressure in the wellbore, and minus the friction. More­
over, the minimum pressure was the hydrostatic column pressure of the
fracturing fluid, as shown in Fig. 14.
In order to truthfully reflect the actual situation, the engineering
parameters were obtained from a real drilling shale gas well in Fuling,
the vertical depth was 3147 m, the horizontal segment was 1015 m, and
10 stages were fractured. The applied horizontal and vertical situ stress
was 54 MPa, 39 MPa and 45 MPa, according to the actual geological
condition in Fuling shale gas field. The fracturing pressure was 84 MPa.
The wellbore diameter was 168.28 mm, and the casing outside diameter
was 127 mm and its thickness is 9.17 mm, hence the thickness of the
cement sheath between casing and formation was 20.64 mm.
Simulation Steps. There were ten cycles during the simulation, and
every cycle included two steps. At the first step, far-field horizontal
stress and fracturing pressure were applied to the assembly and initial
state of equilibrium was reached. Both elastic and plastic deformation
took place, but no debonding occurred during this step. During the
second step, fracturing stopped and casing restored, but the plastic
deformation did not vanish after unloading. As the alternating went on,
the plastic deformation became accumulated, differences in the de­
formations of casing and cement sheath at the interface resulted in
tensile stress. When it exceeded the cementation strength at the inter­
face, debonding occurred and the risk of SCP increased sharply.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. PEEQ under cyclical loading-unloading
For the reason that the mechanical properties of the assembly
remained unchanged along the wellbore, a cross section of the model
was selected to analyze the stress of the assembly after 10 cycles of
loading-unloading, as shown in Fig. 15. It could be seen that the
maximum stress appeared at the inner wall of the casing, and it was less
than the yield strength (758 MPa), which indicated that the casing was
always within the elastic range.
Plastic Strain Magnitude (PEMAG) and Equivalent Plastic Strain
(PEEQ) are the two key parameters to measure plastic deformation and
accumulated plastic deformation. PEMAG represents the plastic defor­
mation at a certain time, PEEQ represents the accumulated plastic
deformation after cyclic loading and unloading.
Fig. 16 shows the PEMAG of the assembly after 10 cycles. It can be
Fig. 14. Casing internal pressure change during loading-unloading cycles.
10
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
seen that debonding appears at the interface between the cement sheath
and casing, but the inner wall of formation and the outer wall of the
cement sheath are still in close contact.
Fig. 17 shows the variations of cement sheath stress, PEMAG and
PEEQ during the 10 cycles of loading and unloading, which indicate that
the maximum stress and the plastic strain appear in the inwall of the
cement sheath, and with the increase of cycle times the value of all of
them increase.
The maximum value was selected to analyze, as shown in Fig. 18. It
could be observed that the plastic deformation produced by the first
loading was the greatest with a linear increase of the subsequent
deformation, which was basically similar to that obtained from the test
results of Fig. 10.
Fig. 19 shows the actually accumulated plastic strain of the cement
sheath after ten cycles. After conversion of actual strain and actual
deformation, it can be seen that the maximal actual deformation is up to
42 μm after 10 fracturing unloading cycles, which can make the gas form
the annular zone pressure.
εtrue ¼ lnð1 þ εnom Þ (5)
σ true ¼ σnom ð1 þ εnom Þ (6)
σtrue
εpltrue ¼ εltrue εeltrue ¼ εltrue (7)
E
where, εtrue represents the true strain, dimensionless; εnom represents the
nominal strain, dimensionless; σ true represents the true stress, MPa; σ nom
represents the nominal stress, MPa; εpl true represents the true plastic
strain, dimensionless; εltrue represents the true total strain, dimensionless;
εeltrue represents the true elastic strain, dimensionless.
5.2. Sensitivity analysis of single factor
5.2.1. Influence of elastic modulus on PEEQ
Elastic modulus is an important mechanical property of the cement
sheath and can be adjusted by using different cement slurry formulas.
Fig. 20 shows the PEEQ curve under different elastic modulus, which
indicates that the lower the elastic modulus is, the smaller the initial
plastic deformation is, when the elastic modulus is 4 GPa, the initial
plastic deformation is under 0.1%. But with the decrease of the elastic
modulus, the increment of plastic deformation increases. As a result of
this, the influence of cycle number should be taken into account, for the
reason that when the cycle number exceeds a certain value, the
advantage brought by lower elastic modulus is no longer obvious.
5.2.2. Influence of Poisson’s ratio on PEEQ
Fig. 21 shows the PEEQ curves under different Poisson’s ratios of the
cement sheath. According to this figure, it can be deserved that with the
increase of the Poisson’s ratio, the initial plastic deformation and the
increment of plastic deformation decreases The conclusion can be drawn
that increasing Poisson’s ratio is conducive to keeping the integrity of
the cement sheath during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells.
5.2.3. Influence of cohesive force on PEEQ
Fig. 22 presents the PEEQ curves under different cohesive forces.
According to the figure, it can be seen that with the increase of the
cohesive force, the cohesive force, the smaller the initial plastic strain
and the plastic strain increment decreases, which indicates that
increasing the cement sheath cohesive force is beneficial to protect the
integrity of the cement sheath.
5.2.4. Influence of internal friction angle on PEEQ
Fig. 23 shows the PEEQ curves under different internal friction an­
gles. From this figure, it can be observed that the internal friction angle
exerts little influence on the initial plastic strain. And with the increase
Y. Xi et al.
Fig. 15. Stress of the assembly after 10 cycles.
Fig. 16. PEMAG of the assembly after 10 cycles.
of the internal friction angle, the plastic strain increment decreases.
Therefore, increasing the internal friction angle is beneficial to the
protection of the cement sheath integrity. It is worth noting that during
engineering practice, the underground confining pressure will lead to
the decrease of internal friction angle of the set cement, which is not
conducive to the protection of the integrity of cement sheath, and it
should be considered in the cement sheath integrity design and control
process.
5.3. Sensitivity analysis of multi-factor
As mentioned above, the influential factors can be adjusted by
change the formula of cement slurry, all the four factors can be divided
into two categories depend on how difficult the formula change is,
elasticity modulus and Poisson’s ratio are relatively easy to adjust (first
group), cohesive force and internal friction angle are exactly the oppo­
site (second group). Therefore it is necessary to conduct the multi-factor
analysis so as to optimize cement slurry formula conveniently and
economically.
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
5.3.1. Influence of the first group of multi-factor
In order to analyze the influence of the first group of multi-factor
(elasticity modulus and Poisson’s ratio) on PEEQ, the cohesive force
and internal friction angle are set as 8 MPa and 27� . Fig. 24 shows the
PEEQ variation under the combined effect of different elasticity modulus
and Poisson’s ratios. According to the results, it can be seen that, when
the elasticity modulus is 4 GPa, Poisson’s ratio is more than 0.17, the
PEEQ remains in an interval of the lower values and the value changes a
little, which can serve as the adjustment basis of the formula of the
cement slurry.
5.3.2. Influence of the second group of multi-factor
In order to analyze the influence of the second group of multi-factor
(cohesive force and internal friction angle) on PEEQ, the elasticity
modulus and Poisson’s ratio are set as 10 GPA and 0.17. Fig. 25 shows
the PEEQ variation under the combined effect of different cohesive
forces and internal friction angles. According to the results, it can be
seen that, the value of PEEQ after 10 cycles is significantly higher than it
under the condition of first group multi-factor, which indicates that
adjusting the parameters of the first group of multi-factor is more
Y. Xi et al.
Fig. 17. Stress, PEMAG and PEEQ of cement sheath during 10 cycles.
efficient.
6. Test and engineering verification
On the basis of the above analysis, it can be concluded that
decreasing elastic modulus and increasing Poisson’s ratio, cohesive force
and internal friction angle can reduce the accumulated plastic strain,
and maintain the integrity of the cement sheath during multistage
fracturing. A new cement slurry system was designed with the basic
formula of JHG þ2-8% organic elastic material þ8-15% inorganic nano-
emulsion þ2-3% fluid loss agent þ2-3% expanding agent þ0.1–0.5%
retarder þ1-2% inorganic flexibilizer þ44% water. When the elastic
material fraction was 2–8%, stress-strain curves of the set cement are as
shown in Fig. 26. And through other mechanical experiments, it can be
known the mechanical properties of the cement sheath when the elastic
material is 6% and 8%, as shown in Table 6.
The new cement slurry system was used in 5 shale gas wells, and the
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790
engineering parameters of all the wells were shown in Table 7. The
measurement results showed that all of the wells did not show the SCP
problem after fracturing.
7. Conclusions
Experimental and numerical investigations, aiming at studying the
emergence and development of plastic deformation occurred at the
interface between casing and cement sheath during multistage frac­
turing, were conducted. The influence of including elasticity modulus,
Poisson’s ratio, cohesive force, and internal friction angle, on accumu­
lated plastic deformation were analyzed. The following conclusions are
drawn:
(1) Systemic mechanical tests including UCT and TCT of cement
cores were carried out to quantify stress-strain relationship and
obtain the fundamental mechanical parameters of set cement.
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Fig. 18. PEMAG and PEEQ during 10 cycles. Fig. 21. PEEQ under different elasticity Poisson’s ratios.

Fig. 19. Nominal strain after 10 cycles.

Fig. 22. PEEQ under different cohesive forces.

Fig. 20. PEEQ under different elasticity modulus.

The test results showed that: a) The elasticity modulus of the

conventional slurry sample was more than it of latex slurry, Fig. 23. PEEQ under different friction angles.
which was the main reason that the former occurred brittle fail­
ure easily during cyclic loading-unloading, and the test results of

13
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

Table 6
Mechanical parameter of the new samples.
New Elastic Elasticity Poisson’s Cohesive Internal
sample material modulus ratio force frictional
(%) (GPa) (MPa) angle (� )

1 6 4.5 0.26 10.9 27

2 8 3.2 0.29 11.4 31

Table 7
Field implementation and application.
Well Fracturing Casing Cementing Elastic SCP
name segments pressure. quality material pressure
(MPa) (%)

J-2 18 85 High 6 0
D2 16 115 High 8 0
L1 18 87 High 6 0
P1 25 82 High 6 0
P2 22 83 High 6 0

acoustic emission also indicated this. b) Accumulated plastic

Fig. 24. Influence of the first group multi-factor.
(2) A new full-size physical simulation experimental facility named
(3) A new numerical model was developed to analyze the emergence
Fig. 25. Influence of the second group multi-factor.
(4) Sensitivity analysis was conducted, the influence of single factor
deformation occurred during the cyclic loading-unloading. With
the increase of cycle times, the accumulated plastic deformation
increased, which was the greatest for the first time, and then
increased linearly. c) With the increase of the cycle times, the
unloading elastic modulus of set cement tended to decrease.
Long Term Sealing Evaluation Device of Cement Sheath was
built, and physical simulation experiments were conducted, in
order to simulate the deformation of the cement sheath under
cyclical loading and unloading. The experimental results indi­
cated that cement sheath solidified of the conventional slurry was
more likely to occur brittle failure under cyclic loading-
unloading, using the latex slurry could effectively avoid the
brittle failure, but accumulate plastic deformation occurred at the
interface between the cement sheath and casing, which could
provide a pathway of gas migration.
and development of the accumulated plastic deformation, which
presented a new method to calculate the micro-annulus during
multistage fracturing in shale gas wells. According to the nu­
merical analysis results, it could be seen that debonding occurred
at the interface between the cement sheath and casing, due to the
accumulated plastic deformation during multistage fracturing.
The law of the accumulated plastic deformation was in accor­
dance with the test results.
and multi-factor, including elasticity modulus, Poisson’s ratio,
cohesive force, and internal friction angle on the accumulated
plastic deformation were analyzed. The numerical results showed
that decreasing elastic modulus and increasing Poisson’s ratio,
cohesive force and internal friction angle were beneficial to
protect the integrity of the cement sheath. Based on factor
sensitivity analysis, a new cement slurry system was designed
based on this study. And it was confirmed by field applications to
five wells where SCP did not occur before and after multistage
fracturing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Key Program of Na­

Fig. 26. Stress-strain curve under different amounts of elastic material.
tional Natural Science Foundation of China (U1762211), and the

14
Y. Xi et al. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 187 (2020) 106790

National Natural Science Foundation of China (51674272) throughout this study.

Appendix A

For the reason of transverse isotropy in shale, the number of independent elastic constants was reduced to five, and the stress-strain constitutive
equation can be represented by the adjusted Hooke’s law:
fε’g ¼ D’ 1 fσ’g (A1)
2 3
1 υyx υzx
6 0 0 0 7
6 Ex Ey Ez 7
6 7
6 υxy 1 υzy 7
6 0 0 0 7
6 7
6 Ex Ey Ez 7
6 7
6 υxz υyz 1 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 7
6 Ex Ey Ez 7
D’ ¼ 6
1
6
7
7 (A2)
6 1 7
6 0 0 0 0 0 7
6 Gzx 7
6 7
6 1 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 0 7
6 Gyz 7
6 7
6 1 7
4 5
0 0 0 0 0
Gxy

where, O represents the origin of coordinates, XOZ represents the plane of bedding, and XOY and YOZ represent the vertical planes, as shown in
Fig. 13. Hence, Ex ¼ Eh and ʋxz ¼ ʋh are the elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio parallel to the isotropic plane, respectively. The elastic modulus and
Poisson’s ratio perpendicular to the isotropic plane are represented by Ey ¼ Ez ¼ Ev and ʋxy ¼ ʋyz ¼ ʋv, respectively. The shear modulus of the bedding
plane XOZ can be calculated as follows:
Eh
Gzx ¼ Gh ¼ (A3)
2ð1 þ vh Þ
In the study of Batugin and Nirenburg (1972), the fifth elastic constant can be calculated by a mathematical method, where Gxy ¼ Gyz ¼ Gv in the
YOZ and XOY planes, which are perpendicular to the isotropic plane. And this model was verified by using a series of test dataset according to Eq. (A4):
Ey Ez
Gyz ¼ Gxy ¼ Gv ¼ (A4)
Ey þ Ez þ 2υyz Ez

where Gxz represents the shear modulus parallel to the isotropic plane (GPa); Gxy ¼ Gyz ¼ Gy and Gxz ¼ Gh and Gxy represent the shear modulus
perpendicular to the isotropic plane (GPa).

Appendix B. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106790.

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