Creep Behavior of Organic-Rich Shales - Evidences of Microscale Strain Partitioning

Abstract:

Laboratory creep experiments conducted using organic-rich shales show that these rocks exhibit some ductility under sustained loading conditions although they may appear to be elastic and brittle (Young’s modulus 15-80 GPa) at shorter time scales. At room-temperature and in-situ pressure conditions, creep strain observed after 3 hours of sustained loading reach strains on the order of 10^-5per megapascal of applied differential stress. The creep behavior is highly anisotropic such that creep occurs more in the direction perpendicular to the bedding plane than in the direction parallel to the bedding plane.

In general, we find that the creep behavior is largely controlled by the amount of clay mineral and organic content. This is also supported by evidences of elastic stiffening and sample volume reduction during creep which imply that the creep is accommodated by localized compaction occurring within clay-aggregates and/or organic materials, the relatively porous members in the rock. We also find that the tendency to creep has a unique relation with the Young’s modulus regardless of the loading direction or the mineral composition. Sone and Zoback (2013) explained this correlation by appealing to the stress partitioning behavior that occurs between the relatively stiff and soft components of the rock, and also by assuming that creep only occurs within the soft components, namely the clay and organic contents, with a specific local 3-hour creep compliance value of 10^-4 MPa^-1.

In order to confirm that such strain-partitioning occurs during creep deformation, we also performed creep experiments under a scanning electron microscope using a deformation stage setup. Such experiments allow us to directly observe the deformation and quantify the strain-partitioning occurring between the different mineral constituents with the aid of digital image correlation analysis. Results suggest that strain-partitioning do occur during creep deformation and inferred creep properties of clay aggregates and organic materials are close to those assumed in previous analyses.