LAUSR

Abstract Mechanical failure of materials adjacent to the production cavity and material disaggregation caused by fluid drag are considered as the most important parameters that affect sand production. In light of such factors, the coupling of two mechanisms-mechanical instability and hydrodynamic erosion-is indispensable in order to model this phenomenon successfully. This paper examines the applicability of a coupled hydro-mechanical erosion criterion for simulating sand production using the finite element method. The porous medium was considered fully saturated. The onset of sanding and production of sand were predicted by coupling mechanical failure and subsequent erosion of the grain particles utilizing a sanding model. To consider the erosion process, the Papamichos and Stavropoulou (1998)’s sand erosion criterion was incorporated into the finite element code. Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh approach was used to account for large amounts of erosive material loss. Besides, in order to address the problem of severe mesh distortion, the “mesh mapping technique” was employed. Sand production in a horizontal wellbore and in a field case was simulated to demonstrate capabilities of the proposed model. In addition, principal parameters affecting sand production, including in situ stresses, cohesion, perforation orientation, and drawdown were examined. The results indicated the efficiency of the model used in evaluation of sanding in the field. Parametric studies indicated that in situ stresses and formation cohesion could be considered as dominant factors affecting the amount of sand production.