Doctoral Dissertations

Xiaolong Liu

Abstract

"Over the past several decades, buckle folds have been exclusively studied by numerous methods. However, lots of assumptions and simplifications are made, which may not result in realistic in-situ stress conditions leading to rock failure. This study represents the first numerical simulation of folding under the consideration of gravity and pore pressure to simulate the structural development of buckle folds.

The first topic covered in this dissertation is the fracture associated to the single layer fold. It is concluded that burial depth, viscosity, and permeability are critical for the initiation of major fracture sets at the hinge zone with varying degrees. Moreover, this study provides a detail research on the stress and strain distribution in the multilayer folds and it is concluded that the stress/strain state within the folding layer(s) are determined by the buckling process, fold geometry and material parameters. The second topic covered in this dissertation is the numerical simulation of multilayer folds. This study demonstrates that the shapes of the multilayer folds are influenced by the various parameters. In addition, the numerical simulations provide a general understanding of the stress/strain distribution in the multilayer system. The third topic covered in this dissertation is the numerical simulation of parasitic folds. This study demonstrates that the shapes of the parasitic folds depend on the buckling of both the large- and small-scale folds and are influenced by the various parameters. The numerical modeling results show a large variability in porosity changes due to the complex distribution of the volumetric strain. In addition, the numerical simulations provide a general understanding of the influence of the various model parameters on the resulting porosity distribution"--Abstract, page iv.

Advisor(s)

Andreas, Eckert

Committee Member(s)

Hogan, John Patrick
Yang, Wan
Heidari, Peyman
Thornton, Dean

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Petroleum Engineering

Sponsor(s)

Chevron Corporation.

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2017

Journal article titles appearing in thesis/dissertation

  • Stress evolution during 3D single-layer viscoelastic buckle folding: Implications for the initiation of fractures
  • Visco-elastic multilayer buckle folding: Resulting fold shapes and their stress and strain distribution
  • Visco-elastic parasitic folding: influences on the resulting porosity distribution

Pagination

xii, 141 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographic references.

Rights

© 2017 Xiaolong Liu, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 11101

Electronic OCLC #

992174552

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