Active and passive acoustic imaging inside a large-scale polyaxial hydraulic fracture test

An automated laboratory hydraulic fracture experiment has been assembled to determine what rock and treatment parameters are crucial to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of field hydraulic fractures. To this end a large (460 mm cubic sample) polyaxial cell, with servo-controlled X, Y, Z, pore pressure, crack-mouth-opening-displacement, and bottom hole pressure, was built. Active imaging with embedded seismic diffraction arrays images the geometry of the fracture. Preliminary tests indicate fracture extent can be imaged to within 5%. Unique embeddible high-fidelity particle velocity AE sensors were designed and calibrated to allow determination of fracture source kinematics.