Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is a frequent problem in petroleum extraction,dam safety monitoring,in-situ geostress testing,tunnel-groundwater inrush prevention,etc. Firstly,a one-dimensional model considering unsteady seepage is established and its analytical solutions are derived. Comparing the calculated key factors (water pressure and hydraulic gradient) of hydraulic fracturing with the simulated result by finite element method,accuracy of these theoretical solutions is proved. Secondly,in terms of comparison with the result only considering steady status,it is presented that hydraulic gradient gets maximum as soon as water pressure increases in unsteady process. By contrast,hydraulic gradient gradually decreases and tends to be stable when reaching steady seepage status. Finally,the effect of rock permeability on hydraulic fracturing is also studied. The probability that hydraulic fracturing happens grows higher while the permeability is lower. In summary,it is essential to consider unsteady seepage status in mechanism study of hydraulic fracturing.
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Received: 20 April 2012
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