Recent advances in the mechanical characterization of shales at nano-to micro-scales: A review
Abstract
Understanding geomechanical properties of shales, such as stiffness properties and fracture toughness, is important in different areas of petroleum industry-related activities. Nanoscale to microscale experiments on shale samples require a much smaller sample compared to macroscale experiments. This is a major advantage because irregularly-shaped drill cuttings from shales can be used for experimental analyses, such as nanoindentation or atomic force microscopy (AFM). However, characterization of mechanical properties at the nano- to micro-scale is a relatively new addition to classical geomechanical experiments on shales, and there is still a lack of both fundamental knowledge and standard procedures for conducting experiments at this scale. The theoretical principles of nanoindentation-based (Gridded Nanoindentation and Modulus Mapping) and AFM-based experimental methods (PeakForce QNMTM and AFM-IR), a review of the literature results and the major findings are explained in Sections 2 and 3, respectively. These experimental techniques are compared in Section 4. Overall, nanoindentation experiments reveal the anisotropy of organic matter (OM)-rich shales at the nanoscale, and it is shown that gridded nanoindentation is capable of characterizing different minerals with respect to their stiffness properties. The capability of AFM (PeakForce QNMTM) to differentiate between different minerals within OM-rich shales with distinct mechanical properties, in particular stiffness,more »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Texas, Arlington, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1842340
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1868813
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NE0008797
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Mechanics of Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 162; Journal ID: ISSN 0167-6636
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Gridded nanoindentation; Modulus mapping; PeakForce QNM™; Mechanical moduli; Fracture toughness; Thermal maturation
Citation Formats
Sobhbidari, Farnood, and Hu, Qinhong. Recent advances in the mechanical characterization of shales at nano-to micro-scales: A review. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.mechmat.2021.104043.
Sobhbidari, Farnood, & Hu, Qinhong. Recent advances in the mechanical characterization of shales at nano-to micro-scales: A review. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2021.104043
Sobhbidari, Farnood, and Hu, Qinhong. Wed .
"Recent advances in the mechanical characterization of shales at nano-to micro-scales: A review". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2021.104043. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1842340.
@article{osti_1842340,
title = {Recent advances in the mechanical characterization of shales at nano-to micro-scales: A review},
author = {Sobhbidari, Farnood and Hu, Qinhong},
abstractNote = {Understanding geomechanical properties of shales, such as stiffness properties and fracture toughness, is important in different areas of petroleum industry-related activities. Nanoscale to microscale experiments on shale samples require a much smaller sample compared to macroscale experiments. This is a major advantage because irregularly-shaped drill cuttings from shales can be used for experimental analyses, such as nanoindentation or atomic force microscopy (AFM). However, characterization of mechanical properties at the nano- to micro-scale is a relatively new addition to classical geomechanical experiments on shales, and there is still a lack of both fundamental knowledge and standard procedures for conducting experiments at this scale. The theoretical principles of nanoindentation-based (Gridded Nanoindentation and Modulus Mapping) and AFM-based experimental methods (PeakForce QNMTM and AFM-IR), a review of the literature results and the major findings are explained in Sections 2 and 3, respectively. These experimental techniques are compared in Section 4. Overall, nanoindentation experiments reveal the anisotropy of organic matter (OM)-rich shales at the nanoscale, and it is shown that gridded nanoindentation is capable of characterizing different minerals with respect to their stiffness properties. The capability of AFM (PeakForce QNMTM) to differentiate between different minerals within OM-rich shales with distinct mechanical properties, in particular stiffness, is also demonstrated. It is shown that AFM-based methods are more straightforward than gridded-nanoindentation to characterize OM-rich shales based on the stiffness of different constituent minerals of OM-rich shales, but nanoindentation can apply higher loads than AFM-based methods. Therefore, they can measure creep properties and fracture toughness of OM-rich shales. Here, it is shown that the OM is the most compliant part of the OM-rich shales, but it is still unclear if thermal maturation has an impact on the stiffness of OM. It is necessary to investigate if there is a relationship between the OM type (kerogen, bitumen, etc.) and mechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Creep rate.},
doi = {10.1016/j.mechmat.2021.104043},
journal = {Mechanics of Materials},
number = ,
volume = 162,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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