Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Plastic Zone Permeability

Mechanical and filtration properties of the rock are important parameters for sand production studies. In this paper, we investigate permeability of the plastic zone around borehole using experiments and numerical simulations. Experiments on cylindrical samples with central through hole made of artificial sandstones of large size were conducted to study the plastic zone permeability. Numerical modelling of the experiment was performed on DEM software. The experimental and numerical results clearly indicate the formation of a plastic zone around a hole. Plastic zone permeability is much less than the intact zone permeability, and dependent on the applied stresses and fluid pressures.