From Lab to Field: Rock Mechanics Properties Assessment for a 3D MEM

In Petroleum, Civil and Mining Engineering, designing structures dealing with rock mass is a day-to-day activity. In order to carry on such projects, it is essential to know the strength and deformability of rocks, as well as their in situ stress state. In Petroleum Engineering, especially, obtaining rock samples from a well and carrying out lab mechanical tests is costly and time consuming. Thus, petroleum engineers have been attempting to determine rock mechanical properties through index tests or log-based correlations as to expedite this process and reduce the global cost of the activity. Besides a comprehensive literature review regarding empirical correlations for predicting rock mechanical properties, this article presents results of uniaxial and scratch tests on a highly heterogeneous limestone sample from offshore wells in Brazil. By comparing S results of uniaxial and scratch tests, it was possible to validate the outcomes of the scratch tests. S scratch test profile presents a high resolution, in the present work this profile was averaged over intervals around each plug of conventional core analysis. Finally, S and Young Modulus empirical correlations for limestones are proposed. Using those correlation one can estimate S and static Young Modulus of limestones from their porosities and speed up the MEM assemblage.