GROWTH OF A CRACK PRODUCED BY HYDRAULIC FRACTURE IN A POROELASTIC MEDIUM

This paper reports the progress in the development of axisymmetric/pla ne strain hydraulic fracturing models based on the Biot theory of poro elasticity. Integral formulae coupling fracture opening displacement ( or aperture) with the fluid pressure and leakage along fracture wells are derived. They are analogous to the Sneddon integral formula for li near elastic fracture. The analysis is based on the formalism of the t heory of analytic/generalized analytic functions. The exact solution f or the axisymmetric steady-state ''ideal fracture'' is obtained.