Numerical investigation of the effect of fluid pressurization rate on laboratory-scale injection-induced fault slip

The effect of normal stress variations on fault frictional strength has been extensively characterized in laboratory experiments and modelling studies based on a rate-and-state-dependent fault friction formalism. However, the role of pore pressure changes during injection-induced fault reactivation and associated frictional phenomena is still not well understood. We apply rate-and-state friction (RSF) theory in finite element models to investigate the effect of fluid pressurization rate on fault (re)activation and on the resulting frictional slip characteristics at the laboratory scale. We consider a stepwise injection scenario where each fluid injection cycle consists of a fluid pressurization phase followed by a constant fluid pressure phase. We first calibrate our model formulation to recently published laboratory results of injection-driven shear slip experiments. In a second stage, we perform a parametric study by varying fluid pressurization rates to cover a higher dimensional parameter space. We demonstrate that, for high permeability laboratory samples, the energy release rate associated with fault reactivation can be effectively controlled by a stepwise fluid injection scheme, i.e. by the applied fluid pressurization rate and the duration of the constant pressure phase between each successive fluid pressurization phase. We observe a gradual transition from fault creep to slow stick–slip as the fluid pressurization rate increases. Furthermore, computed peak velocities for an extended range of fluid pressurization rate scenarios (0.5 MPa/min to 10 MPa/min) indicate a non-linear (power-law) relationship between the imposed fluid pressurization rate and the peak slip velocities, and consequently with the energy release rate, for scenarios with a fluid pressurization rate higher than a critical value of 4 MPa/min. We also observe that higher pressurization rates cause a delay in the stress release by the fault. We therefore argue that by adopting a stepwise fluid injection scheme with lower fluid pressurization rates may provide the operator with a better control over potential induced seismicity. The implications for field-scale applications that we can derive from our study are limited by the high matrix and fault permeability of the selected sample and the direct hydraulic connection between the injection well and the fault, which may not necessarily represent the conditions typical for fracture dominated deep geothermal reservoirs. Nevertheless, our results can serve as a basis for further laboratory experiments and field-scale modelling studies focused on better understanding the impact of stepwise injection protocols on fluid injection-induced seismicity.