Andrology Gerontechnology Inflammation Modelisation

The case of the Malpasset arch dam failure in 1959 has been widely exposed in scientific and technical forums and papers. The focus here is on the many traps which have confused the whole chain of bodies and persons involved, owner, designer, geologist, contractor, up to the state management officers. When the first traps were hidden inside geology, many more appeared, as well geotechnical, technical, fortuitous, and administrative. In addition to such factual factors, human and organizational factors may be today easily identified, when none of them was yet suspected. Both dam safety and rock mechanics benefited from the studies done since the Malpasset case, most of them within one decade.

Abstract In preparation for the hydraulic fracturing campaign, the Unconventional Resources Team at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has carried out stress measurements both in open-hole and cased-hole in a number of recently drilled wells. The current paper demonstrates the results of the stress measurements in open-hole in two wells drilled in two different geological settings. The main target chosen was the unconventional Shilaif formation. One well was located on top of an anticline and the other well penetrated the Shilaif formation in a syncline. High breakdown pressures were expected (especially in the syncline). In order to cope with the challenges expected during the stress testing in such environment, a wireline formation tester that included both single packer and dual packer was used to initiate breakdown and achieve measurement of fracture closure pressure. With the expected adverse rock properties, either natural fall-off or rebound technique was employed to obtain closure pressure. The single-packer module extended the differential pressure rating up to 12,000 psia in comparison to 4,500-psia rated dual packer. The single packer was used to initiate the fracture breakdown if dual packer was not considered sufficient. Formation pressures were measured at several depths with the dual-packer operations. The stress measurements were carried out not only in the Shilaif formation, but in the shale formations above (the Tuwayil formation) and below (the Mauddud formation) in order to check if the shales could be stress barriers for a large scale hydraulic fracture. The current paper explains the procedure followed during the stress measurements and shows an example of interpretation of the pressure data acquired with wireline formation tester comprising the single-packer and dual-packer systems. The stress measurements were used to calibrate results of the geomechanical modeling.

The effects of partial saturation on the behaviour of a compacted silt was investigated.
\nIn the first part of the work the compatibility of the experimental data carried out at Università di Napoli
\nFederico II to investigate the effects of partial saturation on the volumetric behaviour and on the initial
\nshear stiffness of a compacted silt with a Bishop Stress Modeln (BSM) were discussed. In the second
\npart of the work the results of a centrifuge model of a shallow foundation relying of a layer of
\nunsaturated soil and submitted to axial load for different water level were discussed. The tested
\nmaterial is an eolian silt from Jossigny, East of Paris. This work was done with the support of MUSE
\nnetwork. The objective of the work was to represent a foundation of 1.5 m in diameter on a 15 m soil
\nlayer.