A side cross-section of a wellbore and its perforation clusters. Injected fluid pressure must exceed the rock's resistance threshold (governed by rock type) before a fracture initiates; above that threshold, the fracture network branches outward from each perforation, its reach and density scaling with how far the pressure exceeds resistance and with the rock's brittleness.
Raise the injection pressure past the rock's resistance to trigger propagation, watch the branching network grow from each perforation cluster, and add proppant concentration to see how much of that network stays conductive (glowing brighter) once the simulated pumping settles. Pump rate controls how fast fluid particles travel from the wellbore into the fracture network.
Rock type, injection pressure, proppant concentration and pump rate are all live — the network rebuilds automatically as you move a slider. Rebuild reseeds the random branching pattern without changing the settings.
Because fracture orientation in the real process is governed by the direction of the minimum principal stress in the rock, engineers can often predict which way underground fractures will grow before drilling even begins, just by mapping the regional stress field.
A 2D cross-section companion to the 3D fracking lab: the same threshold-and-branching fracture model, drawn as a flat side view so the pressure-vs-resistance relationship is easy to read at a glance.
Injected fluid pressure must exceed the rock's resistance threshold (set by rock type) before any fracture growth occurs at all. Above that threshold, a branching fracture network fans out from each perforation cluster, its reach and branch density scaling with net pressure and rock brittleness — and proppant concentration determines how much of that network stays conductive.
Pick a rock type, then raise injection pressure past its resistance threshold to trigger propagation. Watch the branching network grow from each perforation, adjust proppant concentration to see the fractures glow brighter as conductivity rises, and use pump rate to speed up or slow down the fluid particles travelling from the wellbore into the network.
Because fracture orientation is governed by the direction of the minimum principal stress in the rock, engineers can often predict which way underground fractures will grow before drilling even begins, just by mapping the regional stress field.