Invitation to Houston

IS A WARM CUP

US ROCK MECHANICS/GEOMECHANICS SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM COMES TOGETHER

By David Yale, Symposium Chair

Planning for the 50th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium in Houston from 26-29 June 2016 is well underway. A record number of abstracts were received, and nearly 650 abstracts were accepted for the symposium. The abstracts suggest we will have very strong oral and poster sessions spanning petroleum, civil, mining, and interdisciplinary topics in rock mechanics and geomechanics. Continuing the trend from the last few years, a very large number of abstracts and sessions revolve around “interdisciplinary” topics that are of interest to civil, mining, and petroleum geomechanics professionals and showcase the unique value of the symposium to ARMA members.

In addition to the strong technical program that is shaping up for the symposium, ARMA will host a new high of six geomechanics-related workshops and two short courses. Workshops will be held on Hydraulic Fracturing, Geomechanics in Unconventionals, Laboratory Geomechanics Testing, Reservoir Engineering Applied to Geothermal, Microseismic Geomechanics, and an ARMA Future Leaders-Student workshop. Short courses will be taught on Shale Gas Geoengineering and Modeling of Coupled-Hydro-Mechanical Deformation and Fracturing.

As with previous symposia, we have also lined up world-renowned scientists to give a series of keynote addresses that highlight the importance and impact of geomechanics and rock mechanics. Keynotes speakers include MTS Lecture by Peter Kaiser and ARMA’s first Distinguished Lecture by Richard Goodman. William Ellsworth, Jean-Claude Roegiers, and Charles Fairhurst round out the keynote addresses. Technical tours have been arranged that will highlight Houston’s petroleum history (tours to Spindletop and the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig) and geology (tour on Active Faults in the Houston area).

The symposium will be held in Houston at the Westin Galleria Hotel and Conference Center. Holding the meeting in Houston will allow a larger number of petroleum-related geomechanics professionals to attend and broaden the interaction between the rock mechanics/ geomechanics disciplines and industries. The Westin’s Conference Center allows the symposium a breadth of space that should enhance exhibitor and networking opportunities, as well as allow an expanded and more interactive series of poster sessions.

I would like to encourage you to attend what is shaping up to be one of the largest and broadest ARMA symposia to date. ARMA symposia are valuable to our members through the quality, quantity, depth, and breadth of our interdisciplinary technical program, workshops, keynote lectures, and exhibitors in addition to the interaction and networking between our members. This year’s symposium is looking to be extraordinary in all those aspects, and you don’t want to miss it.

Subject Areas

This symposium encompasses all aspects of rock mechanics, rock engineering, and geomechanics. We invite scientific and engineering papers in:

• Petroleum engineering
• Civil engineering,
• Geology and geophysics,
• Mining engineering, and
• Underground construction.

Further details will be provided on the symposium web page as they become available.

The focus of the symposium is on fundamental, practical and educational issues facing our profession. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Geomechanics for civil engineering—stability of slopes, pits, foundations, dams, underground storage
• Geomechanics for petroleum engineering—well design, injection, production and depletion of reservoirs, well stimulation, sand control
• Geomechanics/rock mechanics for mining engineering—rock excavation and breakage, dynamic loading
• Geomechanics and environmental risk—hazards and hazard mitigation, risk assessment and uncertainty
• Induced/triggered seismicity
• Waste disposal-produced water, CO2 sequestration
• Depletion-induced surface subsidence
• Interdisciplinary rock mechanics/geomechanics topics
• Rock mass, fault zone, fractured rock, weak rock, rock fabric characterization
• Stability and support of underground openings and structures
• Fracture mechanics—initiation, propagation and interaction, unconventional reservoirs
• In situ stress, pore pressure measurements, prediction
• Geomechanics in geothermal exploration and production
• Laboratory and field measurements, testing, equipment
• Coupled processes—geomechanics, fluid flow, heat, transport
• Numerical/analytical/constitutive modeling of rock and rock processes
• Computational advances and data analytics
• Geophysics and geology in geomechanics
• Rock heterogeneity across all length scales

Organizing Committee

David Yale, ExxonMobil (Ret.)
Joe Carvalho, Golder Associates, Inc.
John Kemeny, University of Arizona
Doug Blankenship, Sandia National Laboratories
Doug Stead, Simon Fraser University
Sherlyn Williams-Stroud, California Resources Corporation
Karim Zaki, Chevron Energy Technology Company
Azra Tutuncu, Colorado School of Mines
Andrew Bunger, University of Pittsburgh
Colleen Barton, Baker-Hughes
Ahmad Ghassemi, University of Oklahoma
Gang Han, Aramco Services Company
Ellen Mallman, BP
Edward Wellman, SRK Consulting
Kate Baker, ARMA Board
John Curran, ARMA Treasurer
Peter Smeallie, ARMA Executive Director