Sand Production (Sanding) in Development and Production Wells: Geomechanical Models for Unconsolidated Sand and Consolidated Sandstone

Sand production in development and production wells results from interacting mechanical failure, hydraulic particle mobilization, and solids transport. This study develops an integrated geomechanical approach combining one-dimensional (1D) mechanical earth modeling with three-dimensional (3D) wellbore stress analysis. Unconsolidated sand is evaluated through hydraulic mobilization thresholds, whereas consolidated sandstone is assessed using mechanical first-yield criteria. The 3D model is from work of Al-Shaaibi et al. (2013) model with modification to incorporate corrected stress transformations, principal-stress evaluation, and Mogi–Coulomb failure analysis. Synthetic examples illustrate critical drawdown conditions and reservoir depletion effects. The proposed methodology supports sanding-risk assessment and production optimization, subject to formation-specific calibration and independent field validation.