Identification of tensile fractures in wellbores

Similarly to breakouts, drilling-induced tensile fractures can be identified and measured with borehole imaging tools (Fig. 6.16). The azimuth of tensile fractures coincides with the direction of $S_{Hmax}$ in vertical wells.

Figure 6.16: Examples of drilling-induced tensile fractures along wellbores as seen with borehole imaging tools. Similarly to breakouts, tensile fractures can also help determine the orientation of the far field stresses.