The low concentration and poor reservoir properties of natural hydrogen suggest that reservoir stimulation measures such as fracturing is required for its efficient development. Nevertheless, the presence of reservoir imperfections, including hard and soft cores, can significantly affect fracture behavior during the fracturing operations. Moreover, there is currently a lack of relevant simulation and experimental studies addressing these effects. In the present work, the effects and mechanisms of hard cores on fracture propagation in natural hydrogen reservoirs in the Songliao basin were numerically simulated. In addition, various factors affecting propagation behavior of fracture were also... More >