This paper addresses evaluating the evolution of stress inside the casing‐cement sheath‐formation system during the cement injection, setting, completion, and production stages of hydrocarbon recovery. This full‐life‐cycle analysis of cement sheath integrity gives rise to assessment of potential failure mode (i.e., tensile mode, shear mode, and microannulus) in different stages, and the prevention measures can be proposed accordingly. Considering the loading history, two regimes should be distinguished. Before the accomplishment of cementation, as the cement slurry can merely withstand its hydraulic pressure, the in situ stress and the wellbore pressure are withstood by the rock and the casing, respectively. Once the cementation process is completed, the stress increment (e.g., hydraulic fracturing pressure) is withstood by the casing‐cement sheath‐formation system. The autogenous shrinkage of cement adversely affects the resistance of the system to all types of failure, whereas a moderate swelling of cement is favorable to the cement sheath integrity. In addition, the cement sheath integrity is strongly influenced by the depth: the failure is encountered more easily at the shallow layer. Both the hydraulic fracturing pressure in the completion stage and the increase in casing temperature in the production stage may lead to tensile circumferential stress, and the hydraulic fracturing is the most critical stage for the integrity of cement sheath.

To investigate the mechanical and damage properties of rock specimens with different joint inclinations under seepage–stress coupling, a comparative numerical simulation test for different working conditions was developed using RFPA^2D-Flow code. The distinction between their mechanical properties was compared and analyzed. The damage properties of rocks with different joint inclinations under seepage–stress coupling were also investigated based on energy theory and regression analysis. A new pre-peak damage constitutive model was established. The results indicated that the peak strength declined and then enhanced with growing joint inclination, and the equivalent elastic modulus increased with growth of joint inclination, but they were both lower than intact rocks. As the joint inclination increases, the peak strain changes in a “W” shape. Based on the energy theory, the peak energy characteristics of rocks with different joint inclinations under seepage–stress coupling were investigated. The linear relationship between U and U^e and U^d before peak stress was obtained employing the regression method, which conforms to the linear energy storage law. Then, a damage constitutive model based on the linear energy storage law for jointed rocks under seepage–stress coupling condition was established, and the initial damage was considered. The stress–strain curves calculated according to the model are more consistent with the experimentally measured curves in the pre-peak stage, which verifies the validity of the model.