[1] Knowledge of the mechanical properties of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments is essential for simulating the geomechanical response to gas extraction from a gas-hydrate reservoir. In this study, drained triaxial compression tests were conducted on artificial methane-hydrate-bearing sediment samples under hydrate-stable temperature-pressure conditions. Toyoura sand (average particle size: D 50 = 0.230 mm), number 7 silica sand (D 50 = 0.205 mm), and number 8 silica sand (D 50 = 0.130 mm) were used as the skeleton of each specimen. Axial loading was conducted at an axial strain rate of 0.1% min −1 at a constant temperature of 278 K. The cell and pore pressures were kept constant during axial loading. We found that the strength and stiffness of the hydrate-sand specimens increased with methane hydrate saturation and with the effective confining pressure, and the secant Poisson's ratio decreased with the effective confining pressure. The stiffness depends on the type of sand forming the skeleton of the specimens, although the strength has little dependence on the type of sand. According to an earlier work, hydrate-sand specimens are thought to contract in the early stage of axial loading before starting to expand owing to the dilatancy effect, as is the case for many other geological materials. The test results in this study are discussed in relation to the deformation mechanism proposed in an earlier work.
A constitutive model for marine sediments containing natural gas hydrate is essential for the simulation of the geomechanical response to gas extraction from a gas-hydrate reservoir. In this study, the triaxial compressive properties of artificial methane-hydrate-bearing sediment samples reported in an earlier work were analyzed to examine the applicability of a nonlinear elastic constitutive model based on the Duncan-Chang model. The presented model considered the dependences of the mechanical properties on methane hydrate saturation and effective confining pressure. Some parameters were decided depending on the type of sand forming a specimen. The behaviors of lateral strain versus axial strain were also formulated as a function of effective confining pressure. The constitutive model presented in this study will provide a basis for an elastic analysis of the geomechanical behaviors of the gas-hydrate reservoir in the future study, although it is currently available to a limited extent.
On the basis of hypothetical particle‐level mechanisms, several constitutive models of hydrate‐bearing sediments have been proposed previously for gas production. However, to the best of our knowledge, the microstructural large‐strain behaviors of hydrate‐bearing sediments have not been reported to date because of the experimental challenges posed by the high‐pressure and low‐temperature testing conditions. Herein, a novel microtriaxial testing apparatus was developed, and the mechanical large‐strain behavior of hydrate‐bearing sediments with various hydrate saturation values (Sh = 0%, 39%, and 62%) was analyzed using microfocus X‐ray computed tomography. Patchy hydrates were observed in the sediments at Sh = 39%. The obtained stress‐strain relationships indicated strengthening with increasing hydrate saturation and a brittle failure mode of the hydrate‐bearing sand. Localized deformations were quantified via image processing at the submillimeter and micrometer scale. Shear planes and particle deformation and/or rotation were detected, and the shear band thickness decreased with increasing hydrate saturation.
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