Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 43, Issue 14, Pages 7442-7450Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1002/2016GL069951
Keywords
hydrate; micro-X-ray CT; triaxial test; shear; strength
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Funding
- Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan
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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 (S-h=0%, 39%, and 62%) was analyzed using microfocus X-ray computed tomography. Patchy hydrates were observed in the sediments at S-h=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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