Mechanical Behaviors of Sandy Sediments Bearing Pore-Filling Methane Hydrate under Different Intermediate Principal Stress
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 21, Issue 5
Abstract
Methane hydrates are an attractive source of future clean energy and are abundant in voids of sediments, in permafrost regions, and along continental slopes. Understanding the mechanical behavior of methane hydrate-bearing sediment (MHBS) is essential for commercial gas production from hydrate reservoirs. In this paper, the effects of the intermediate principal stress are studied on the microscopic and macroscopic mechanical behavior of MHBS-filled porous media. Using discrete element method (DEM) simulations, methane hydrates are modeled as cemented agglomerates filling the pores of soil at a specific hydration level. The simulated sample is sheared under strain-controlled conditions to different values of the intermediate principal stress ratio b. The results suggest evolution rules of the principal stresses that depend on the parameter b. The friction angle increases with b, reaching a peak value at a certain value, after which it decreases. Monitoring local variables, including principal strong fabric, contact rose diagram, coordination number, and damage parameter, the effects on the macroscopic bulk behavior are demonstrated. In particular, the changes in the fabric tensor are strongly correlated with response to changes in the principal stresses, the parameter b, and the strain tensor.
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Acknowledgments
The research was funded by the China Postdoctoral fund (with Grant No. 2019M651580), the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (with Grant No. 41877241), and Research Project of Chinese National major scientific instrument (with Grant No. 41827807). All the supports are greatly appreciated.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- b
- intermediate principal stress ratio;
- d
- dilatancy index;
- dɛd
- increment on the equivalent deviatoric strain;
- dɛv
- change in volumetric strain;
- D
- mean diameter of the soil particle;
- Ec
- Young's modulus of the soil;
- ea
- void ratio in the agglomerate;
- |Fc|
- magnitude of the contact force at contact c in the simulation;
- major principal fabric;
- intermediate principal fabric;
- minor principal fabric;
- Mcr
- critical stress ratio for different values of b;
- N
- number of MH agglomerates required in the sample;
- Nbf
- number of surviving MH bonds at any given state;
- Nc
- number of contacts;
- Ncf
- number of MH bonds in the initial state;
- number of the strong contacts;
- Np
- number of particles;
- np
- number of the particles in the agglomerate;
- component of the unit vector ns at the contact between grains i and j;
- p
- mean effective stress;
- q
- generalized shear stress;
- Ra
- equivalent radius of the sphere of equal volume;
- Rbf
- fraction of intact MH bonds;
- |ΔFp|
- magnitude of unbalanced force on particle p;
- η
- stress ratio;
- ɛd
- equivalent deviatoric strain;
- ɛv
- volumetric strain;
- ɛ1
- major principal strain;
- ɛ2
- intermediate principal strain;
- ɛ3
- minor principal strain;
- σ1
- major principal stress;
- σ2
- intermediate principal stress; and
- σ3
- minor principal stresses.
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International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 21 • Issue 5 • May 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2020
Accepted: Nov 4, 2020
Published online: Feb 22, 2021
Published in print: May 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 22, 2021
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