Strain Rate‐Dependent Hardening‐Softening Characteristics of Gas Hydrate‐Bearing Sediments.

Deusner, Christian , Gupta, Shubhangi , Xie, X.‐G., Leung, Y. F. , Uchida, S. , Kossel, Elke and Haeckel, Matthias (2019) Strain Rate‐Dependent Hardening‐Softening Characteristics of Gas Hydrate‐Bearing Sediments. Open Access Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20 (11). pp. 4885-4905. DOI 10.1029/2019GC008458.

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Abstract

The presence of gas hydrates (GHs) increases the stiffness and strength of marine sediments. In elasto‐plastic constitutive models, it is common to consider GH saturation (Sh) as key internal variable for defining the contribution of GHs to composite soil mechanical behavior. However, the stress‐strain behavior of GH‐bearing sediments (GHBS) also depends on the microscale distribution of GH and on GH‐sediment fabrics. A thorough analysis of GHBS is difficult, because there is no unique relation between Sh and GH morphology. To improve the understanding of stress‐strain behavior of GHBS in terms of established soil models, this study summarizes results from triaxial compression tests with different Sh, pore fluids, effective confining stresses, and strain histories. Our data indicate that the mechanical behavior of GHBS strongly depends on Sh and GH morphology, and also on the strain‐induced alteration of GH‐sediment fabrics. Hardening‐softening characteristics of GHBS are strain rate‐dependent, which suggests that GH‐sediment fabrics dynamically rearrange during plastic yielding events. We hypothesize that rearrangement of GH‐sediment fabrics, through viscous deformation or transient dissociation and reformation of GHs, results in kinematic hardening, suppressed softening, and secondary strength recovery, which could potentially mitigate or counteract large‐strain failure events. For constitutive modeling approaches, we suggest that strain rate‐dependent micromechanical effects from alterations of the GH‐sediment fabrics can be lumped into a nonconstant residual friction parameter. We propose simple empirical evolution functions for the mechanical properties and calibrate the model parameters against the experimental data.

Plain Language Summary

Gas hydrates (GHs) are crystalline‐like solids, which are formed from natural gas molecules and water at high pressure and low temperature. GHs, and particularly methane hydrates, are naturally abundant in marine sediments. It is known that the presence of GH increases the mechanical stiffness and strength of sediments, and there is strong effort in analyzing and quantifying these effects in order to understand potential risks of sediment destabilization or slope failure. Based on our experimental results from high‐pressure geotechnical studies, we show that not only the initial amount and distribution of GH are important for the increased strength of GH‐bearing sediments but also the dynamic rearrangement of GH‐sediment fabrics during deformation characterizes the stress‐strain response and enables strength recovery after failure. We propose that different microstructural mechanisms contribute to this rearrangement and strength recovery of GH sediment. However, we consider these complicated processes in a simplified manner in an improved numerical model, which can be applied for geotechnical risk assessment on larger scales.

Document Type: Article
Funder compliance: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/603418
Keywords: Gas hydrate‐bearing sediments, High‐pressure studies, THCM modelling, Geomechanics, Slope stability, Gas seeps
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB2 Marine Biogeochemistry > FB2-MG Marine Geosystems
OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: AGU (American Geophysical Union), Wiley
Projects: SUGAR, MIDAS, Future Ocean, N_PolyU518/16
Date Deposited: 22 Nov 2019 07:50
Last Modified: 31 Jan 2022 09:21
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48218

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