An SMP critical state model for methane hydrate‐bearing sands

• Published in: International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics
• Main Authors: Lin, Jeen‐Shang, Seol, Yongkoo, Choi, Jeong Hoon
• Other Authors: National Energy Technology Laboratory, US Department of Energy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2015
• Subjects: Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nag.2347; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fnag.2347; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/nag.2347

Summary Mechanical properties of methane hydrate‐bearing soils are complex. Their behavior undergoes a significant change when hydrates dissociate and become methane gas. On the other hand, methane hydrates are ice‐like compounds and, depending on the hydrate accumulation habits and the degree of hydrate saturation, may cement soil particles into stronger and stiffer soils. A new constitutive model is proposed that is capable of capturing essential characteristics of hydrate‐bearing soils. The core of the model includes the spatial mobilized plane concept; a transformed stress, t ij the critical state; and the subloading framework. The proposed model gives soil responses due to stress changes or hydrate saturation changes or both. The performance of the model has been found satisfactory, over a range of hydrate saturation and confining pressures, using triaxial test data from laboratory‐synthesized samples and from field samples extracted from Nankai Trough, Japan. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.