Cohesive Zone Modeling in Geomaterial

Technical Report · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1494353· OSTI ID:1494353

Provost, Rachel E. ^[1]; Newell, Pania ^[2]; Matteo, Edward N. ^[2]

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1. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The purpose of the two projects discussed in this report is to use the cohesive zone method to evaluate fracture properties of geomaterials. Two experimental tests, the push-out test and the notched three-point bend test, were modeled computationally using finite element analysis and cohesive zone modeling to extract load and displacement information and ultimately determine failure behavior. These results are to be compared with experimental tests when they are available. The first project used the push-out test to investigate the shear bond strength at the cement- shale interface. The second project explored the effects of scaling a notched three-point bending specimen to study fracture toughness characteristics. The bond strength and fracture toughness of a material and its interfaces are important parameters to consider in subsurface applications so that zonal isolation can be achieved.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1494353
• Report Number(s): SAND--2015-9373; 672309
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
58 GEOSCIENCES