Study on small-strain behaviours of methane hydrate sandy sediments using discrete element method
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London (UCL), Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom)
- Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ (United Kingdom)
Methane hydrate bearing soil has attracted increasing interest as a potential energy resource where methane gas can be extracted from dissociating hydrate-bearing sediments. Seismic testing techniques have been applied extensively and in various ways, to detect the presence of hydrates, due to the fact that hydrates increase the stiffness of hydrate-bearing sediments. With the recognition of the limitations of laboratory and field tests, wave propagation modelling using Discrete Element Method (DEM) was conducted in this study in order to provide some particle-scale insights on the hydrate-bearing sandy sediment models with pore-filling and cementation hydrate distributions. The relationship between shear wave velocity and hydrate saturation was established by both DEM simulations and analytical solutions. Obvious differences were observed in the dependence of wave velocity on hydrate saturation for these two cases. From the shear wave velocity measurement and particle-scale analysis, it was found that the small-strain mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sandy sediments are governed by both the hydrate distribution patterns and hydrate saturation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22118625
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1542, Issue 1; Conference: 7. international conference on micromechanics of granular media, Sydney (Australia), 8-12 Jul 2013; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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