Abstract
A constitutive framework based on the concept of stress partition, referred to as SPF-MHBS (stress partition framework for methane hydrate-bearing sediment), is proposed to capture the mechanical behavior of methane hydrate-bearing sediments (MHBS) both with and without methane hydrate (MH) dissociation. Inspired by the effective stress principle, MHBS is treated as a composite material with the sediment matrix and MH as two individual components in SPF-MHBS. The effective stress of MHBS is jointly carried by the sediment matrix and MH under the assumption that the two components are subjected to the same strain. A significant advantage of this approach is that the deformation of MHBS caused by MH phase change can be naturally reflected due to stress transfer between the two components. Within SPF-MHBS, the choice of constitutive model for each of the two components is flexible, depending on test evidence and application purpose. A specific model developed within this framework is calibrated in this study based on a limited number of triaxial tests without MH dissociation. The calibrated model is then used to simulate the mechanical behavior of MHBS under a wide range of conditions, including different MH saturation, temperature, pore pressure, sediment density, and confining pressure, showing good agreement with test results. More importantly, the model is able to appropriately simulate the deformation of MHBS under both heating- and depressurization-induced MH dissociation conditions. All of the simulations of the tests on the same material are conducted using a same set of model parameters, highlighting the general applicability of the model.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability statement
The data used in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ando M (1975) Source mechanisms and tectonic significance of historical earthquakes along the Nankai Trough. Japan Tectonophys 27(2):119–140
Been K, Jefferies MG (1985) A state parameter for sands. Géotechnique 35(2):99–112
Boswell R (2007) Resource potential of methane hydrate coming into focus. J Petrol Sci Eng 56(1–3):9–13
Carol I, Rizzi E, Willam K (2001) On the formulation of anisotropic elastic degradation. I. Theory based on a pseudo-logarithmic damage tensor rate. International Journal of Solids and Structures 38(4): 491–518.
Cheng Z, Jeremić B (2009) Numerical modeling and simulation of pile in liquefiable soil. Soil Dyn Earthq Eng 29(11–12):1405–1416
Choi JH, Dai S, Lin JS, Seol Y (2018) Multistage triaxial tests on laboratory-formed methane hydrate-bearing sediments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123(5):3347–3357
Clayton CRI, Priest JA, Rees EVL (2010) The effects of hydrate cement on the stiffness of some sands. Géotechnique 60(6):435–445
Dafalias YF, Manzari MT (2004) Simple plasticity sand model accounting for fabric change effects. J Eng Mech 130(6):622–634
De La Fuente M, Vaunat J, Marín-Moreno H (2020) Consolidation of gas hydrate-bearing sediments with hydrate dissociation. In E3S Web of Conferences. EDP Sciences.1
Dejaloud H, Jafarian Y (2017) A micromechanical-based constitutive model for fibrous fine-grained composite soils. Int J Plast 89:150–172
Doghri I, Brassart L, Adam L, Gérard JS (2011) A second-moment incremental formulation for the mean-field homogenization of elasto-plastic composites. Int J Plast 27(3):352–371
Fang H, Shi K, Yu Y (2020) Geomechanical constitutive modelling of gas hydrate-bearing sediments by a state-dependent multishear bounding surface model. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 75:103119
Freij-Ayoub R, Tan C, Clennell B, Tohidi B, Yang J (2007) A wellbore stability model for hydrate bearing sediments. J Petrol Sci Eng 57(1–2):209–220
De La Fuente M, Vaunat J, Marín-Moreno H (2020) A densification mechanism to model the mechanical effect of methane hydrates in sandy sediments. Int J Numer Anal Meth Geomech 44(6):782–802
De La Fuente M, Vaunat J, Marín-Moreno H (2021) Modelling Methane Hydrate Saturation in Pores: Capillary Inhibition Effects. Energies 14(18):5627
Hance JJ (2003) Development of a database and assessment of seafloor slope stability based on published literature. Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
Helgerud MB, Dvorkin J, Nur A, Sakai A, Collett T (1999) Elastic-wave velocity in marine sediments with gas hydrates: Effective medium modeling. Geophys Res Lett 26(13):2021–2024
Huang L, Xu C, Xu J, Zhang X, Xia F (2021) The depressurization of natural gas hydrate in the multi-physics coupling simulation based on a new developed constitutive model. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 95:103963
Hyodo M, Li Y, Yoneda J, Nakata Y, Yoshimoto N, Nishimura A (2014) Effects of dissociation on the shear strength and deformation behavior of methane hydrate-bearing sediments. Mar Pet Geol 51(52–62):1
Hyodo M, Li Y, Yoneda J, Nakata Y, Yoshimoto N, Nishimura A, Song Y (2013) Mechanical behavior of gas-saturated methane hydrate-bearing sediments. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 118(10):5185–5194
Hyodo M, Nakata Y, Yoshimoto N, Ebinuma T (2005) Basic research on the mechanical behavior of methane hydrate-sediments mixture. Soils Found 45(1):75–85
Hyodo M, Yoneda J, Yoshimoto N, Nakata Y (2013) Mechanical and dissociation properties of methane hydrate-bearing sand in deep seabed. Soils Found 53(2):299–314
Hyodo M, Nakata Y, Yoshimoto N, Fukunaga M, Kubo K, Nanjo Y, Matsuo T, Nakamura K (2002) Triaxial compressive strength of methane hydrate. In: The Twelfth International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference. OnePetro.
Jung JW, Santamarina JC (2012) Hydrate formation and growth in pores. J Cryst Growth 345(1):61–68
Klar A, Soga K, Ng MYA (2010) Coupled deformation–flow analysis for methane hydrate extraction. Géotechnique 60(10):765–776
Li XS, Dafalias YF (2012) Anisotropic critical state theory: role of fabric. J Eng Mech 138(3):263–275
Li Y, Wang L, Shen S, Liu T, Zhao J, Sun X (2021) Triaxial tests on water-saturated gas hydrate-bearing fine-grained samples of the South China Sea under different drainage conditions. Energy Fuels 35(5):4118–4126
Lijith KP, Malagar BR, Singh DN (2019) A comprehensive review on the geomechanical properties of gas hydrate bearing sediments. Mar Pet Geol 104:270–285
Liu J, Wang S, Jiang M, Wu W (2021) A state-dependent hypoplastic model for methane hydrate-bearing sands. Acta Geotech 16(1):77–91
Liu X, Flemings PB (2007) Dynamic multiphase flow model of hydrate formation in marine sediments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 112(B3).
Madhusudhan BN, Clayton CRI, Priest JA (2019) The effects of hydrate on the strength and stiffness of some sands. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 124(1):65–75
Makogon YF, Holditch SA, Makogon TY (2007) Natural gas-hydrates-A potential energy source for the 21st Century. J Petrol Sci Eng 56(1–3):14–31
Masui A, Haneda H, Ogata Y, Aoki K (2005) Effects of methane hydrate formation on shear strength of synthetic methane hydrate sediments. In: The Fifteenth International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference. OnePetro.
Masui A, Haneda H, Ogata Y, Aoki K (2006) Triaxial Compression test on submarine sediment containing methane hydrate in deep sea off the coast off Japan. In: Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference, Japanese Geotechnical Society
Masui A, Miyazaki K, Haneda H, Aoki K, Ogata Y (2008) Mechanical characteristics of natural and artificial gas hydrate bearing sediments. The 6th International Conference on Gas Hydrates: ICGH 2008, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
Masui A, Miyazaki K, Haneda H, Ogata Y, Aoki K (2008) Mechanical properties of natural gas hydrate bearing sediments retrieved from eastern Nankai trough. In Offshore Technology Conferenc, OnePetro
Miranda CR, Matsuoka T (2008) First-principles study on mechanical properties of CH4 hydrate. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Gas Hydrates.
Miyazaki K, Tenma N, Aoki K, Yamaguchi T (2012) A nonlinear elastic model for triaxial compressive properties of artificial methane-hydrate-bearing sediment samples. Energies 5(10):4057–4075
Moridis G (2014) User's manual of the TOUGH+ CORE code v1. 5: A general-purpose simulator of non-isothermal flow and transport through porous and fractured media
Ng CWW, Baghbanrezvan S, Kadlicek T, Zhou C (2020) A state-dependent constitutive model for methane hydrate-bearing sediments inside the stability region. Géotechnique 70(12):1094–1108
Nguyen L, Fatahi B (2016) Behaviour of clay treated with cement & fibre while capturing cementation degradation and fibre failure–C3F Model. Int J Plast 81:168–195
Ning F, Yu Y, Kjelstrup S, Vlugt TJ, Glavatskiy K (2012) Mechanical properties of clathrate hydrates: status and perspectives. Energy Environ Sci 5(5):6779–6795
Ning F, Wu N, Li S, Zhang K, Yu Y, Liu L, Sun J, Jiang G, Sun C, Chen G (2013) Estimation of in-situ mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments from well logging. Pet Explor Devel 40(4):542–547.
Ohgaki K, Takano K, Sangawa H, Matsubara T, Nakano S (1996) Methane exploitation by carbon dioxide from gas hydrates-phase equilibria for CO2-CH4 mixed hydrate system. J Chem Eng Jpn 29(3):478–483
Peng X, Tang S, Hu N, Han J (2016) Determination of the Eshelby tensor in mean-field schemes for evaluation of mechanical properties of elastoplastic composites. Int J Plast 76:147–165
Pinkert S, Grozic JLH (2014) Prediction of the mechanical response of hydrate-bearing sands. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 119(6):4695–4707
Pinkert S, Grozic JLH (2016) Experimental verification of a prediction model for hydrate-bearing sand. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 121(6):4147–4155
Pinyol N, Vaunat J, Alonso EE (2007) A constitutive model for soft clayey rocks that includes weathering effects. Géotechnique 57(2):137–151
Roscoe KH, Schofield A, Wroth AP (1958) On the Yielding of Soils Géotechnique 8(1):22–53
Ruppel C (2011) Methane hydrates and the future of natural gas. MITEI Nat Gas Rep, Suppl Pap Methane Hydrates 4:25
Rutqvist J, Moridis GJ, Grover T, Silpngarmlert S, Collett TS, Holdich SA (2012) Coupled multiphase fluid flow and wellbore stability analysis associated with gas production from oceanic hydrate-bearing sediments. J Petrol Sci Eng 92:65–81
Schofield AN, Wroth P (1968) Critical state soil mechanics, vol 310. McGraw-hill, London
Shen S, Li Y, Sun X, Wang L, Song Y (2021) Analysis of the mechanical properties of methane hydrate-bearing sands with various pore pressures and confining pressures. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 87:103786
Sloan ED Jr, Koh CA (2007) Clathrate hydrates of natural gases. CRC Press
Sun X, Wang L, Luo H, Song Y, Li Y (2019) Numerical modeling for the mechanical behavior of marine gas hydrate-bearing sediments during hydrate production by depressurization. J Petrol Sci Eng 177:971–982
Sánchez M, Gai X, Santamarina JC (2017) A constitutive mechanical model for gas hydrate bearing sediments incorporating inelastic mechanisms. Comput Geotech 84:28–46
Taiebat M, Dafalias YF (2008) SANISAND: Simple anisotropic sand plasticity model. Int J Numer Anal Meth Geomech 32(8):915–948
Taiebat M, Jeremić B, Dafalias YF, Kaynia AM, Cheng Z (2010) Propagation of seismic waves through liquefied soils. Soil Dyn Earthq Eng 30(4):236–257
Terzaghi K (1943) Theoretical soil mechanics. Johnwiley and Sons, New York
Uchida S, Lin JS, Myshakin EM, Seol Y, Boswell R (2019) Numerical simulations of sand migration during gas production in hydrate-bearing sands interbedded with thin mud layers at site NGHP-02-16. Mar Pet Geol 108:639–647
Uchida S, Soga K, Yamamoto K (2012) Critical state soil constitutive model for methane hydrate soil. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008661
Waite WF, Santamarina JC, Cortes DD, Dugan B, Espinoza DN, Germaine J, Jiang J, Jun JW, Kneafsey TJ, Shin H, Soga K, Winters WJ, Yun TS (2009) Physical properties of hydrate‐bearing sediments. Reviews Geophys. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008RG000279
Wang R, Cao W, Xue L, Zhang JM (2021) An anisotropic plasticity model incorporating fabric evolution for monotonic and cyclic behavior of sand. Acta Geotech 16:43–65
Wang L, Li Y, Wu P, Shen S, Liu T, Leng S, Chang Y, Zhao J (2020) Physical and mechanical properties of the overburden layer on gas hydrate-bearing sediments of the South China sea. J Petrol Sci Eng 189:107020
Wang L, Sun X, Shen S, Wu P, Liu T, Liu W, Zhao J, Li Y (2021) Undrained triaxial tests on water-saturated methane hydrate–bearing clayey-silty sediments of the South China Sea. Can Geotech J 58(3):351–366
Wang Y, Wang R, Zhang JM (2021) Large-scale seismic seafloor stability analysis in the South China Sea. Ocean Eng 235:109334
Wang R, Zhang JM, Wang G (2014) A unified plasticity model for large post-liquefaction shear deformation of sand. Comput Geotech 59:54–66
Wang L, Zhao J, Sun X, Wu P, Shen S, Liu T, Li Y (2020) Comprehensive review of geomechanical constitutive models of gas hydrate-bearing sediments. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 88:103755
White MD, Kneafsey TJ, Seol Y, Waite WF, Uchida S, Lin JS, Myshakin EM, Gai X, Gupta S, Reagan MT, Queiruga AF, Kimoto S (2020) An international code comparison study on coupled thermal, hydrologic and geomechanical processes of natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments. Mar Pet Geol 120(104566):1
Wu Y, Liao J, Zhang W, Cui J (2021) Characterization of stress–dilatancy behavior for methane hydrate-bearing sediments. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 92:104000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104000
Wu J, Ning F, Trinh TT, Kjelstrup S, Vlugt TJ, He J, H B, Skallerud, Zhang Z, (2015) Mechanical instability of monocrystalline and polycrystalline methane hydrates. Nat Commun 6(1):1–10
Xue L, Yu JK, Pan JH, Wang R, Zhang JM (2021) Three-dimensional anisotropic plasticity model for sand subjected to principal stress value change and axes rotation. Int J Numer Anal Meth Geomech 45(3):353–381
Yan C, Cheng Y, Li M, Han Z, Zhang H, Li Q, Teng F, Ding J (2017) Mechanical experiments and constitutive model of natural gas hydrate reservoirs. Int J Hydrogen Energy 42(31):19810–19818
Yang Z, Zhou J, Chen Q, Wan Y, Wei C, Meng X (2020) Triaxial test and constitutive model for hydrate bearing clayey sand. J Yangtze River Sci Res Inst 37(12):139–145 ((in Chinese))
Yao YP, Liu L, Luo T, Tian Y, Zhang JM (2019) Unified hardening (UH) model for clays and sands. Comput Geotech 110:326–343
Yoneda J, Masui A, Konno Y, Jin Y, Egawa K, Kida M, Ito T, Nagao J, Tenma N (2015) Mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing turbidite reservoir in the first gas production test site of the Eastern Nankai Trough. Mar Pet Geol 66:471–486
Yun TS, Francisca FM, Santamarina JC, Ruppel C (2005) Compressional and shear wave velocities in uncemented sediment containing gas hydrate. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(10).
Zhang X, Xia F, Xu C, Han Y (2019) Stability analysis of near-wellbore reservoirs considering the damage of hydrate-bearing sediments. J Mar Sci Eng 7(4):102
Zhao J, Liu D, Yang M, Song Y (2014) Analysis of heat transfer effects on gas production from methane hydrate by depressurization. Int J Heat Mass Transf 77:529–541
Zhao YH, Weng GJ (1996) Plasticity of a two-phase composite with partially debonded inclusions. Int J Plast 12(6):781–804
Zhou M, Soga K, Yamamoto K (2018) Upscaled anisotropic methane hydrate critical state model for turbidite hydrate-bearing sediments at East Nankai Trough. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 123(8):6277–6298
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52022046 and No. 52038005) and the State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Hydraulic Engineering (No. 2021-KY-04) for funding this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Wang, R., Yu, J. et al. SPF-MHBS: a stress partition constitutive framework for methane hydrate-bearing sediments. Acta Geotech. 18, 1919–1944 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01621-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01621-6