Modeling the Mechanical Behavior of Methane Hydrate-Bearing Sand Using the Equivalent Granular Void Ratio

For the safe extraction of methane from hydrate reservoirs, modeling the mechanical behavior of the methane hydrate-bearing soil properly is crucial in order to enable designers to analysis hydrate-dissociation-induced geotechnical failures. Hydrate morphology is one of major factors affecting the mechanical behavior of soil containing hydrate. This paper presents a new constitutive model for methane hydrate-bearing sand (MHBS) using the equivalent granular void ratio as a state variable, which can quantify the effects of the pore-filling and load-bearing hydrate morphology under a unifying framework. The proposed model is a combination of generalized plasticity and an elastic damage model so as to take into account the observed frictional and bonding aspects of MHBS, respectively. By using the concept of state-dependent dilatancy, the equivalent granular void ratio is formulated and adopted in the generalized plasticity model. In addition, a nonlinear damage function is implemented to elucidate the degradation of hydrate bonds with respect to shearing. Compared with the basic generalized plasticity model for host sand, only three additional parameters are required to capture key mechanical behaviors of MHBS. By comparing the triaxial test results of MHBS synthesized from a range of host sands with a predicted behavior by the proposed model, it is demonstrated that the new model can satisfactorily capture the stress–strain and volumetric behavior of MHBS under different hydrate saturations, confining pressures, and void ratios.