Three-dimensional DEM modeling of the stress–strain behavior for the gap-graded soils subjected to internal erosion

In this work, 3D discrete element method modeling of drained shearing tests with gap-graded soils after internal erosion is carried out based on published experimental results. The erosion in the model is achieved by randomly deleting fine particles, mimicking the salt dissolving process in the experiments. The present model successfully simulates the stress–strain behavior of the physical test by employing the roll resistance and lateral membrane. The case without erosion shows a strain-softening and dilative response, while strain-hardening and contractive response starts to occur as the degree of erosion increases. The dilative to contractive transition is mainly caused by the increase in void ratio due to the loss of fine particles. The change from dilative behavior to contractive behavior is more abrupt for the specimen with larger fine particle percentage because the soil skeleton is mainly controlled by the fine particles instead of by the coarse soil particles. The transition from “fines in sand” to “sand in fines” might be associated with the rapid increasing in the contacts associated with fine particles in the specimen as the percentage of fine content increases. The erosion scenario based on the hydraulic gradient is also modeled by deleting the fine particles based on the ranking of the contact force. Compared with the scenario based on random deletion, the remaining fine particles for the erosion scenario based on the ranking of contact force are more dispersedly distributed, which might benefit the small strain stiffness but result in a smaller strength. This work provides some insights for better understanding the mechanism behind the internal erosion and the associated stress–strain behavior of soil. The gradient of the critical state line increases with more loss of fine particles denoting that the fine particles are helpful for holding the structure of the soils from larger deformation.

     

三维离散元单轴试验模拟甲烷水合物宏观三轴强度特性

填充型水合物的砂性能源土试样可视为特殊的散粒体材料,即砂粒和水合物颗粒混合物,具有明显的非连续特征。为研究填充型水合物的能源土力学特性,初步探索了甲烷水合物在不同温度、反压条件下加荷模式的离散元模拟方法。离散元模拟中,将水合物块体视为由大量颗粒通过强胶结作用凝聚而成的整体,室内试验中的内部孔隙水压作用转化为水合物颗粒间的胶结力,故需要合理确定颗粒间胶结模型参数来实现反压的影响作用。通过参数反演建立了宏观强度、刚度参数与平行胶结模型的微观胶结参数间的宏、微观关系,基于已有室内甲烷水合物三轴试验资料,确定了给定温度和反压条件下的微观胶结参数取值,随后进行离散元单轴压缩试验。离散元单轴压缩试验模拟获得的水合物强度特性,与室内三轴试验结果符合较好;通过建立的宏、微观参数间的关系,实现了不同温度、反压下的水合物加荷模式的模拟。为进一步提出深海能源土离散元数值试验成样方法--孔隙填充水合物生成技术,形成含填充型水合物的能源土试样,研究其力学和变形特性奠定基础。     

四氢呋喃水合物沉积物静动力学性质试验研究

利用研制的天然气水合物沉积物合成与力学性质测试一体化试验设备,以粉细砂土和蒙古砂土作为沉积物骨架,对四氢呋喃(THF)水合物沉积物进行了静动三轴试验,获得了水合物分解前后沉积物样品的应力-应变关系、强度和液化特性,对两种骨架的水合物沉积物的性质进行了对比,同时将水合物分解后的沉积物与对应的饱和土的动三轴试验结果进行了对比。结果表明：水合物沉积物均表现为塑性破坏;围压越大,水合物沉积物强度越高;水合物分解导致沉积物的强度大幅降低;水合物分解后沉积物液化所需的时间较饱和水沉积物缩短     

水合物储层伺服降压开采模型试验研究

深海水合物赋存于一定的温度和压力环境下,降压开采时降压速率对分解产气速率和储层变形特性影响显著。利用浙江大学自主研发的水合物降压开采试验装置,通过伺服控制降压速率,初步开展了水合物储层模型降压开采试验,研究了储层温度场、孔压场、产气量等的响应特性,探讨了降压速率对产气效率和储层变形特性的影响规律。试验表明：水合物竖井降压开采时,开采井周围储层温度率先下降,分解域由井周逐步向周围发展。适当提高降压速率能够提高储层开采效率,但降压速率过快时易导致水合物重生成,反而不利于水合物高效持续稳定开采,开采时应选择合理的降压速率以达到最优产气效率。开采过程中根据储层孔隙与外界连通程度,储层孔隙状态可分为完全封闭型、局部封闭型和开放型3种类型。储层开采试验完成后,浅层土体出现 3 种不同变形特征的区域：I 区为井周土层,呈漏斗型下陷;II 区土层平坦,无明显扰动痕迹;III 区为边界土层,该处水气产出受阻导致部分气体向上迁移引起土丘状隆起带出现。这些变形特征与气体在储层中的迁移路径和运移模式相关。通过相似性分析,给出了模型与原型分解时间和产气量等的对应关系。     

考虑含水合物沉积物损伤的多场耦合模型研究

天然气水合物是一种新型的清洁能源,具有广阔的应用前景。但在水合物开采过程中温压条件的改变会引起水合物的分解,导致含水合物沉积物胶结强度的丧失;同时,沉积物在加载过程中由于其内部微裂纹、缺陷逐渐扩展以及土颗粒间的水合物逐渐破碎也会引发含水合物沉积物的损伤,而以往对于水合物分解过程中多场耦合模型的研究忽略了沉积物结构损伤演化过程及其对耦合过程的影响。因此,基于连续损伤理论,在损伤统计本构模型中引入三参数的Weibull分布和残余强度修正系数,建立起考虑损伤阈值和残余强度影响的含水合物沉积物损伤统计本构模型;进而将本构模型嵌入到水合物分解过程的多场耦合模型中,建立了考虑含水合物沉积物损伤的温度-应力-渗流-化学（THMC）多场耦合数学模型;基于该模型讨论了含水合物沉积物结构损伤对水合物分解过程中沉积物储层的变形、压力、温度等因素的影响规律。通过计算分析发现：含水合物沉积物结构损伤对水合物分解的多场耦合过程具有显著影响,并且随着分解时间的增加,其影响逐渐增大。     

Three-dimensional hydromechanical modeling of internal erosion in dike-on-foundation

Currently, numerical studies at the real scale of an entire engineering structure considering internal erosion are still rare. This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation of the effects of internal erosion within a linear dike located on a foundation. A two-dimensional (2D) finite element code has been extended to 3D in order to analyze the impact of internal erosion under more realistic hydromechanical conditions. The saturated soil has been considered as a mixture of four interacting constituents: soil skeleton, erodible fines, fluidized fine particles, and fluid. The detachment and transport of the fine particles have been modeled with a mass exchange model between the solid and the fluid phases. An elastoplastic constitutive model for sand-silt mixtures has been developed to monitor the effect of the evolution of both the porosity and the fines content induced by internal erosion upon the behavior of the soil skeleton. An unsaturated flow condition has been implemented into this coupled hydromechanical model to describe more accurately the seepage within the dike and the foundation. A stabilized finite element method was used to eliminate spurious numerical oscillations in solving the convection-dominated transport of fluidized particles. This numerical tool was then applied to a specific dike-on-foundation case subjected to internal erosion induced by a leakage located at the bottom of the foundation. Different failure modes were observed and analyzed for different boundary conditions, including the significant influence of the leakage cavity size and the elevation of the water level at the upstream and downstream sides of the dike.     

Internal erosion in dike-on-foundation modeled by a coupled hydromechanical approach

One of the major causes of instability in geotechnical structures such as dikes or earth dams is internal erosion, an insidious process that occurs over a long period of time. Research on this topic is still fairly new and much more needs to be understood in order to solve the problems posed by this phenomenon. This paper proposes a hydromechanical model based on porous continuous medium theory to assess how internal erosion impacts the safety of earthen structures. The saturated soil is considered as a mixture of four interacting constituents: soil skeleton, erodible fines, fluidized fine particles, and fluid. The detachment and transport of the fine particles are described by a mass exchange model between the solid and the fluid phases. An elastoplastic constitutive model for sand-silt mixtures has been developed to monitor the effect of the evolution of both porosity and fines content induced by internal erosion upon the behavior of the soil skeleton. The model has been numerically solved with the finite element method. It has then been applied to the specific case study of a dike foundation subjected to internal erosion induced by the presence of a karstic cavity beneath the alluvium layer. The numerical results show the onset of erosion, the time-space evolution of the eroded zone, and the hydromechanical response of the soil constituting the dike, all of which highlights the effects of the cavity location, the erosion rate, and the fines content.     

含天然气水合物沉积物分解过程的有限元模拟

温度和压力的变化会引起含天然气水合物沉积物的分解,其过程伴随着相态转换、孔隙水压力和气压力耗散、热传导、骨架变形等过程的相互耦合作用。基于多孔介质理论建立了描述含天然气水合物沉积物分解过程的数学模型,考虑了水合物分解产生的水、气流动、水合物相变和分解动力学过程、热传导、骨架变形等过程的耦合作用。基于有限元法,建立了模拟水合物分解过程的数值模型,并编制了计算机分析程序。通过对降压法和升温法开采过程的数值模拟,揭示了在水合物分解过程中沉积物储层的变形、压力、温度等因素的变化规律。结果表明：降压法和升温法都会导致储层变形以及产生超孔隙压力,但两种方法作用效果不同;同时,水合物分解过程包含渗流及热传导作用。     

Discrete numerical modeling of particle transport in granular filters

Granular filters are an essential component in earth dams to protect the dam core from seepage erosion. This paper uses the particle flow method (PFM) to study the mechanism of particle transport in a base soil–filter system. The distributions of the eroded base-soil particles in different filters are traced and analyzed. The eroded mass and intruding depth of the eroded particles into the filters are obtained under different times and hydraulic gradients. The simulation results show that the eroded mass and intruding depth of the base-soil particles into the filter are related to the representative particle size ratio of the base soil to the filter, hydraulic gradient and erosion time. The numerical predictions are also compared with the empirical filter design criterion. The results show that the particle flow model provides an effective approach for studying the filtration micro-property and the erosion mechanism in a base soil–filter system, which is useful for filter design.     

水合物沉积物力学性质的三维离散元分析

水合物沉积物力学特性研究是天然气水合物开采领域中的热点问题。为深入了解水合物对沉积物力学特性的影响,在提出一个新的水合物沉积物离散元数值试样制备方法的基础上,模拟了不同水合物饱和度沉积物试样的三轴排水试验,并从其应力-应变关系、体变特性、弹性模量及峰值强度等方面对模拟结果及已有室内三轴试验结果进行了对比,然后利用该方法对具有不同微观胶结参数的水合物沉积物样进行了三轴离散元数值试验。研究结果表明：所提出的离散元模拟方法能较好地反映水合物沉积物的主要力学特性;天然气水合物与土颗粒间胶结性能的改变会对水合物沉积物的力学响应产生一定的影响;水合物沉积物强度和模量的增加是孔隙填充水合物和粒间胶结水合物共同作用的结果。     

富水砂层基坑止水缺陷高宽比对漏水漏砂的影响

在富水砂层地质条件下,基坑支护常因止水缺陷导致水土大量流失,进而引发地表沉降。目前有关止水缺陷导致基坑漏水漏砂灾害方面的研究还有待深入。本文以江西省南昌市临近赣江某地铁基坑砂土为研究对象,考虑基坑止水缺陷高宽比因素,通过可视化室内实验装置研究基坑缺陷漏水漏砂灾害的演化过程,并利用PFC3D软件进行模拟对比分析,探究几何形态和微观变化过程。结果表明：止水缺陷高宽比越大,漏水漏砂发展速度越快,颗粒流失速率越大,砂土颗粒受侵蚀范围越大;缺陷高宽比由1:1增加至2:1时,颗粒损失个数由2673扩大至40127,土拱形成时间从60万步发展至无法形成土拱,存在出现土拱时的临界缺陷高宽值。数值模拟过程中的配位数波动表明,漏水漏砂过程中细颗粒与粗颗粒骨架之间一直产生着剧烈碰撞,水土的流失导致孔隙率与渗透系数的增加,进而又加剧漏水漏砂现象。     

Effects of internal pores on the mechanical properties of marine calcareous sand particles

Calcareous sand is a typical problematic marine sediment because of its angular and porous particles. The effects of internal pores on the mechanical properties of calcareous sand particles have rarely been investigated. In this paper, the apparent morphology and internal structure of calcareous sand particles are determined by scanning electron microscopy and computed tomography tests, finding that the superficial pores connect inside and outside of the particles, forming a well-developed network of cavities and an internal porosity of up to 40%. The effects of particle morphology and internal porosity on the mechanical responses of particle were investigated by conducting photo-related compression test and 3D numerical simulations. Two failure modes are observed for the porous calcareous sand, i.e., compressive failure indicates that the particle skeleton is continually compressed and fragmented into small detritus without obvious splitting, and tensile failure indicates that the particles are broken into several fragments when the axial force clearly peaks. Calcareous sand particles with a high internal porosity or with small and dense pores often exhibit compressive failure, and vice versa. The particle strength is considerably reduced by increasing the internal porosity, but affected by pore size in nonlinear correlation. The crushing stress–strain points can be well fitted by an exponential curve, which is supplied for discussion.

     

Investigation of slope instability induced by seepage and erosion by a particle method

A novel particle based Bluff Morphology Model (BMM) developed by the authors is extended in this paper to investigate the effect of two dimensional seepage on the stability and collapse of soil slopes and levees. To incorporate the seepage in the model, Darcy’s law is applied to the interactions among neighbouring soil particles and ghost particles are introduced along the enclosed soil boundary so that no fluid crosses the boundary. The contribution of partially saturated soils and matric suction, as well as the change in hydraulic conductivity due to seepage, are predicted well by the present model. The predicted time evolution of slope stability and seepage induced collapse are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results for homogeneous non-cohesive sand and multiple layered cohesive soils. Rapid drawdown over a sand soil is also investigated, and the location and time of the levee collapse occurrence are well captured. A toe erosion model is incorporated in the BMM model, and the location and quantity of erosion from lateral seepage flow is well predicted. The interplay of erosion, seepage and slope instability is examined.     

The Geochemical Context of Gas Hydrate in the Eastern Nankai Trough

Abstract. Geochemical studies for gas hydrate, gas and organic matter collected from gas hydrate research wells drilled at the landward side of the eastern Nankai Trough, offshore Tokai, Japan, are reported. Organic matter in the 2355 m marine sediments drilled to Eocene is mainly composed of Type III kerogen with both marine and terrigenous organic input. The gas hydrate-bearing shallow sediments are immature for hydrocarbon generation, whereas the sediments below 2100 mbsf are thermally mature. The origins of gases change from microbial to thermogenic at around 1500 mbsf.
Carbon isotope compositions of CH₄ and CO₂, and hydrocarbon compositions consistently suggest that the CH₄ in the gas hydrate-bearing sediments is generated by microbial reduction of CO₂. The δ¹³C depth-profiles of CH₄ and CO₂ suggest that the microbial methanogenesis is less active in the Nankai Trough sediments compared with other gas hydrate-bearing sediments where solid gas hydrate samples of microbial origin were recovered. Since in situ generative-potential of microbial methane in the Nankai Trough sediments is interpreted to be low due to the low total organic carbon content (0.5 % on the average) in the gas hydrate-bearing shallow sediments, upward migration of microbial methane and selective accumulation into permeable sands should be necessary for the high concentration of gas hydrate in discrete sand layers.     

满流条件下管道破损诱发渗流侵蚀的试验研究

针对富水砂层中地下管道破损诱发地面沉降的问题,设计了一套可视化试验装置,对骨架粒径d90 =1.45～8.45 mm的11种砂土样、5种满流流速下土体渗流侵蚀诱发地表沉降的规律进行了研究。研究表明：（1）管道破损诱发的土体渗流侵蚀有3种模式,分别为：只突水无沉降、形成土拱并发生沉降和溃砂沉降;（2）土体骨架粒径、破损口尺寸、厚跨比是决定土体产生何种渗流侵蚀模式的主要因素,满流流速主要影响土体沉降范围;（3）管道破损口上方土体形成土拱或溃砂时,土体骨架粒径d90与厚跨比r的关系为：当8.0≥r≥4.2时,d90随r的增大呈抛物线下降;当12.5≥r≥8.0时,d90保持不变;（4）管道破损口上方土体形成土拱或溃砂时,流速为0的初始沉降半径、沉降深度由破损口直径D与土体平均粒径d50的比值（D/d50）决定;沉降半径、沉降深度均随满流流速的增大而线性增大;形成土拱时,沉降半径、沉降深度随流速增大的扩展速度（VL、VH）与D/d50呈对数关系;溃砂时,沉降半径随流速增大的扩展速度VL规律如下：当23.0≥D/d50≥6.0时,VL随D/d50的增加而线性增大,当42.0≥D/d50≥23.0时,VL随D/d50的增大呈对数减小。     

A state-dependent critical state model for methane hydrate-bearing sand

Methane hydrate exists in the pores of methane hydrate-bearing sand (MHBS) and is considered to be a potentially significant source of methane and thus energy for mankind. However, before conducting a large-scale extraction of methane from MHBS, it is crucial to simulate the mechanical behaviour of MHBS and evaluate its stability during drilling and methane production. In this paper, a state-dependent critical state model for MHBS is presented. The critical state of MHBS is discussed, and critical state line formulations are introduced as functions of hydrate saturation. A simple nonlinear bonding and linear debonding law is incorporated considering the cementing mechanism of hydrate. A modified state-dependent dilatancy is proposed to account for the effects of stress level, internal state (density), bonding strength and hydrate saturation. Determination of the model parameters is described in detail. The proposed model is employed to predict results of drained triaxial compression tests on MHBS. Satisfactory performance is demonstrated, i.e., the model can adequately capture the stress–strain and volume change behaviours of MHBS over a wide range of hydrate saturations, confining pressures and densities using a unified set of parameters.     

A coupled discrete element model for the simulation of soil and water flow through an orifice

Soil erosion around defective underground pipes can cause ground collapses and sinkholes in urban areas. Most of these soil erosion events are caused by fluidization of the surrounding soil with subsequent washing into defective sewer pipes. In this study, this soil erosion process is simplified as the gradual washout of sand particles mixed with water through an orifice. The discrete element method is used to simulate the large deformation behavior of the sand particles, and the Darcy fluid model is coupled with this approach to simulate fluid flow through porous sand media. A coupled 3D discrete element model is developed and implemented based on this scheme. To simulate previous experiments using this coupled model considering the current computing capacity, we incorporated a ‘supply layer’ to study the continuous erosion process. The coupled model can predict the erosion flow rates of sand and water and the shape of erosion void. Thus, the model can be used as an effective and efficient tool to investigate the soil erosion process around defective pipes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of AVO Analysis to Seismic Data for Detection of Gas below Methane Hydrate Stability Zone in Nankai Trough Area

Abstract. For the purpose of development of methane hydrate, occurring in the deep marine subsurface, as a resource, the most important issue is to understand the methane hydrate system (generation, migration and accumulation) as well as to delineate the methane hydrate reservoir properties. We have applied the Amplitude Versus Offset (AVO) analysis to the seismic data acquired in the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, in order to confirm the occurrence of gas just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone, assuming that gas will show a so-called Class-3 AVO response. Knowledge of the amount and occurrence of gas in the sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone is one of the keys to understand the methane hydrate system.
We have utilized the qualitative analysis of AVO methodology to delineate how gas is located below the BSR, which is thought to be the reflection event from the interface between the methane hydrate-bearing zone and the underlying gas-bearing zone. In the region of MITI Nankai Trough Well PSW-3, we observe two BSRs separated by 25 ms. After AVO modeling using well data, we applied AVO attribute analysis and attribute crossplot analysis to the seismic data. Finally we applied an offset-amplitude analysis to CMP gather data at specific locations to confirm the results of AVO attribute analysis. The AVO analysis shows that there is very little gas located in the underlying sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone. This result supports the fact that we could not obtain any clear evidence of gas occurrence just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone in the Nankai Trough well drilling.     

On the evaluation of internal stability of gap-graded soil: a status quo review

Internal instability is a phenomenon of fine particle redistribution in granular materials under the seepage action and consequent change in the soil’s internal structure and hydraulic and mechanical properties. It is one of the primary causes of failures of sand-gravel foundations and embankment dams. The criteria establishment is considered the key to solving the erosion problems, so the existing internal stability criteria need a review and classification to study the recent development trends in soil seepage and erosion. Therefore, this paper aims at reviewing the internal stability factors of gap-graded soil with a focus on the internal erosion mechanism and internal stability evaluation based on geometric and hydraulic criteria. Firstly, the paper compared the effect of several commonly used geometric criteria for gap-graded soil evaluation, such as particle size, fine content, void ratio, and fractal dimension. Furthermore, it provided a hydraulic criteria overview and analyzed the effects of the hydraulic gradient, hydraulic shear stress, confining pressure, and pore velocity on internal erosion. The geometric–hydraulic coupling methods were introduced, with a detailed elaboration of the erosion resistance index method based on accumulated dissipated energy. The capabilities and limitations of these criteria were discussed throughout the paper. It was found that combined Kezdi’s criterion and Kenney and Lau’s criterion is more reliable to evaluate internal stability of soil. The gap-graded soil with fine particle content higher than 35% is not necessarily internally stable. Finally, the energy-based method (erosion resistance index method) can effectively reproduce the total amount of erosion mass and the final spatial distribution of fine particles and identifies erosion. The review's outcome can be used as a basis to evaluate the internal erosion risk for gap-graded soils. The evaluation methods discussed here can help identify the zones of relatively high erosion potential.

     

含天然气水合物土水-力特性联合测试装置及应用

海底天然气水合物(以下简称水合物)的开采会劣化储层的力学性质,威胁钻井平台、破坏开采井甚至可能诱发地质灾害。为探究含水合物沉积物的力学特性及开采扰动下水合物储层的力学强度劣化机理,本文搭建了一套含天然气水合物土水-力特性联合测试装置,主要包括:压力室、压力控制系统,注/除气系统,温度控制系统,数据采集及人机交互管理系统。该装置可实现不同条件下含水合物沉积物试样的合成,并可开展渗透试验、等向压缩试验、以及不同应力路径下三轴压缩试验测试。以细砂作为赋存介质,采用富气法制备含天然气水合物沉积物试样,对其进行了一系列水-力特性试验测试,并对结果进行了简要地分析。这些试验结果证实了装置测试含水合物沉积物水-力学特性的功能和可靠性。