Shear strength and stress—strain behaviour of Athabasca oil sand at elevated temperatures and pressures

Abstract

The results of a series of triaxial compression tests on undisturbed samples of Athabasca oil sand at elevated temperatures ranging from 20 to 200 °C are summarized. The material tested had experienced gradual unloading and depressurization as a result of erosion in the Saline Creek valley near Fort McMurray. More deeply buried oil sands are known to contain much higher concentrations of dissolved hydrocarbon gases in the pore fluids. The measured shear strength of Athabasca oil sand did not change significantly as a result of the increased temperatures that were applied. The strength of Athabasca oil sand (at 20–200 °C) was found to be greater than comparable shear strengths reported for dense Ottawa sand (at 20 °C). Although heating to 200 °C had little effect on shear strength, it is recognized that pore pressure generation during undrained heating may cause substantial reduction of the available shearing resistance, particularly in gas-rich oil sands. The experimental data were used to investigate the influence of such factors as stress path dependency, microfabric disturbance, and heating to elevated temperatures on the shear strength and stress–strain behaviour of oil sand. Curve fitting of the test data suggests that the hyperbolic model is a useful empirical technique for stress—deformation analyses in oil sands. Hyperbolic stress—strain parameters derived from the experimental results for Athabasca oil sand are presented. Key words: oil sand, Athabasca oil sand, tar sand, shear strength, stress, strain, deformation, heating, high temperature, elevated temperatures, high pressure, elevated pressure, thermal properties, drained heating, undrained heating, triaxial compression testing.