Strength and creep characteristics of methane hydrate-bearing clayey silts of the South China Sea

Abstract

Natural gas hydrates are abundantly detected in the clayey-silty deposits of the South China Sea (SCS). The long-term hydrate extraction process may trigger creep deformation and failure of the clayey-silty reservoir. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the creep properties of the clayey-silty hydrate reservoir for safe production. Current research mainly focused on rapid failure, while neglecting time-dependent creep deformation of the clayey-silty hydrate reservoir. In this study, a number of triaxial shear and creep experiments were carried out on methane hydrate-bearing clayey silts (HBCSs) in the SCS in order to investigate their strength and creep deformation characteristics. The results indicated that: (1) the increase of effective stress enhances the shear strength and deformation, and the presence of hydrates enhances the shear strength while reducing the deformation; (2) the creep strain and strain rate increase as the creep stress ratio and effective stress rise; (3) the accelerated creep stage only occurs at higher effective stress in HBCSs and not in hydrate-free clayey silts (HFCSs), and the creep strain and strain rate of the HBCSs are lower than those of the HFCSs. The experimental data will contribute to the construction and verification of creep constitutive models for HBCSs in the SCS.