Properties Of Gas Hydrate-bearing Sediments Research Articles

Evolution Characteristics of the Strength and Dilation Parameters of Gas Hydrate-Bearing Sediments and a Modeling Study

Gas hydrate has gradually become a new potential energy resource. However, some engineering and environmental problems related to the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS) during gas recovery may occur. Many studies have been carried out on the basic mechanical properties of GHBS samples based on laboratory tests, but their evolution characteristics and suitable models require further research. Based on a series of data analyses of published laboratory experimental results on GHBS samples with different hydrate saturations under various confining pressures, the evolution characteristics of strength and dilation parameters were investigated. It was found that cohesion (c) increases quickly to a peak value and then decreases gradually to a residual value with an increasing plastic shear strain, and the samples with higher hydrate saturations have higher initial values, peak values, and residual values of cohesion (c). The internal friction angle (φ) increases quickly with increasing plastic shear strain and then becomes stable at a residual value for all the samples with different hydrate saturations. The dilation angle (ψ) increases from negative to positive values with increasing plastic shear strain and then becomes stable at a residual value. These characteristics are likely to be related to the compaction occurring at the early stage of compression before expansion due to dilation. In this paper, a non-linearly fitted model is proposed considering the evolution of the mechanical parameters, and the verification tests show that the proposed model can simulate the stress–strain behaviors of the GHBS samples well. This model is also adopted in the stability analysis of submarine slopes containing hydrate reservoirs. The analytical approach is developed, accompanied by the strength reduction method.

Mechanical Properties of Gas Hydrate-Bearing Sediments Influenced by Multiple Factors: A Comprehensive Review of Triaxial Tests

Mechanical Properties of Gas Hydrate-Bearing Sediments Influenced by Multiple Factors: A Comprehensive Review of Triaxial Tests

Magnetic properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments and their association with iron geochemistry in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

The anaerobic oxidation of methane, a key geochemical process that is involved in the cycling of sulfate and iron (oxyhydr)oxides in marine sediments, results in the formation of iron sulfides. Although ferrimagnetic iron sulfides have been identified in seepage systems, the link between iron migration and sediment magnetic properties remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate two cores from the Sea of Marmara to evaluate biogeochemical iron cycling and iron sulfide mineralogy in gas hydrate-bearing sediments. Magnetic analyses indicate the presence of greigite and pyrrhotite in a core from a hydrate-rich site with a high hydrocarbon flux, which contrasts with a lack of these minerals in a core characterized by only mild seepage. This is supported by the results of rock magnetic and scanning electron microscope analyses of the sediments. The presence of authigenic greigite is critical for assessing local redox records and together with the occurrence of monoclinic pyrrhotite may suggest specific diagenetic processes in gas hydrate environments. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of these ferrimagnetic minerals, with a high saturation isothermal remanent magnetization to magnetic susceptibility ratio (SIRM/χ > 15 kAm−1) and a high index of hysteresis parameters (DJH > 0.2) indicative of magnetic mineralogy changes, for evaluating variability in the intensity of seepage fluxes and for estimating gas hydrate distributions.

Rock-physics modeling for the elastic properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments under varying fluid saturation and temperature

The microscale physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (HBSs) are significant for understanding their macroscale elastic responses and further facilitating seismic exploration. Several models have been developed to investigate the microscale properties of gas HBSs, whereas most of them place emphasis on the construction of the rock frame, ignoring the influence of mixing patterns of pore fluids. Based on laboratory observations, we have developed a rock-physics model that integrates the spatial distribution of gas hydrate, water, and free gas in pores; in addition, this model considers the variable stress-strain relationship of the pore fluids depending on hydrate saturation. We also attempt to incorporate the effect of temperature on the elastic properties of gas HBSs through theoretical modeling. Our approach of handling hydrate-gas spatial relationship reasonably delineates the velocity trends, ensuring that prediction results are congruent with field data. Moreover, the variable stress-strain relationship of the pore fluids allows for the achievement of better simulation results than those by conventional iso-stress and iso-strain fluid mixing schemes. Integrating the factors tied to hydrate dissociation and hydrate moduli reduction during heating processes enables the prediction of a declining trend in the velocity-temperature relation, which is congruent with laboratory-measured data. This model provides an alternative approach to predict the elastic properties of gas HBSs and can reasonably explain the effects of fluid saturation and temperature.

A novel model of effective thermal conductivity for gas hydrate-bearing sediments integrating the hydrate saturation and pore morphology evolution

Thermal properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments directly determine the energy efficiency during gas hydrate reservoir development. Many models of effective thermal conductivity (ETC) available in literatures could not capture the characteristic of heat conductivity accurately and match with experimental results. In this paper, based on the effective media theory, a novel model of ETC for gas hydrate-bearing sediments was developed. This novel model linking microscale hydrate pore morphology with macroscale ETC variations was validated using published laboratory data at various conditions. The values of the three parameters in the model were optimized by genetic algorithm. Results indicated that the ETC at the critical hydrate saturation reduced evidently but not significantly where the dominated pore morphology of hydrate changed from pore filling to grain coating in the excess water setting. However, the ETC was enhanced dramatically at the critical hydrate saturation in the excess gas setting. In addition, three parameters in this model govern the characteristic of ETC. The parameter S in this model revealed the critical hydrate saturation where the dominant hydrate pore morphology changed, α meant the intensity of change and β represented the symmetry of change around the critical saturation. The newly proposed model in this study offers a mechanistic understanding of the ETC in hydrate-bearing sediments considering hydrate morphology and provides a theoretical and simple expression that can be easily implemented in the numerical simulators for field-scale gas production optimization.

A state-dependent subloading constitutive model with unified hardening function for gas hydrate-bearing sediments

Natural gas hydrate in ocean sediments and permafrost areas may become a significant potential energy resource. Since the hydrate dissociation may affect the stability of production wells and even lead to geological hazards, it is essential to study the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS) for the efficient and safe extraction of gas hydrate. This study presents an extended subloading Modified Cam-Clay model for clayey-silty and sandy GHBS. The state-dependent unified hardening function and equivalent skeleton void ratio are newly introduced to consider the coupled effects of stress level, void ratio, dilatancy, and hydrate saturation on the mechanical behavior of GHBS. Based on the theory of hyperelasticity, an elastic constitutive relation accounting for the influences of cementation caused by hydrate formation and sediment structure change caused by hydrate dissociation is established by using a stiffness evolution function related to hydrate saturation. The bonding and debonding law of strength reflecting the hydrate cementation and its degradation are used. The model is applied to simulate different triaxial tests of GHBS, and its performance in predicting the isotropic compression, strain hardening and softening, shear contraction and dilation, and collapse induced by hydrate dissociation is investigated.

A three-dimensional DEM modelling of triaxial test on gas hydrate-bearing sediments considering flexible boundary condition

The discrete element method (DEM) has been widely used to investigate the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS). However, a flexible membrane boundary has not been incorporated into three-dimensional DEM modelling. Moreover, the roles of hydrates in stress transmission have not been comprehensively interpreted from a particulate scale point of view. This study adopted the finite difference method (FDM)-discrete element method (DEM) coupling method to establish the flexible boundary condition to capture the failure modes of GHBS and categorized the overall contact set into three contact subsets (i.e., soil-soil, soil-hydrate and hydrate-hydrate contact subsets) in a way that the stress transmission characteristics of hydrates can be identified. The simulated macroscale mechanical responses demonstrate a favourable agreement against the experimental results. The results show that the sample with a low hydrate saturation shows a single slant shear failure zone, while the sample with a high hydrate saturation shows an X-shape shear failure zone. The particulate scale analysis shows that the soil-hydrate contact subset not only plays a critical role in stabilizing the strong force chains but also has a significant contribution to the deviatoric stress. By contrast, the hydrate-hydrate contact subset accounts for a small contribution to the deviatoric stress.

Geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments in Shenhu Area of the South China Sea

It is essential to understand the in-situ geomechanical properties of natural gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs for hydrate drilling, the design of reservoir stimulation and production schemes, geologic disaster prevention, and environmental impact assessment. In this way, it serves as the basis for the development and utilization of gas hydrate resources. In 2016, the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey conducted the fourth natural gas hydrate drilling (Expedition GMGS4) in the north of the South China Sea, during which the effective stress of gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the study area was ascertained and gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores were collected. The effective stress was determined to be 700–800 kPa by in-situ piezocone penetration tests. The saturation, permeability, and shear strength of gas hydrates in the pressure core samples were measured under the in-situ stress state using the shipboard multi-sensor core logger (MSCL), pressure core analysis and transfer system (PCATS), and PCATS Triaxial system. Based on this, the distribution characteristics and the relationship of the permeability and gas hydrate saturation of the gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs were explored. Furthermore, the effects of effective stress and gas hydrate saturation on shear strength of gas hydrate-bearing clayey-silt sediments were mainly analyzed, as well as the stress–strain characteristics of gas hydrate-bearing sediments. The results are as follows: (i) the gas hydrate saturation and reservoir permeability in the study area are 0.7%–55% and 10−3–10−1mD, respectively, indicating low-permeability reservoirs; (ii) the gas hydrate saturation and reservoir permeability have obvious anisotropy in horizontal and vertical directions; (iii) the undrained shear strength of gas hydrate-bearing sediments is 0.24–0.52 MPa, and the shear strength of fine-grained sediments is more sensitive to the changes of in-situ stress. In the case that deviatoric stress continues increasing, micro-fractures may occur inside gas hydrate-bearing sediments, and this can lead to drastic changes in the strength of gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the effects of micro-fractures in gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs on engineering safety during long-term hydrate production.

Wave Properties of Gas-Hydrate Bearing Sediments Based on Poroelasticity

Natural gas hydrates have the properties of ice with a microporous structure and its concentration in sediments highly affects the wave velocity and attenuation. Previous studies have performed investigations based on the measurements of laboratory data, sonic-log data, and field data, whereas the variation trend of wave dissipation with increasing hydrate concentration at different frequencies is still unclear. We consider two different models to study this problem, both based on the Biot-Rayleigh double-porosity theory. In the first model, hydrate is part of the pore infill, unbonded from the grains, and brine saturates the remaining pore space. In the second model, hydrate forms a second skeleton and cements the grains. We obtain the P-wave velocity dispersion and attenuation as a function of the inclusion radius, porosity, and hydrate content. The analysis shows that the predictions of both models agree with the experimental data. At sonic log frequencies, the second model predicts much more attenuation, due to wave-induced local fluid flow (mesoscopic loss), and the behavior is such that below a given hydrate concentration the dissipation increases and then decreases beyond that concentration.

Comparison of logging-while-drilling and wireline logging data from gas hydrate-bearing deep-sea sediments, the Ulleung Basin, East Sea

Gas hydrate exploration was conducted using logging-while-drilling (LWD) and wireline logging (WLL) at two sites (UBGH2-6 and UBGH2-10) in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea (Sea of Japan). Coring for gas hydrate sampling was also conducted. Seismic profiles revealed that the upper layers at the logged sites (∼180 m at UBGH2-6 and ∼150 m at UBGH2-10) are dominated by turbidite/hemipelagic sediments, whereas the lower-lying sediments are characterised by thick mass transport deposits. Except in the gas hydrate-bearing interval (140–160 metres below the seafloor) of UBGH2-6, the WLL velocity and resistivity data are a little higher (∼100 m/s and ∼0.4 ohm-m, respectively) than those indicated by LWD. Conversely, the density and porosity do not show a consistent pattern for the two methods. Discrepancies between LWD and WLL can be caused by the methodology, borehole condition, and gas hydrate occurrence type. The high resistivity values (∼100 ohm-m) in the gas hydrate-bearing zone of UBGH2-6 are typical of inclined fracture-filling gas hydrate. In this case, the LWD resistivity may be overestimated as a result of the data acquisition principle. The relationships between the physical properties are significantly controlled by the presence of gas hydrate. Therefore, in fracture-filling gas hydrate-bearing sediments, the WLL resistivity data are more reasonable than the LWD resistivity data. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages in terms of data quality, efficiency, and resolution. Therefore, it is necessary to compare and interpret data measured using both methods to identify the physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments.

DEM analyses of cemented hydrate’s effect on the compression behavior of fine-grained sediments

The participation of gas hydrate constitutionally affects the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments. The hydrates contribute to the mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments by pore-filling, bearing and bonding effects. A discrete element model of hydrate-bearing silt was established randomly filled by the hydrate particles into silt-sized granular skeleton reservoir. The cluster & bonding hydrate is generated in the pores of the numerical silt reservoir to study hydrate’s mechanical effects. One-dimensional loading was applied to the numerical sample to investigate its volume change, bond degradation and stress transmission. The main conclusions are as follows. The structural yield stress corresponds with the abrupt bond breakage. Particles and contacts will be redistributed after the widespread bond breakage. The breakage of hydrate-hydrate bonded contacts is more quickly than that of silt-hydrate contacts ascribe to a crushing process of hydrate clusters (especially for SMH=45%).

Multiple physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well

Knowledge of the petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments is essential for predicting reservoir responses to gas production from gas hydrate reservoirs. In December 2018, Stratigraphic Test Well Hydrate-01 was drilled in the western part of the Prudhoe Bay Unit, Alaska North Slope, as part of the technical planning effort for a future long-term gas hydrate production test. Side-wall pressure coring was conducted to recover gas hydrate-bearing sediments from two reservoir sections named Unit B and Unit D. A total of 34 cores were successfully recovered during five runs of a wireline deployed pressure corer, and a total of 17 cores were preserved for advanced laboratory analysis. The samples were frozen inside the pressure core autoclave by liquid nitrogen while at high pressure before being removed and stored under liquid nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. High-resolution X-ray computed tomography showed the samples were high-quality, with undisturbed lithological layers. The Unit B and D sediments were categorized as sand or sandy silt with high hydrate saturation. Gas compositions suggest the hydrates formed with thermogenic and microbial mixed gases. Permeability tests and triaxial compression tests were conducted on the hydrate-bearing sediments. Low strengthening and high permeability at hydrate saturation Sh > 80% were observed. There was a small permeability reduction during the triaxial compression tests owing to porosity loss with increasing effective stress in the highly permeable sandy sediment after hydrate dissociation. The apparent minimal changes in porosity and permeability during the tests were due to the low-clay content and low compressibility of the quartz sand grains in the recovered cores. X-ray powder diffraction and thermal conductivity analysis also suggested a high quartz content for the analyzed samples.

Large-scale and high-similarity experimental study of the effect of drilling fluid penetration on physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the Gulf of Mexico

In this study, the process of drilling fluid penetrating into gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the Gulf of Mexico Hydrate Joint Industry Project was simulated with conditions similar to in situ drilling process parameters and reservoir temperatures and pressures. Natural sediments were replaced by artificial sediments columns with approximately similar physical properties. The temperature, pressure, and resistivity were measured in real time, and the effects of drilling fluid penetration on the physical properties were analyzed. The hydrate saturation, penetration depth, and influence mechanism of temperature and pressure difference were obtained. By orthogonal analysis, the porosity and resistivity of the artificial sediments columns were found to be optimized closely to natural conditions, with a difference of 1.29% and 4.0%, respectively. During penetration, a positive pressure difference was useful for maintaining hydrate stability, while the temperature difference had an opposite influence. High density, low temperature, and low filtration loss drilling fluid were found to be beneficial for field drilling. Hydrate decomposition gradually occurred with increasing depth, accompanied by reformation. The front edge of resistivity lagged behind the pressure and temperature, with a depth of ~0.65 m. Therefore, for resistivity logging after drilling, logging methods with a coordinated detection depth should be considered; thus, a dual laterolog with deep focused resistivity measurements would be a better choice.

Joint analysis of P-wave velocity and resistivity for morphology identification and quantification of gas hydrate

Abstract A knowledge of hydrate morphology is essential for assessing its resource potential, understanding its formation, and determining optimum strategies for exploitation. Previous studies have suggested two general morphologies of gas hydrates distributions in sediment settings: pore- and fracture-filling. However, because of a lack of effective morphology identification methods, it is currently difficult to quantitatively model gas hydrates. Here we propose a joint analysis of P-wave velocity and resistivity to identify hydrate morphology and estimate hydrate saturation in a continuous depth profile. First, we perform numerical modeling to investigate the effects of hydrate morphology on the P-wave velocity and resistivity properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS). The results demonstrate that, in the case of identical hydrate concentration, fracture-filling GHBS typically exhibit higher resistivity but lower P-wave velocity than those of pore-filling GHBS. Consequently, the cross plot between these two properties are strikingly different for the two types of GHBS. By comparing the cross plot of field measurements to the theoretical cross plot, we hypothesize that hydrate morphology can be identified and hydrate saturations estimated. We test and verify the hypothesis using the velocity and resistivity log data at different sites in China's second gas hydrate expedition in 2013 in the South China Sea, where the two morphologies were confirmed via core samples. Cross plots of field measurements agree closely with the theoretical results, and gas hydrate morphologies are successfully identified. The estimated hydrate saturations are comparable to measurements of pore-water freshening in the majority of cases.

A model to predict the elastic properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments

A simple and accurate model for predicting the elastic properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediment (GHBS) is proposed and validated against experimental data. It is developed on the basis of the homogenization theory for multiphase composite. Unlike the classical homogenization techniques those fix a homogenization scheme (e.g. self-consistent, Mori-Tanaka, DEM, etc.) for a given microstructure, the proposed model considers a flexible homogenization scheme that adapts with the change of the microstructure of the material. The idea is to modify the elastic properties of the reference matrix with respect to the microstructure change of the mixture. Such modification is ensured by adapting the theoretical method to available experimental data. The derived method is proved to be very powerful as it can fit laboratory measured data on gas hydrate-bearing sand formed by different methods including excess gas and excess water methods and log data taken from various sites. Such feature cannot be satisfied by the existent models those consider the hydrate phase as a cement phase or a pore-filling phase. A very good agreement between the proposed method and experimental data offer a simple and accurate ways to predict the saturation of gas hydrate using sonic log data or 3D seismic data.

Geomechanics involved in gas hydrate recovery

Gas hydrate is regarded as a promising energy owing to the large carbon reserve and high energy density. However, due to the particularity of the formation and the complexity of exploitation process, the commercial exploitation of gas hydrate has not been realized. This paper reviews the physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments and focuses on the geomechanical response during the exploitation. The exploitation of gas hydrate is a strong thermal–hydrological–mechanical–chemical (THMC) coupling process: decomposition of hydrate into water and gas produces multi-physical processes including heat transfer, multi-fluid flow and deformation in the reservoir. These physical processes lead to a potential of geomechanical issues during the production process. Frequent occurrence of sand production is the major limitation of the commercial exploitation of gas hydrate. The potential landslide and subsidence will lead to the cessation of the production and even serious accidents. Preliminary researches have been conducted to investigate the geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments and to assess the wellbore integrity during the exploitation. The physical properties of hydrate have been fully studied, and some models have been established to describe the physical processes during the exploitation of gas hydrate. But the reproduction of actual conditions of hydrate reservoir in the laboratory is still a huge challenge, which will inevitably lead to a bias of experiment. In addition, because of the effect of microscopic mechanisms in porous media, the coupling mechanism of the existing models should be further investigated. Great efforts, however, are still required for a comprehensive understanding of this strong coupling process that is extremely different from the geomechanics involved in the conventional reservoirs.

Evolution of effective thermal conductivity during hydrate formation and decomposition in natural sediments

Gas hydrates are regareded as a potential alternative energy sources for sustainable development. Thermal properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments directly govern the heat transfer process during hydrate decomposition which couples with phase transitions and multiphase flows. Latest database on the thermal properties of natural sediments containing gas hydrates still remains limited. Here we report on point heat source measurements of the effective thermal conductivity of hydrate-bearing sediments through a thermistor-based method and evaluation of existing models. Effective thermal conductivity of water saturated natural sediments and partially saturated hydrate-sediment are obtained, showing a significant effect of compaction on the effective thermal conductivity of the sediments. The evolution of thermal conductivity during hydrate formation, decomposition and reformation indicates that the variation of the components in the pores could play a crucial role in the effective thermal conductivity. A higher saturation of hydrates in the pores and a smaller porosity could contribute to a better thermal conductivity. The evolution of the effective thermal conductivity with hydrate formation and decomposition also demonstrates a temperature dependence. Moreover, the reformation process after hydrates are fully decomposed significantly impacts the variation of the effective thermal conductivity, which could be attributed to the solution migration during decomposition and the local inhomogeneity of hydrate reformation. The slightly increase in the thermal conductivity below zero degree Celsius implies the small fraction of ice generation during the cooling process. The results could provide some insights into the effect of hydrate formation and decomposition on the effective thermal conductivity of natural sediments, which would be helpful in the heat transfer evaluation and gas production simulation in the field test.

Stability analysis of submarine slopes in the area of the test production of gas hydrate in the South China Sea

ABSTRACT In this paper, the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS) were summarized and the instability mechanism of submarine hydrate-bearing slope (SHBS) was analyzed under the background of the test production of gas hydrate in the northern part of the South China Sea. The strength reduction finite element method (SRFEM) was introduced to the stability analysis of submarine slopes for the safety of the test production. Two schemes were designed to determine the physical and mechanical parameters of four target wells. Through the division of the hydrate dissociation region and the design of four working conditions, the range and degree of hydrate dissociation at different stages during the test production were simulated. Based on the software ABAQUS, 37 FEM models of SHBS were set up to analyze and assess the stability of the submarine slopes in the area of the test production. Necessary information such as safety factors, deformation, and displacement were obtained at different stages and under different working conditions. According to the calculation results, the submarine slope area is stable before the test production, and the safety factors almost remains the same during and after the test production. All these indicate that the test production has no obvious influence on the area of the test production and the submarine slopes in the area are stable during and after the test production.

Seismic rock physical modelling for gas hydrate-bearing sediments

There are ambiguities and uncertainties in the recognition of gas hydrate seismic reflections and in quantitative predictions of physical information of natural gas hydrate reservoirs from seismic data. Rock physical modelling is a bridge that transforms the seismic information of geophysical observations into physical information, but traditional rock physics models lack descriptions of reservoir micro-structures and pore-filling materials. Considering the mineral compositions and pore micro-structures of gas hydrates, we built rock physical models for load-bearing and pore-filling gas hydrate-bearing sediments, describe the mineral compositions, pore connectivity and pore shape using effective media theory, calculated the shear properties of pore-filling gas hydrates using Patchy saturation theory and Generalized Gassmann theory, and then revealed the quantitative relation between the elastic parameters and physical parameters for gas hydrate-bearing sediments. The numerical modelling results have shown that the ratios of P-wave and S-wave velocities decrease with hydrate saturation, the P-wave and S-wave velocities of load-bearing gas hydrate-bearing sediments are more sensitive to hydrate saturation, sensitivity is higher with narrower pores, and the ratios of the P-wave and S-wave velocities of pore-filling gas hydrate-bearing sediments are more sensitive to shear properties of hydrates at higher hydrate saturations. Theoretical analysis and practical application results showed that the rock physical models in this paper can be used to calculate the quantitative relation between macro elastic properties and micro physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments, offer shear velocity information lacking in well logging, determine elastic parameters that have more effective indicating abilities, obtain physical parameters such as hydrate saturation and pore aspect ratios, and provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for gas hydrate quantitative predictions.

Mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments during hydrate dissociation

The changes in the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments (GHBS) induced by gas hydrate (GH) dissociation are essential to the evaluation of GH exploration and stratum instabilities. Previous studies present substantial mechanical data and constitutive models for GHBS at a given GH saturation under the non-dissociated condition. In this paper, GHBS was formed by the gas saturated method, GH was dissociated by depressurization until the GH saturation reached different dissociation degrees. The stress–strain curves were measured using triaxial tests at a same pore gas pressure and different confining pressures. The results show that the shear strength decreases progressively by 30%–90% of the initial value with GH dissociation, and the modulus decreases by 50% –75%. Simplified relationships for the modulus, cohesion, and internal friction angle with GH dissociated saturation were presented.