Effect of temperature cycle on mechanical properties of methane hydrate-bearing sediment

In this study, methane hydrate-bearing sand (MHBS) was created in the laboratory following two methods in order to obtain two types of gas hydrate morphology in sandy sediment. The hydrate morphology in the sediment was assessed by measuring the compressional wave velocity combined with models to predict the wave velocities of the sediment containing gas hydrates. The mechanical properties of the MHBS were investigated by triaxial compression tests. The results obtained by the compressional wave velocity show that after saturating the MHBS sediment (created by the excess gas method) with water, the methane hydrates are partly or completely converted from grain contacts to pore spaces depending on the hydrate saturation (ranging from 0 to 50%). A subsequent temperature cycle completes this conversion process for high hydrate saturation. The results obtained with the triaxial compression tests show higher shear strength, a higher secant Young’s modulus, and a higher dilation angle at higher hydrate saturation. In addition, the effects of hydrate saturation on the mechanical properties of the MHBS obtained by the two procedures (with and without the thermal cycle) are similar at low hydrate saturation. The effect of gas hydrate morphologies can only be detected in the case where the conversion (and/or redistribution) of gas hydrates from grain contacts to pore spaces is not complete (at high hydrate saturation).