Experimental verification of a prediction model for hydrate-bearing sand

This paper presents an experimental verification of a prediction model for the mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sand. The model is examined using experimental drained triaxial test results of three independent data sets, which are associated with different hydrate formations and testing conditions. For each data set, an optimization process is applied based on numerical modeling of the testing conditions in order to evaluate the pure sand properties. Based on these properties, the model forecasts the stress-stain curves for different hydrate saturations, based on an advanced hydrate simulator. Although the model does not show a fair forecast with “ice-seeding” hydrate formation samples and for specimens tested under gas saturation, it predicts the mechanical behavior of samples with “partly saturated” hydrate formation tested under water saturation.