Bubble Growth and Rise in Soft Sediments

Abstract

The mechanics of uncemented soft sediments during bubble growth are not widely understood and no rheological model has found wide acceptance. We offer definitive evidence on the mode of bubble formation in the form of X-ray computed tomographic images and comparison with theory. Natural and injected bubbles in muddy cohesive sediments are shown to be highly eccentric oblate spheroids (disks) that grow either by fracturing the sediment or by reopening preexisting fractures. In contrast, bubbles in soft sandy sediment tend to be spherical, suggesting that sand acts fluidly or plastically in response to growth stresses. We also present bubble-rise results from gelatin, a mechanically similar but transparent medium, that suggest that initial rise is also accomplished

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA464199

Entities

People

  • Abraham S. Grader
  • Allen Reed
  • Bernard P. Boudreau
  • Bruce D. Johnson
  • Bruce S. Gardiner
  • Chris Algar
  • Ian Croudace
  • Kelley M. Dorgan
  • Peter A. Jumars
  • Yoke Furukawa

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aspect Ratio
  • Engineering
  • Fracture (Mechanics)
  • Geology
  • High Resolution
  • Internal Pressure
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Mechanics
  • Military Research
  • Modulus Of Elasticity
  • Nova Scotia
  • Physics
  • Planetary Sciences
  • Seabed
  • Stresses
  • Thickness
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Geology

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Geotechnical Engineering.
  • Materials Science (Mechanical Engineering).