First-order Description of the Mechanical Fracture Behavior of Fine-Grained Surficial Marine Sediments During Gas Bubble Growth

Abstract

Bubbles in sediments, imaged via Computed Tomography (CT) scanning, and in surrogate transparent material (gelatin), are well-described geometrically as eccentric oblate spheroids. While sediments are undoubtedly visco-elasto-plastic solids, only part of that complex behavior appears to influence significantly the formation and shape of gas bubbles. Specifically, the shape of these bubbles can be explained if the mechanical response of fine-grained sediment is approximated by Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM). To determine the adequacy of the LEFM approximation for gas bubble growth in fine-grained sediments, a number of gas bubbles were injected and grown in natural sediments, while monitoring the size and shape using an industrial CT scanner.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA533956

Entities

People

  • A. H. Reed
  • B. D. Johnson
  • B. P. Boudreau
  • M. A. Barry

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Properties
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Fracture (Mechanics)
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Mechanics
  • Military Research
  • Modulus Of Elasticity
  • Monitoring
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Scanners
  • Stress Concentration
  • Three Dimensional
  • Tomography
  • Two Dimensional
  • X-Ray Computed Tomography

Readers

  • Combustion Dynamics and Shock Wave Physics.
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Structural Dynamics.