The simulations and numerical analyses of triaxial compression tests on soil samples obtained from seabed ground in deep sea were performed by elasto-viscoplastic constitutive equation. From the results it is proved that simulation can express very well the experimental results. And from the results of three dimensional finite element analyses it is found that the shear strain and volumetric strain are distributed nonuniformly in the test specimen.
Methane hydrate is currently being eagerly examined as a nextgeneration energy resource in Japan to replace oil and natural gas. The Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan was established to undertake research in accordance with "Japan's Methane Hydrate Exploitation Program" prepared by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In this Consortium the Engineering Advancement Association of Japan is doing research on Environment Impact. In the Research Group for Environment Impact we are investigating if the deformation of seabed ground occurs in production of methane gas from methane hydrate. We performed triaxial compression tests on soil samples obtained from seabed ground in deep sea at Nankai Trough which is expected as one of the fields of natural resources of methane hydrate. In this study simulations and numerical analyses of these triaxial compression tests were performed by elasto-viscoplastic constitutive equation proposed by Kimoto and Oka et al. (2004; 2005) and compared with experimental results.
The digging of wells was carried out in deep sea at Nankai Trough which is expected as one of the fields of natural resources of methane hydrate. We performed triaxial compression tests on core samples obtained from this Nankai Trough Well (Nishio, Ogisako, Abe, Denda, Akagawa and Hirakawa, 2006). The triaxial compression tests were carried out in K0 consolidation undrained condition.
