An Experimental Study on the Reinforcement of Weakly-Consolidated Shallow Formation in Deep Water Using an Epoxy Resin-Based Fluid

The mechanical properties of Portland cement differ from the weakly consolidated shallow formation in deep water.This results in undesired abrupt changes in the compressive strength and elastic modulus at the cement–formation interface.In this study,a water-borne epoxy resin was applied as a strengthening material to reinforce the weakly consolidated shallow formation and protect the cement sheath from potential failure.The mechanical properties of the unconsolidated clay were tested,including their changes with increases in the temperature and curing time.In addition,the effects of the seawater,cement slurry alkaline filtrate,and saltwater drilling fluid were evaluated.As confirmed by the results,the strengthening fluid was excellent at reinforcing the unconsolidated clay,with a compressive strength of 2.49 MPa(after curing for 7 days),even at a dosage of 5%.A cement slurry filtrate with a high pH was suitable to produce the required strengthening of the formation,especially its early age strength.It should also be pointed out that the used fluid exhibited good compatibility with the saltwater drilling fluid and seawater behaved well as a diluent for the strengthening fluid.

Unsaturated Creep Behaviors of Weak Intercalated Soils in Soft Rock of Badong Formation

The cutting slopes in soft rock of redbed appeared in Yichang-Badong highway often suffer from the instability along weak intercalations, so the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils are crucially important for the stability of cutting slopes. Because the deformation of weak intercalated soils is significantly affected by water content due to the strong water sensitivity, it is necessary to study the influence of matric suction on the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils. In order to find out the unsaturated creep characters of weak intercalated soils, a GDS unsaturated triaxial apparatus was used. Then the triaxial creep experiments on weak intercalated soil samples under varying matric suction were conducted to obtain the unsaturated creep curves. The results show that the weak intercalated soils have obvious creep behaviors, and the creep strain is in nonlinear relationship with stress and time. When the matric suction is constant, a larger deviator stress will lead to a larger creep strain; When the deviator stress is constant, a smaller matric suction will lead to a larger creep strain. Based on the Mesri creep model, an improved creep model for weak intercalated soils under varying matric suction was established, in which the relationship of stress-strain was expressed with a hyperbolic function, and the relationship of strain-time was expressed with power functions in stages. Then an unsaturated creep model including stress-matric suction-strain-time for weak intercalated soils was established based on the power function relationship between matric suction and Ed(a parameter of the improved creep model). The comparison of the calculated values of creep model and the experimental values shows that the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils can be predicted by the unsaturated creep model by and large.

Cut slope reinforcement technique in open-pit mines

The design and practice in supporting the cut slope of an open-pit mine wereintroduced, in which the high pressure grouting method was used in reinforcing the weak formation inthe slopes. Based on a detailed geological survey of the slope, a theoretical analysis was carriedout, and the design parameters were proposed, where the Tresca or Mohr-Coulomb yield criteria wasemployed. A patent technology, named 'Technology of high pressure and multiple grouting in differentlevels within a single hole', was employed in the construction. Anchor bars were also installed asgrouting proceeds. This method combines anchoring and grouting comprehensively and was foundsuccessful in practice.

An integrated laboratory experiment of realistic diagenesis,perforation and sand production using a large artificial sandstone specimen

Sand production is,a challenging issue in petroleum industry,mainly associated with weak unconsolidated formations.A novel testing procedure and a new apparatus were developed to conduct an integrated experiment of diagenesis,perforation and sand production on a single large cylindrical artificial sandstone specimen,where solid and fluid pressures can be independently controlled such that realistic reservoir historical conditions can be well simulated in the laboratory.Fluid injection can be performed in both radial and vertical directions,where both single-and two-phase flows can be implemented for study of sand production behaviors at different reservoir’s maturity stages.The equipment consists of an intensive instrumentation system to monitor pressures,displacements and material states continuously.The produced sand particles were filtered and monitored in real-time for the study of time-dependent phenomena.The experimental results showed similar patterns to that observed in the field and provided valuable insight for the development of prediction methods for sand production of similar materials.