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Effect of the random distribution of gravel particles on the mechanical behaviors of conglomerate

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Abstract

Oil and gas resources covered under gravel layer have had much attention. The mechanical behaviors and failure mechanism of conglomerate, main component of gravel layer, are still unclear for the complex distribution characteristics in gravel size, shape, and content. A numerical model considering gravel particles distributed randomly was established to study the effect of gravel distribution characteristics using a discrete element method. Results indicate that increasing the gravel size or content, or overlap** of the particles can reduce the number of independent gravel blocks, thus enhancing the heterogeneity of conglomerate and changing the failure types and crack development trend. The failure strength shows a parabolic trend with rising gravel content, while the elastic modulus increases linearly, causing the ability of specimen to resist deformation to improve. The mutual extrusion brings about the increase of failure strength rapidly and the reversal of peak strain and Poisson’s ratio when gravel content is over 70%. The cohesion and internal friction angle show a parabolic tendency, based on which the strength prediction model of conglomerate considering gravel content was established with high precision. This work provides a kind of numerical method for studying the physical and mechanical characteristics of the strongly heterogeneous rock considering the components.

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Data availability

All data during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The work of this study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFE0111400); the Major Project of CNPC (ZD2019-183-005); Project of Graduate Innovation of China University of Petroleum (East China) (YCX2020032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, 266580, China

    Jun Wei, Hualin Liao & Bin Huang

  2. Oil and Gas Engineering Research Institute, CNPC Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla, 841000, China

    Ning Li, Hongjun Liang, Bo Zhou, Quan Zhang, Long Chen & Hui Feng

Authors
  1. Jun Wei
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  2. Hualin Liao
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  3. Bin Huang
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  4. Ning Li
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  5. Hongjun Liang
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  6. Bo Zhou
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  7. Quan Zhang
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  8. Long Chen
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  9. Hui Feng
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Correspondence to Hualin Liao.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Responsible Editor: Murat Karakus

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Wei, J., Liao, H., Huang, B. et al. Effect of the random distribution of gravel particles on the mechanical behaviors of conglomerate. Arab J Geosci 16, 485 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11565-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11565-0

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