A new paper by Jidu Yu, Jidong Zhao, Kenichi Soga, Shiwei Zhao, and Weijian Liang, titled “A fully coupled THMC-MPM framework for modeling phase transition and large deformation in methane hydrate-bearing sediment,” has been published in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.
Methane hydrate-bearing sediment is a complex multiphase granular material involving coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical–chemical processes. Hydrate dissociation can weaken sediment strength and may contribute to geohazards such as submarine landslides, while large deformation of the sediment can in turn affect hydrate reaction kinetics. Modeling these interactions remains a major challenge because phase transition, multiphase flow, thermal effects, chemical reactions, and large deformation must be represented simultaneously.
To address this challenge, the authors develop a fully coupled THMC material point method framework for simulating the pre-failure to post-failure behavior of methane hydrate-bearing sediment. The framework incorporates a six-field governing equation with the Kim–Bishnoi hydrate reaction model, a strain-softening Mohr–Coulomb model with hydrate saturation-dependent strength, and a hybrid explicit–implicit time integration strategy designed to improve computational efficiency for low-permeability and high-reaction-rate systems.
This work advances numerical modeling tools for hydrate-bearing sediments and provides a computational framework for studying hydrate dissociation, sediment weakening, large deformation, and submarine landslide processes. The study contributes to both geomechanics and energy-related geohazard assessment.