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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Cesium Ion Exchange Loading Kinetics Testing with SRF Resin

Ion exchange using the Spherical Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (SRF) resin has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection for use in the Pretreatment Facility of the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and for potential application in an at-tank deployment for removing 137Cs. Recent proposed changes to the WTP ion exchange process baseline indicate that loading may include a broader range of sodium molarities (2 to 8 M) due to caustic leaching and higher temperatures (50°C) to alleviate post-filtration precipitation issues prior to reaching the ion exchange columns. Therefore, it is important to understand the behavior of SRF resin performance under the conditions expected with the new equipment and process changes. This research examined the impact of linear load velocity (4, 6, 8 cm/min), initial sodium concentration (2, 5, 8 M), initial sodium-to-cesium ratio (1.4E+05, 2.1E+05, 2.8E+05 mol/mol), initial sodium-to-hydroxide ratio (2.0, 3.0, 4.0 mol/mol), and resin degradation during extended solution flow using elevated temperature (45°, 50°, 55°, 60°, 65°, 75°C). Testing was performed using a~2mL column packed with SRF resin with feed flowing through it in an up-flow pattern. Samples were taken at set intervals and the data analyzed to help understand the impact of these conditions on the SRF resin performance. It was found that the loading kinetics were not significantly impacted by the sodium concentration over the range tested. However, the loading kinetics were impacted by the linear load velocity. These results indicated that at the test temperature, the adsorption of cesium is strongly dependent on mass transfer through the film and not significantly impacted by interparticle diffusion. Testing for extended times at elevated temperatures showed that the resin does degrade and loading capacity is reduced at and above 45°C. Above 60°C the resin appears to not load at all.

Ion exchange↗
NASA NTRS2001

Probabilistic Structural Analysis and Reliability Using NESSUS With Implemented Material Strength Degradation Model

This project included both research and education objectives. The goal of this project was to advance innovative research and education objectives in theoretical and computational probabilistic structural analysis, reliability, and life prediction for improved reliability and safety of structural components of aerospace and aircraft propulsion systems. Research and education partners included Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) along with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). SwRI enhanced the NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) code and provided consulting support for NESSUS-related activities at UTSA. NASA funding supported three undergraduate students, two graduate students, a summer course instructor and the Principal Investigator. Matching funds from UTSA provided for the purchase of additional equipment for the enhancement of the Advanced Interactive Computational SGI Lab established during the first year of this Partnership Award to conduct the probabilistic finite element summer courses. The research portion of this report presents the cumulation of work performed through the use of the probabilistic finite element program, NESSUS, Numerical Evaluation and Structures Under Stress, and an embedded Material Strength Degradation (MSD) model. Probabilistic structural analysis provided for quantification of uncertainties associated with the design, thus enabling increased system performance and reliability. The structure examined was a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) fuel turbopump blade. The blade material analyzed was Inconel 718, since the MSD model was previously calibrated for this material. Reliability analysis encompassing the effects of high temperature and high cycle fatigue, yielded a reliability value of 0.99978 using a fully correlated random field for the blade thickness. The reliability did not change significantly for a change in distribution type except for a change in distribution from Gaussian to Weibull for the centrifugal load. The sensitivity factors determined to be most dominant were the centrifugal loading and the initial strength of the material. These two sensitivity factors were influenced most by a change in distribution type from Gaussian to Weibull. The education portion of this report describes short-term and long-term educational objectives. Such objectives serve to integrate research and education components of this project resulting in opportunities for ethnic minority students, principally Hispanic. The primary vehicle to facilitate such integration was the teaching of two probabilistic finite element method courses to undergraduate engineering students in the summers of 1998 and 1999.

Bast, Callie C.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of Hot-Isostatic Pressing for Treatment of UK ILW Radioactive Wastes - 18280

Hot-Isostatic Pressing (HIPing) has been proposed as an improved method for the treatment of radioactive wastes in the UK. Sludges and slurries housed on the Sellafield site are a prime candidate for HIP treatment due to their large volumes and issues associated with the use of the baseline cementation strategy. Options have been developed by GeoRoc Ltd to co-process these wastes, including a detailed conceptual plant design. This paper will describe research and development aimed at demonstrating the viability of the concept presented in this design. This paper summarizes two studies performed to address the knowledge gaps identified for treatment of these wastes using HIP technology. The first study related to the poorly characterized nature of the wastes, which requires any treatment option to be flexible in terms of the chemical and physical properties of the waste feed. The second study involved demonstrating that HIPing can be effectively utilized at a scale applicable to treat a waste inventory estimated to be in excess of 5,000 m{sup 3}. The first section of this paper presents a summary of research carried out to determine where variation in the waste stream composition may affect the processing and wasteform produced when HIPing Magnox sludges. This study aimed to qualify where restrictions on the process envelope may exist due to poorly defined waste-stream characteristics. A baseline wasteform was selected with the aim of achieving significant waste volume reduction, while producing a physically and chemically stable wasteform. A glass-bonded magnesium-titanate/magnesium-silicate wasteform was selected as the preferred option for the Magnox sludge wastes. A series of studies investigated the densification and phase formation of waste-forms by altering key variables in the Magnox sludge simulant. To test the extremes of the processable waste loading, samples were produced and characterized at 100 wt% waste-loading for Magnox sludge, Site-Ion Exchange Plant (SIXEP) sand/clinoptilolite and a 50:50 mix of the two waste-streams. Further studies involved a) altering the waste loading to additive mass ratio (to simulate changes in the waste loading/sludge solids content), b) varying the particle size distribution from the datum to include only small or large particulates in the sludge feed; and c) introducing up to 20 wt% metallic Magnox alloy, organic species or carbonate materials (to determine how their inclusion may affect the processing and densification of the materials). A U{sub 3}O{sub 8} loaded sample was also produced using the baseline Magnox sludge formulation. All the tests performed were shown to produce monolithic, well densified waste-forms with substantial volume reductions. Minimal variations from the baseline were noted but the waste-forms produced with these deviations was determined to be of comparable quality to of the baseline product. U{sub 3}O{sub 8} was shown to behave in a similar fashion to the ZrO{sub 2} surrogate used to simulate it in the process envelope studies and was encapsulated in the magnesium titanate/magnesium silicate matrix. This work demonstrates that HIP technology can successfully produce waste-forms across the broad process envelope expected in the Magnox sludge inventory. It is also possible to produce monolithic waste-forms at 100 wt% waste loading from Magnox sludges, SIXEP sand clinoptilolite slurries or a co-processed mixture of the two. The second part of this paper summarizes a commercially relevant demonstration of HIP technology for the treatment of sludge and slurry wastes housed at the Sellafield site (UK). This study culminated in production of the largest HIPed wasteform successfully produced to date. This study was performed in a series of stages. Investigations into formulation and properties of waste-forms were performed at a lab scale to evaluate suitable wasteform systems and identify suitable combinations of additives and waste loadings. Scale up demonstrations were then performed in stages with custom-designed HIP canisters. Scale-up and characterization of key wasteform properties were successfully performed with initial canister volumes of 50 ml, 400 ml and 8 L. Suitable front-end unit operations to produce a granular, free-flowing calcined simulant were demonstrated at an engineering scale. The demonstration was successful in processing a HIP canister with an initial starting volume in excess of 100 L. A 75 % volume reduction from the raw sludge was achieved at scale while demonstrating that HIP is applicable at suitably large scale for immobilization of ILW waste. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Sound and turbulence modulation by particles in high-speed shear flows

High-speed free-shear-flow turbulence, laden with droplets or particles, can radiate weaker pressure fluctuations than its unladen counterpart. In this study, Eulerian–Lagrangian simulations of high-speed temporally evolving shear layers laden with monodisperse, adiabatic, inertial particles are used to examine particle–turbulence interactions and their effect on radiated pressure fluctuations. An evolution equation for gas-phase pressure intensity is formulated for particle-laden flows, and local mechanisms of pressure changes are quantified over a range of Mach numbers and particle mass loadings. Particle–turbulence interactions alter the local pressure intensity directly via volume displacement (due to the flow of finite-size particles) and drag coupling (due to local slip velocity between phases), and indirectly through significant turbulence changes. The sound radiation intensity near subsonic mixing layers increases with mass loading, consistent with existing low Mach number theory. For supersonic flows, sound levels decrease with mass loading, consistent with trends observed in previous experiments. Particle-laden cases exhibit reduced turbulent kinetic energy compared to single-phase flow, providing one source of their sound changes; however, the subsonic flow does not support such an obvious source-to-sound decomposition to explain its sound intensity increase. Despite its decrease in turbulence intensity, the louder particle-laden subsonic flows show an increase in the magnitude and time-rate-of-change of fluid dilatation, providing a mechanism for its increased sound radiation. Contrasting this, the quieter supersonic particle-laden flows exhibit decreased gas-phase dilatation yet its time-rate-of-change is relatively insensitive to mass loading, supporting such a connection.

Mechanics↗
NASA NTRS1982

Shock-induced color changes in nontronite - Implications for the Martian fines

Shock recovery experiments performed on Riverside nontronite cause a marked color change in the clay, from olive-yellow to strong brown upon recovery from shock loading to peak pressures of 180 to 300 kbar. This color change spans the color range observed in the fine material at the Viking lander sites. The change in color is attributed to a shift in the O(2-)-Fe(3+) charge transfer bands to longer wavelengths, which causes the material to become both redder and darker. The observations that the color change is associated with the dehydroxylation of the clay and the Moessbauer spectra that reveal a lowering of the coordination number of the Fe(3+) as the OH(-) is removed from the structure are seen as suggesting that the movement of the absorption bands into the visible is caused by the formation of 4-fold or distorted 5-fold-like Fe(3+) within the octahedral layers of the clay.

Weldon, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Follow-on studies using the Voyager spacecraft thermal model

The 42-year-old Voyager mission, now named the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is operating long beyond its design life. In 2012, Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause into interstellar space and Voyager 2 made the same transit in November 2018. Due to declining power output from the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) the Science and Flight Operations teams continue to make difficult choices in terms of managing both the power and thermal margins to preserve critical science observations and maintain the health of the two spacecraft. A previous paper, “Creating a Voyager Thermal Model 39 Years Into the Flight Mission, Along With Model Correlation and Application” described how a thermal model of these 1977 spacecraft was developed and correlated without many design artifacts and with limited temperature telemetry. This paper describes how the thermal model has been used to establish an Allowable Flight Temperature (AFT) limit for hydrazine propellant in the propulsion subsystem to minimize the risk of freezing. Voyager 2 temperatures have already descended to this limit in the vicinity of the Roll thruster propellant lines. The Flight Operations team has investigated several ways of detecting propellant freezing based on analysis and trending of thruster performance telemetry. In addition, the Voyager thermal model is being used to predict the spacecraft response to possible changes in power state. These changes could involve turning off outboard science instruments and/or their heaters to increase power margin and hence power dissipation inside the spacecraft bus (i.e. in Bay 7, where the power regulation electronics are located). Changes might also be made to turn on or off other loads inside the bus to more effectively heat the coldest propellant lines. Many of these changes have been or will be tested first on Voyager 1 which has more power margin and does not have the power matrix commanding issues experienced on Voyager 2. Ultimately this assessment may assist the Voyager project in making decisions on the order in which science instruments are permanently turned off.

Medina, Enrique↗
NASA NTRS2020

Design and Development of a Robust Chuck Mechanism for the Mars2020 Coring Drill

The Sampling and Caching Subsystem (SCS) onboard the Mars2020 rover includes a coring drill that can perform coring, abrasion, and regolith collection operations. The coring drill requires a chuck mechanism to allow for the changing of the bits needed to perform sampling. The chuck mechanism must be capable of securely connecting a bit under drilling, rover slip, and pullout loads, but also readily release a bit after application of these loads. The Mars2020 chuck consists of a ball lock mechanism that allows for robust engagement and release of bit assemblies that is preloaded to ensure a secure, stiff connection between the bit assembly and the rest of the corer. To prevent jamming, the chuck incorporates rollers to preload the ball lock. The rollers are mounted onto a flexured cam that minimizes changes in internal mechanism loads that result from thermally induced dimensional changes, further mitigating the potential for jamming. The chuck mechanism is moved between engaged, disengaged, and loose chuck positions by rotating the cam with a gearmotor that incorporates a magnetic detent brake that prevents inadvertent mechanism motion under design loads. Ongoing testing is occurring on the qualification model in a dirty environment while coring and abrading rocks in a Mars representative environment.

Barletta, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS1984

The effects of thermal cycling on matrix cracking and stiffness changes in composite tubes

The study investigated the accumulation of transverse matrix cracks and the resultant loss of torsional, extensional, and bending stiffnesses in 8 layer 0.5 in. diameter crossply tubes subjected to thermal cycling. The tubes were graphite-epoxy and the temperature range during cycling was -250 to 200 F. The effect of fiber and matrix properties was investigated through the use of T300 and P75S fibers and 934 and CE339 resins. The study considered 0, 10, 50, 100, 300, and 500 thermal cycles. Photomicrographs, X-rays, and edge replication were used to evaluate cracking. Special loading fixtures were used to measure stiffness changes. An important finding was that for the tubes studied, even with extensive cracking, the bending and extensional stiffnesses were not affected. The torsional stiffness, however, was strongly affected.

Cohen, D.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Integral Battery Power Limiting Circuit for Intrinsically Safe Applications

A circuit topology has been designed to guarantee the output of intrinsically safe power for the operation of electrical devices in a hazardous environment. This design uses a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) as a switch to connect and disconnect power to a load. A test current is provided through a separate path to the load for monitoring by a comparator against a preset threshold level. The circuit is configured so that the test current will detect a fault in the load and open the switch before the main current can respond. The main current passes through the switch and then an inductor. When a fault occurs in the load, the current through the inductor cannot change immediately, but the voltage drops immediately to safe levels. The comparator detects this drop and opens the switch before the current in the inductor has a chance to respond. This circuit protects both the current and voltage from exceeding safe levels. Typically, this type of protection is accomplished by a fuse or a circuit breaker, but in order for a fuse or a circuit breaker to blow or trip, the current must exceed the safe levels momentarily, which may be just enough time to ignite anything in a hazardous environment. To prevent this from happening, a fuse is typically current-limited by the addition of the resistor to keep the current within safe levels while the fuse reacts. The use of a resistor is acceptable for non-battery applications where the wasted energy and voltage drop across the resistor can be tolerated. The use of the switch and inductor minimizes the wasted energy. For example, a circuit runs from a 3.6-V battery that must be current-limited to 200 mA. If the circuit normally draws 10 mA, then an 18-ohm resistor would drop 180 mV during normal operation, while a typical switch (0.02 ohm) and inductor (0.97 ohm) would only drop 9.9 mV. From a power standpoint, the current-limiting resistor protection circuit wastes about 18 times more power than the switch and the inductor configuration. In the fault condition, both the resistor and the inductor react immediately. The resistor reacts by allowing more current to flow and dropping the voltage. Initially, the inductor reacts by dropping the voltage, and then by not allowing the current to change. When the comparator detects the drop in voltage, it opens the switch, thus preventing any further current flow. The inductor alone is not sufficient protection, because after the voltage drop has settled, the inductor would then allow the current to change, in this example, the current would be 3.7 A. In the fault condition, the resistor is flowing 200 mA until the fuse blows (anywhere from 1 ms to 100 s), while the switch and inductor combination is flowing about 2 A test current while monitoring for the fault to be corrected. Finally, as an additional safety feature, the circuit can be configured to hold the switch opened until both the load and source are disconnected.

Burns, Bradley M.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Effect of volcanic emissions on clouds during the 2008 and 2018 Kilauea degassing events

Volcanic eruptions in otherwise clean environments are “natural experiments” wherein the effects of aerosol emissions on clouds and climate can be partitioned from meteorological variability and anthropogenic activities. In this work, we combined satellite retrievals, reanalysis products, and atmospheric modeling to analyze the mechanisms of aerosol–cloud interactions during two degassing events at the Kilauea volcano in 2008 and 2018. The eruptive nature of the 2008 and 2018 degassing events was distinct from long-term volcanic activity for Kilauea. Although previous studies assessed the modulation of cloud properties from the 2008 event, this is the first time such an analysis has been reported for the 2018 event and that multiple degassing events have been analyzed and compared at this location. Both events resulted in significant changes in cloud effective radius and cloud droplet number concentration that were decoupled from local meteorology and in line with an enhanced cloud albedo. However, it is likely that the effects of volcanic emissions on liquid water path and cloud fraction were largely offset by meteorological variability. Comparison of cloud anomalies between the two events suggested a threshold response of aerosol–cloud interactions to overcome meteorological effects, largely controlled by aerosol loading. In both events, the ingestion of aerosols within convective parcels enhanced the detrainment of condensate in the upper troposphere, resulting in deeper clouds than observed under pristine conditions. Accounting for ice nucleation on ash particles led to enhanced ice crystal concentrations at cirrus levels and a slight decrease in ice water content, improving the correlation of the model results with the satellite retrievals. Overall, aerosol loading, plume characteristics, and meteorology contributed to changes in cloud properties during the Kilauea degassing events.

Katherine H. Breen↗
NASA NTRS1985

Changes of instability thresholds of rotor due to bearing misalignments

The influence of bearing misalignment upon the dynamic characteristics of statistically indeterminant rotor bearing systems is investigated. Both bearing loads and stability speed limits of a rotor may be changed significantly by magnitude and direction of bearing misalignment. The useful theory of short journal bearings is introduced and simple analytical expressions, governing the misalignment problem, are carried out. Polar plots for the bearing load capacities and stability maps, describing the speed limit in terms of misalignment, are presented. These plots can be used by the designer to estimate deviations between calculation and experimental data due to misalignment effects.

Springer, H.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Climatic Effects of Regional Nuclear War

We use a modern climate model and new estimates of smoke generated by fires in contemporary cities to calculate the response of the climate system to a regional nuclear war between emerging third world nuclear powers using 100 Hiroshima-size bombs (less than 0.03% of the explosive yield of the current global nuclear arsenal) on cities in the subtropics. We find significant cooling and reductions of precipitation lasting years, which would impact the global food supply. The climate changes are large and longlasting because the fuel loadings in modern cities are quite high and the subtropical solar insolation heats the resulting smoke cloud and lofts it into the high stratosphere, where removal mechanisms are slow. While the climate changes are less dramatic than found in previous "nuclear winter" simulations of a massive nuclear exchange between the superpowers, because less smoke is emitted, the changes seem to be more persistent because of improvements in representing aerosol processes and microphysical/dynamical interactions, including radiative heating effects, in newer global climate system models. The assumptions and calculations that go into these conclusions will be described.

Oman, Luke D.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Base-load high-temperature reactors with variable electricity to the grid using Brayton cycles to match low-carbon electricity markets - 18622

The electricity markets are changing because of (1) the transition to a low-carbon electricity grid and (2) addition of solar and wind. The large-scale addition of wind or solar results in low-electricity prices at times of high wind or solar output. It also results in higher electricity prices at times of low wind and solar input. This changing market in the United States favors natural gas plants with low capital costs and high operating costs where it is economic to shut down the gas turbine at times of low electricity prices. Such markets are less favorable to base-load nuclear plants. The change in the markets requires rethinking high-temperature reactor (HTR) power systems to enable base-load reactor operations with variable electricity to the grid. Base-load reactor operation is required to minimize costs but electricity output to the grid must be maximized at times of high prices to maximize total revenue. This can be accomplished by HTR open or closed Brayton power cycles coupled to high-temperature heat storage systems such as Firebrick Resistance-Heated Energy Storage (FIRES) or using auxiliary natural gas if coupled to an open Brayton power cycle. The temperature limits of HTRs are far below gas turbine temperature limits. This characteristic allows the power cycle to operate at base-load on nuclear heat with the option of added peak power by increasing compressed gas temperatures after nuclear heating but before the power turbine with other heat sources (natural gas, FIRES). For the case we have studied, the incremental heat to electricity efficiency is above 66%. The high efficiency is because it is a thermodynamic topping cycle. Because incremental heat-to-electricity efficiency is greater than a stand-alone natural gas plant (60%), such plants can directly compete against natural gas. At times of low electricity prices, electricity from the HTR and purchased from the grid is used to charge FIRES that can provide high-temperature heat as a substitute for natural gas for peak electricity production. Such nuclear Brayton cycles can replace fossil fuels in providing variable electricity on demand to the grid. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Latent heat thermal energy storage performance maps enabling fast & accurate building energy simulations

Thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCMs) has gained attention as an effective approach to manage energy demand fluctuations and shift peak building loads. PCM embedded heat exchangers (PCM-HXs) offer high energy storage density and low temperature variation during phase change, being suitable for load-shifting applications. However, this component is typically evaluated using computationally expensive methods, which present significant challenges when the ultimate goal is to assess the performance of PCM-HX integrated thermal energy storage systems in the full building context. In this paper, we present a methodology to generate highly accurate and computationally efficient PCM-HX performance maps which can be easily integrated into building energy simulation tools to analyze the feasibility of space conditioning systems with latent heat PCM-based TES. The performance maps are generated using a computationally efficient PCM-HX simulation tool based on a Generalized Resistance-Capacitance Model (GRCM) which can simulate arbitrary PCM-HXs with high accuracy and significantly less computational effort compared to full CFD simulations. The methodology was verified for a case study considering a 5-ton (~17.5 kW) air-to-water heat pump-thermal energy storage system (HP-TES), which was co-simulated in Modelica for a DOE prototype small-office building in Vienna, Austria, using Spawn of EnergyPlus™. The TES performance maps provided accurate predictions of PCM-HX behavior when used as Modelica component, with deviations within 2-4% while also achieving at least 103 computational time reduction. Leveraging this faster prediction capability, four PCMs with different melting temperatures for cooling (12°C, 16°C) and heating (31°C, 36°C) were assessed to investigate their impact on system performance. This work highlights the importance of robust PCM-HX models for efficient and high-fidelity building-level simulations, presenting new opportunities for advanced control strategy development and parametric analysis of TES configurations in a computationally efficient manner

Modelica Building Simulations↗
DOE OSTI2014

In-situ neutron diffraction of LaCoO₃ perovskite under uniaxial compression. I. Crystal structure analysis and texture development

The dynamics of texture formation, changes in crystal structure, and stress accommodation mechanisms have been studied in perovskite-type R3⁻c rhombohedral LaCoO₃ during uniaxial compression using in-situ neutron diffraction. The in-situ neutron diffraction revealed the complex crystallographic changes causing the texture formation and significant straining along certain crystallographic directions during compression, which are responsible for the appearance of hysteresis and non-linear ferroelastic deformation in the LaCoO₃ perovskite. The irreversible strain after the first loading was connected with the appearance of non-recoverable changes in the intensity ratio of certain crystallographic peaks, causing non-reversible texture formation. However, in the second loading/unloading cycle, the hysteresis loop was closed and no further irrecoverable strain appeared after deformation. The significant texture formation is responsible for an increase in the Young's modulus of LaCoO₃ at high compressive stresses, ranging from 76 GPa at the very beginning of the loading to 194 GPa at 900 MPa at the beginning of the unloading curve.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Experimental investigation of the effect of compliant pores on reservoir rocks under hydrostatic and triaxial compression stress states

The presence of compliant pores in rocks is important for understanding the stress–strain behaviors under different stress conditions. This paper describes findings on the effect of compliant pores on the mechanical behavior of a reservoir sandstone under hydrostatic and triaxial compression. Laboratory experiments were conducted at reservoir temperature on Weber Sandstone samples from the Rock Springs Uplift, Wyoming. Each experiment was conducted at three sequential stages: (stage 1) increase in the confining pressure while maintaining the pore pressure, (stage 2) increase in the pore pressure while maintaining the confining pressure, and (stage 3) application of the deviatoric load to failure. The nonlinear pore pressure – volumetric strain relationship governed by compliant pores under low confining pressure changes to a linear behavior governed by stiff pores under higher confining pressure. The estimated compressibilities of the matrix material in sandstone samples are close to the typical compressibility of quartz. Because of the change in pore structures during stage 1 and stage 2 loadings, the estimated bulk compressibilities of the sandstone sample under the lowest confining pressure decrease with increasing differential pressure. The increase in crack initiation stress is limited with increasing differential pressure because of similar total crack length governed by initial compliant porosity in sandstone samples.

Engineering↗