Pressure solution compaction during creep deformation of Tournemire shale: implications for temporal sealing in shales

AbstractIntergranular pressure solution plays a key role as a deformation mechanism during diagenesis and in fault sealing and healing. Here, we present microstructural observations following experiments conducted on quartz aggregates under conditions known to favor pressure solution. We conducted two long term experiments in which a quartz crystal with polished faces of known crystallographic orientation was embedded in a matrix of randomly oriented quartz sand grains. For about two months an effective axial stress of 15 MPa was applied in one experiment, and an effective confining pressure of 28 MPa in the second. Loading occurred at 350 °C in the presence of a silica-saturated aqueous solution. In the first experiment, quartz sand grains in contact with polished quartz prism ($$\overline10{1 }0$$ 1 ¯ 010 ) faces became ubiquitously truncated against these faces, without indenting or pitting them. By contrast, numerous sand-grain-shaped pits formed in polished pyramidal ($$17\overline{6 }3$$ 17 6 ¯ 3 ) and ($$\overline{4 }134$$ 4 ¯ 134 ) crystal faces in the second experiment. In addition, four-leaved and (in some cases) three-leafed clover-shaped zones of precipitation formed on these prism faces, in a consistent orientation and pattern around individual pits. The microstructures observed in both experiments were interpreted as evidence for the operation of intergranular pressure solution. The dependence of the observed indentation/truncation microstructures on crystal face orientation can be explained by crystallographic control of stress-induced quartz dissolution kinetics, in line with previously published experimental and petrographic data, or possibly by an effect of contact orientation on the stress-induced driving force for pressure solution. This should be investigated in future experiments, providing data and microstructures which enable further mechanism-based analysis of deformation by pressure solution and the effect of crystallographic control on its kinetics in quartz-rich sands and sandstones.

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The Strain Rate Sensitivity and Creep Behavior for the Tripler Plane of Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate Crystal by Nanoindentation

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12040369 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 369

Author(s):

Jianhui Mao ◽

Wenjun Liu ◽

Dongfang Li ◽

Chenkai Zhang ◽

Yi Ma

Keyword(s):

Strain Rate ◽

Strain Rate Sensitivity ◽

Creep Deformation ◽

Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate ◽

Rate Sensitivity ◽

Dislocation Nucleation ◽

Machining Process ◽

Dihydrogen Phosphate ◽

Potassium Dihydrogen ◽

Kdp Crystals

As an excellent multifunctional single crystal, potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) is a well-known, difficult-to-process material for its soft-brittle and deliquescent nature. The surface mechanical properties are critical to the machining process; however, the characteristics of deformation behavior for KDP crystals have not been well studied. In this work, the strain rate effect on hardness was investigated on the mechanically polished tripler plane of a KDP crystal relying on nanoindentation technology. By increasing the strain rate from 0.001 to 0.1 s−1, hardness increased from 1.67 to 2.07 GPa. Hence, the strain rate sensitivity was determined as 0.053, and the activation volume of dislocation nucleation was 169 Å3. Based on the constant load-holding method, creep deformation was studied at various holding depths at room temperature. Under the spherical tip, creep deformation could be greatly enhanced with increasing holding depth, which was mainly due to the enlarged holding strain. Under the self-similar Berkovich indenter, creep strain could be reduced at a deeper location. Such an indentation size effect on creep deformation was firstly reported for KDP crystals. The strain rate sensitivity of the steady-state creep flow was estimated, and the creep mechanism was qualitatively discussed.

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