Publications Details

Triaxial creep measurements on rock salt from the Jennings dome, Louisiana, borehole LA-1, core {number_sign}8

Wawersik, W.R.; Zimmerer, D.J.

Tejas Power Company requested that facilities in the Rock Mechanics Laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories be used to assess the time-dependent properties of rock salt from the Jennings dome in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. Nominally 2.5-inch diameter slat core from borehole LA-1, core 8 (depth 3924.8 to 3837.8 ft; 1196.8--1197.1 m) was provided to accomplish two tasks: (1) Using the smallest possible number of experiments, evaluate the tendency of Jennings salt to undergo time-dependent deformation (creep) under constant applied stresses, and compare the creep of Jennings salt with creep data for rock salt from other locations. (2) Assess the applicability of published laboratory-derived creep properties for rock salt from several bedded and domal sites in finite element analyses concerning the design of new gas storage caverns in the Jennings dome. The characterization of Jennings salt followed the same strategy that was applied in earlier laboratory experiments on core from the Moss Bluff dome near Houston, Texas. This report summarizes the relevant details of five creep experiments on a sample from depth 3927.5 ft, the results obtained, and how these results compared with laboratory creep measurements gathered on rock salt from other locations including the West Hackberry, Bryan Mound and Moss Bluff domes. The report also considers the estimates of specific creep parameters commonly used in numerical engineering design analyses.