Thawing and Differential Settlement Close to Oil Wells through Permafrost

摘要

The paper puts forward a preliminary analysis, whose purpose is to identify the factors which determine settlements and casing stresses, and to find out what information is needed for a more precise evaluation. Bold idealizations will be made in order to isolate primary from secondary factors: thus, for example, no account is taken of the variation with depth of the initial temperature of the undisturbed permafrost layer. The heat transfer problem is briefly considered first; simple models of thaw consolidation and arching follow, and their implications for thawing around a well are then examined. (Author)