Methane hydrate is recognized as one of the potential new resources to solve the current energy crisis. Soil assembly containing methane hydrate in the bottom of sea is called deep-sea methane hydrate-bearing soil (MHBS). The morphology of methane hydrate is different in MHBS

e.g. pore-filling and cementing. The cementing type has a great effect on the ensemble strength of MHBS

especially at a lower methane hydrate saturation. This constitutes the strong motivation of the paper. Methane hydrate as a cementing material forms among soil particles

and the bond thickness of methane hydrate changes in certain ranges. The relationship between methane hydrate saturation and inter-particle bond thickness is obtained through analyzing the SEM of MHBS. Based on the previous experimental findings

a novel inter-particle bonded model considering bond thickness has been proposed for investigating the effect of bond thickness of methane hydrate on the mechanical behavior of MHBS; and the calculation methods are elaborated to determine its relevant bond parameters.