ACOUSTICAL IMAGING AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOFT ROCK AND MARINE SEDIMENTS
The research during this project has concentrated on developing a correlation between rock deformation mechanisms and their acoustic velocity signature. This has included investigating: (1) the acoustic signature of drained and undrained unconsolidated sands, (2) the acoustic emission signature of deforming high porosity rocks (in comparison to their low porosity high strength counterparts), (3) the effects of deformation on anisotropic elastic and poroelastic moduli, and (4) the acoustic tomographic imaging of damage development in rocks. Each of these four areas involve triaxial experimental testing of weak porous rocks or unconsolidated sand and involves measuring acoustic properties. The research is directed at determining the seismic velocity signature of damaged rocks so that 3-D or 4-D seismic imaging can be utilized to image rock damage. These four areas of study are described in the report: (1) Triaxial compression experiments have been conducted on unconsolidated Oil Creek sand at high confining pressures. (2) Initial experiments on measuring the acoustic emission activity from deforming high porosity Danian chalk were accomplished and these indicate that the AE activity was of a very low amplitude. (3) A series of triaxial compression experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of induced stress on the anisotropy developed in dynamic elastic and poroelastic parameters in rocks. (4) Tomographic acoustic imaging was utilized to image the internal damage in a deforming porous limestone sample. Results indicate that the deformation damage in rocks induced during laboratory experimentation can be imaged tomographically in the laboratory. By extension the results also indicate that 4-D seismic imaging of a reservoir may become a powerful tool for imaging reservoir deformation (including imaging compaction and subsidence) and for imaging zones where drilling operation may encounter hazardous shallow water flows.
- Research Organization:
- University of Oklahoma (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-01BC15302
- OSTI ID:
- 828441
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Apr 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ACOUSTICAL IMAGING AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOFT ROCK AND MARINE SEDIMENTS
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