Asymptotic analysis for shear waves in a fluid-filled borehole

We focus on the theoretical analysis of the resonance phenomena and the geometric attenuation behaviour of critical refracted shear waves propagating along a fluid‐filled borehole. Using integration by parts, we asymptotically expand the vertical branch‐cut integral of shear waves in an infinite series related to each order of the derivative of the response function of the formation. It is proved that the vertical branch‐cut integral of shear waves at large offsets consists mainly of the contribution of the second asymptotic series, which is related to the first derivative of the response function of the formation at the shear branch point. Using the asymptotic expansion, we develop a simplified amplitude expression for shear waves, and the resonant frequency formula. The validity of the resonance frequencies obtained by the resonant frequency formula is verified numerically by comparison with the corresponding frequencies of the numerical integral results. We also give a rational explanation for the phenomenon of two peaks appearing within each resonant peak zone: i.e. that these are the contributions of the constructive interference of the shear waves and the mode poles.     

An effective data processing flow for the acoustic reflection image logging

Recent studies have revealed the great potential of acoustic reflection logging in detecting near borehole fractures and vugs. The new design of acoustic reflection imaging tool with a closest spacing of 10.6m and a certain degree of phase steering makes it easier to extract the reflection signals from the borehole mode waves. For field applications of the tool, we had developed the corresponding processing software: Acoustic Reflection Imaging. In this paper, we have further developed an effective data processing flow by employing multi‐scale slowness‐time‐coherence for reflection wave extraction and incorporating reverse time migration for imaging complicated subtle structures with the strong effects of borehole environment. Applications of the processing flow to synthetic data of acoustic reflection logging in a fractured formation model and interface model with fluid filled borehole generated by 2D finite difference method, and to the physical modelling data from a laboratory water tank, as well as to the field data from two wells in a western Chinese oil field, demonstrate the validity and capability of our multi‐scale slowness‐time‐coherence and reverse time migration algorithms.     

Analytical expressions for the borehole seismic signatures excited by an explosive source buried in an elastic half‐space

Borehole guided waves that are excited by explosive sources outside of the borehole are important for interpreting borehole seismic surveys and for rock property inversion workflows. Borehole seismograms are typically modelled using numerical methods of wave propagation. In order to benchmark such numerical algorithms and partially to interpret the results of modelling, an analytical methodology is presented here to compute synthetic seismograms. The specific setup is a wavefield emanating from a monopole point source embedded within a homogeneous elastic medium that interacts with a fluid‐filled borehole and a free surface. The methodology assumes that the wavelength of the seismic signal is much larger than the borehole radius. In this paper, it is supposed that there is no poroelastic coupling between the formation and the borehole. The total wavefield solution consists of P, PP, and PS body waves; the surface Rayleigh wave; and the low‐frequency guided Stoneley wave (often referred as the tube wave) within the borehole. In its turn, the tube wave consists of the partial responses generated by the incident P‐wave and the reflected PP and PS body waves at the borehole mouth and by the Rayleigh wave, as well as the Stoneley wave eigenmode. The Mach tube wave, which is a conic tube wave, additionally appears in the Mach cone in a slow formation with the tube‐wave velocity greater than the shear one. The conditions of appearance of the Mach wave in a slow formation are formulated. It is shown that the amplitude of the Mach tube wave strongly depends on Poisson's ratio of the slow surrounding formation. The amplitude of the Mach tube wave exponentially decreases when the source depth grows for weakly compressible elastic media with Poisson's ratio close to 0.5 (i.e., saturated clays and saturated clay soils). Asymptotic expressions are also provided to compute the wavefield amplitudes for different combinations of source depth and source‐well offset. These expressions allow an approximate solution of the wavefield to be computed much faster (within several seconds) than directly computing the implicit integrals arising from the analytical formulation.     

倾斜地层中的井孔声场研究

研究声波在倾斜充液井孔中的传播对于声波测井数据处理和解释具有重要意义.应用三维交错网格有限差分方法模拟了处于倾斜各向同性分层地层中的井孔声场.首先,针对均匀地层中单极子声源在裸眼井中激发的声场,将有限差分的结果和实轴积分法的结果进行对比验证.然后,采用单极子和偶极子两种声源,针对地层分界面和井轴间的不同倾角,计算了相应的声场分布和井轴上的接收波形.数值计算的结果表明,当声源处于倾斜分界面以下,即处于快速（下方）地层,接收器处于倾斜分界面以上（慢速）地层时,随着地层倾斜角度的加大,测得的慢度值从接近上方慢速地层值逐渐减小直至接近下方快速地层的值.任何源距情况下测得的首波慢度均小于上方地层实际的纵波慢度.并且,慢度与源距的关系曲线随源距的加大逐渐平缓.用偶极子声源激发得到的横波慢度与纵波结果相同,并表现得比纵波对倾角的改变更敏感.上述结论在本文中用声场快照和利用合成接收波列的慢度计算得以清楚显示,并且用射线声学理论验证.     

Scattering of elastic waves by a general anisotropic basin. Part 2: a 3D model

Scattering of plane harmonic waves by a three‐dimensional basin of arbitrary shape embedded within elastic half‐space is investigated by using an indirect boundary integral equation approach. The materials of the basin and the half‐space are assumed to be the most general anisotropic, homogeneous, linearly elastic solids without any material symmetry (i.e. triclinic). The unknown scattered waves are expressed in terms of three‐dimensional triclinic time harmonic full‐space Green's functions. The results have been tested by comparing the surface response of semi spherical isotropic and transversely isotropic basins for which the numerical solutions are available. Surface displacements are presented for a semicircular basin subjected to a vertical incident plane harmonic pseudo‐P‐, SV‐, or SH‐wave. These results are compared with the motion obtained for the corresponding equivalent isotropic models. The results show that presence of the basin may cause significant amplification of ground motion when compared to the free‐field displacements. The peak amplitude of the predominant component of surface motion is smaller for the anisotropic basin than for the corresponding isotropic one. Anisotropic response may be asymmetric even for symmetric geometry and incidence. Anisotropic surface displacement generally includes all three components of motion which may not be the case for the isotropic results. Furthermore, anisotropic response strongly depends upon the nature of the incident wave, degree of material anisotropy and the azimuthal orientation of the observation station. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of anisotropy in amplification of surface ground motion. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dispersion and radial depth of investigation of borehole modes

Sonic techniques in geophysical prospecting involve elastic wave velocity measurements that are performed by placing acoustic transmitters and receivers in a fluid‐filled borehole. The signals recorded at the receivers are processed to obtain compressional‐ and shear‐wave velocities in the surrounding formation. These velocities are generally used in seismic surveys for the time‐to‐depth conversion and other formation parameters, such as porosity and lithology. Depending upon the type of transmitter used (e.g. monopole or dipole) and as a result of eccentering, it is possible to excite axisymmetric (n= 0) , flexural (n= 1) and quadrupole (n= 2) families of modes propagating along the borehole. We present a study of various propagating and leaky modes that includes their dispersion and attenuation characteristics caused by radiation into the surrounding formation. A knowledge of propagation characteristics of borehole modes helps in a proper selection of transmitter bandwidth for suppressing unwanted modes that create problems in the inversion for the compressional‐ and shear‐wave velocities from the dispersive arrivals. It also helps in the design of a transmitter for a preferential excitation of a given mode in order to reduce interference with drill‐collar or drilling noise for sonic measurements‐while‐drilling. Computational results for the axisymmetric family of modes in a fast formation with a shear‐wave velocity of 2032 m/s show the existence of Stoneley, pseudo‐Rayleigh and anharmonic cut‐off modes. In a slow formation with a shear‐wave velocity of 508 m/s, we find the existence of the Stoneley mode and the first leaky compressional mode which cuts in at approximately the same normalized frequency ωa/V_S= 2.5 (a is the borehole radius) as that of the fast formation. The corresponding modes among the flexural family include the lowest‐order flexural and anharmonic cut‐off modes. For both the fast and slow formations, the first anharmonic mode cuts in at a normalized frequency ωa/V_S= 1.5 approximately. Cut‐off frequencies of anharmonic modes are inversely proportional to the borehole radius in the absence of any tool. The borehole quadrupole mode can also be used for estimating formation shear slownesses. The radial depth of investigation with a quadrupole mode is marginally less than that of a flexural mode because of its higher frequency of excitation.     

声波远探测中偏心声源的辐射以及接收波场研究

通过最速下降积分法获得了充液井孔中偏心点声源激发的井外波场的远场渐近解;利用互易性获得井外存在反射体时井内偏心接收的波场渐近解,渐近解结果与有限差分的结果吻合;分析了声源频率、偏心距离以及方位角对波场辐射与接收的影响.计算发现：声源频率是影响井外波场的主导因素,声源频率较低时,偏心点声源激发的远场波场与偏心距离无关,可以将偏心点声源视为中心声源;声源频率较高时,偏心点声源激发的远场波场与中心声源之间存在不可忽略的差异,且频率越高、偏心距离越大,差异越大.计算还发现：采用偏心声源与偏心接收时,辐射波场与接收波场的幅度都具有方位角依赖性.最后我们给出利用反射波幅度变化来消除反射体方位角180°不确定性的算例.     

Caustics in a periodically layered transversely isotropic medium with vertical symmetry axis

Wave propagation in a finely layered medium is a very important topic in seismic modelling and inversion. Here we analyse non‐vertical wave propagation in a periodically layered transversely isotropic (VTI) medium and show that the evanescent (attenuation) zones in the frequency‐horizontal slowness domain result in caustics in the group velocity domain. These caustics, which may appear for both the quasi‐compressional (qP) and quasi‐shear (qSV) wave surfaces are frequency dependent but display weak dependence at low frequencies. The caustics computed for a specific frequency differ from those observed at the low‐ and high‐frequency limits. We illustrate these caustics with a few numerical examples and snapshots computed for both qP‐ and qSV‐wave types.     

Time domain scattering of acoustic plane waves by vertical faults

Acoustic plane wave scattering at a vertical fault structure represents the simplest two-dimensional model of geophysical exploration that can be investigated by analytical techniques. The exact and complete solution, in the time domain, for the scattering of the pressure field of an acoustic plane wave normally incident on a vertical fault structure is determined adapting previous results given for the frequency domain. The wave form of the pressure field of the incident plane wave is expressed by a causal time function that decays exponentially with time at every point above the fault (z<0). The zero-order term of the scattered pressure field has been computed above the fault. This zero-order term consists of an inverse Fourier transform which reduces to a closed expression forx=0, and contains an integral of a Hankel function forx#0. The high frequency part of the inverse Fourier transform forx#0 is computed employing asymptotic expressions for the Hankel function. The integral of the asymptotic expression of the Hankel function reduces to: (i) a Fresnel integral which contains a plane wave term for |x||z|; and (ii) a stationary point plane wave term plus an upper limit term for |x|=O(|z|). For the latter case the plane wave term cancels, leaving a cylindrical wave emanated from the edge of the fault. The wave front is well defined in shape, in phase and in amplitude. The amplitude of the scattered field is discontinuous atx=0, presents a jump and is well defined for |x| small and is rather smooth for |x| large.     

Stoneley wave generation by an incident P-wave propagating in the surrounding formation across a horizontal fluid-filled fracture

This study investigates the generation of the low-frequency borehole Stoneley wave (tube wave) by a plane P-wave propagating through the surrounding elastic formation, which is intersected by a fluid-filled fracture. A model is constructed taking into account the dynamic fluid coupling between the borehole interior and the fluid-filled fracture of infinite extent with parallel walls. The basic mechanism of such coupling is due to the contraction of the fracture walls by the incident P-wave, leading to seismic radiation into the fracture. The dynamic fluid flux from the fracture into the borehole interior, and vice versa, is the source of the low-frequency Stoneley wave. An expression for the monopole pressure source, exciting the tube wave, is obtained. The tube-wave equation in the long-wave approximation is derived in the presence of a fluid-filled fracture of infinite extent. Amplitudes and waveforms of Stoneley waves are analysed in the seismic wavelength range for P-wave pulses of various shapes. It is shown that the amplitude and waveform of the Stoneley wave depends significantly on the two dimensionless parameters of the problem: (1) the ratio of the borehole radius to the dominant wavelength of the incident pulse; (2) the ratio of the fracture width to the borehole radius. It is found that the amplitude of the generated Stoneley wave can be of the order of the P-wave amplitude in the borehole fluid. Stoneley waveforms are found to be completely different from those of the incident pulse.     

基于偶极弯曲波频散的横波慢度径向分布反演

本文针对地层横波慢度径向分层模型,分析了地层横波慢度的径向非均匀性对弯曲波频散的影响.基于径向非均匀与均匀模型之间弯曲波频散的差异,结合微扰法和Backus-Gilbert(BG)理论建立了反演横波慢度径向分布的方程,求取了地层横波慢度的径向分布.在无噪声和参数误差时,反演结果较好地反映了实际地层横波慢度的径向分布,当井孔流体或井外地层纵波慢度的选取误差在10%内变化时,反演结果基本保持不变;存在信噪比(SNR)为20 dB(信号的功率为噪声的100倍)或10 dB(信号的功率为噪声的10倍)噪声时,反演结果没有发生明显的改变,其相对误差基本控制在10%以内,可见噪声对反演结果的影响不大.以上反演结果说明,本文采用的结合微扰法和BG理论的反演方法来估测地层横波慢度的径向分布时,具有很好的鲁棒性,可以被用于现场了解井壁周围的地层性质.     

Hydrogeology,Chemical and Microbial Activity Measurement Through Deep Permafrost

Little is known about hydrogeochemical conditions beneath thick permafrost, particularly in fractured crystalline rock, due to difficulty in accessing this environment. The purpose of this investigation was to develop methods to obtain physical, chemical, and microbial information about the subpermafrost environment from a surface‐drilled borehole. Using a U‐tube, gas and water samples were collected, along with temperature, pressure, and hydraulic conductivity measurements, 420 m below ground surface, within a 535 m long, angled borehole at High Lake, Nunavut, Canada, in an area with 460‐m‐thick permafrost. Piezometric head was well above the base of the permafrost, near land surface. Initial water samples were contaminated with drill fluid, with later samples <40% drill fluid. The salinity of the non‐drill fluid component was <20,000 mg/L, had a Ca/Na ratio above 1, with δ¹⁸O values ～5‰ lower than the local surface water. The fluid isotopic composition was affected by the permafrost‐formation process. Nonbacteriogenic CH₄ was present and the sample location was within methane hydrate stability field. Sampling lines froze before uncontaminated samples from the subpermafrost environment could be obtained, yet the available time to obtain water samples was extended compared to previous studies. Temperature measurements collected from a distributed temperature sensor indicated that this issue can be overcome easily in the future. The lack of methanogenic CH₄ is consistent with the high sulfate concentrations observed in cores. The combined surface‐drilled borehole/U‐tube approach can provide a large amount of physical, chemical, and microbial data from the subpermafrost environment with few, controllable, sources of contamination.     

Elastic radiation from buried sources in a semi-infinite heterogeneous medium

Summary The wave equations of elasticity in the presence of body forces for a semi-infinite, isotropic, heterogeneous medium with exponentially varying material properties have been solved. Using double Fourier transform the equations are first transformed to linear second order differential equations. From the solution of these equations the displacements are obtained by the use of inversion theorem for double Fourier transform. The method followed resolves the disturbance into its constitutive parts—incident and reflectedP, SV andSH type waves. Surface displacements due to a single couple, double couple and various other sources have been calculated.     

Reflection of waves from the boundary of a random elastic semi-infinite medium

In this paper the smooth perturbation technique is employed to investigate the problem of reflection of waves incident on the plane boundary of a semi-infinite elastic medium with randomly varying inhomogeneities. Amplitude ratios have been obtained for various types of incident and reflected waves. It has been shown that an incidentSH orSV type of wave gives rise to reflectedSH, P andSV waves, the main components beingSH andP, SV in the respective cases. The reflected amplitudes have been calculated depending upon the randomness of the medium to the square of the small quantity , where measures the deviation of the medium from homogeneity. An incidentP-type wave produces mainly aP component and also a weakSH component to the order of ². The reflected amplitudes obtainable for elastic media are also altered by terms of the same order. The direction of the reflected wave is influenced by randomness in some cases.     

低渗砂泥岩地层的声波测井波形特征

用于低渗砂岩油气开发的压裂需要地层的纵横波时差参数;压裂形成的人工裂缝或砂泥岩中的自然裂缝是油气流入井中的主要通道.声波测井是测量地层的纵横波时差、探测连通裂缝的有效方法.本文给出了新设计的偶极子组合声波测井仪器在低渗砂泥岩地层所测量的波形.新仪器利用声波在井内传播的固有频率设计探头,利用探头阻抗随频率的变化曲线设计匹配电路,有效地提高了声发射功率,在井下采用16位A/D转换器提高了原始波形的采样精度.测量的波形比通常的声波测井波形所含的地层信息丰富.单极子长源距声波测井波形中除了通常的纵、横波和Stoneley波外,还发现了起始于纵波首波的反射波以及随深度改变其到达时间的后续波.通过与其它测井曲线综合对比发现:其反射波与井眼扩径有关,使测量的声波时差加大;后续波在显示地层特征的同时,与横波混叠在一起,使横波时差的提取变得困难.另外,在偶极子所测量的低频波形中也发现了明显的反映地层连通裂缝的反射波,该反射波可以用于指示低渗砂岩地层中的连通裂缝.     

Tube wave to shear wave conversion at borehole plugs

In hydraulic fracturing experiments, perforation shots excite body and tube waves that sample, and thus can be used to characterize, the surrounding medium. While these waves are routinely employed in borehole operations, their resolving power is limited by the experiment geometry, the signal‐to‐noise ratio, and their frequency content. It is therefore useful to look for additional, complementary signals that could increase this resolving power. Tube‐to‐body‐wave conversions (scattering of tube to compressional or shear waves at borehole discontinuities) are one such signal. These waves are not frequently considered in hydraulic fracture settings, yet they possess geometrical and spectral attributes that greatly complement the resolution afforded by body and tube waves alone. Here, we analyze data from the Jonah gas field (Wyoming, USA) to demonstrate that tube‐to‐shear‐wave conversions can be clearly observed in the context of hydraulic fracturing experiments. These waves are identified primarily on the vertical and radial components of geophones installed in monitoring wells surrounding a treatment well. They exhibit a significantly lower frequency content (10–100 Hz) than the primary compressional waves (100–1000 Hz). Tapping into such lower frequencies could help to better constrain velocity in the formation, thus allowing better estimates of fracture density, porosity and permeability. Moreover, the signals of tube‐to‐shear‐wave conversion observed in this particular study provide independent estimates of the shear wave velocity in the formation and of the tube wave velocity in the treatment well.     

Simulation of full-waveform log in saturated cracked formations using Hudson's approach

We study the propagation of elastic waves that are generated in a fluid‐filled borehole surrounded by a cracked transversely isotropic medium. In the model studied the anisotropy and borehole axes coincide. To obtain the effective elastic moduli of a cracked medium we have applied Hudson's theory that enables the determination of the overall properties as a function of the crack orientation in relation to the symmetry axis of the anisotropic medium. This theory takes into account the hydrodynamic mechanism of the elastic‐wave attenuation caused by fluid filtration from the cracks into a porous matrix. We have simulated the full waveforms generated by an impulse source of finite length placed on the borehole axis. The kinematic and dynamic parameters of the compressional, shear and Stoneley waves as functions of the matrix permeability, crack orientation and porosity were studied. The modelling results demonstrated the influence of the crack‐system parameters (orientation and porosity) on the velocities and amplitudes of all wave types. The horizontally orientated cracks result in maximal decrease of the elastic‐wave parameters (velocities and amplitudes). Based on the fact that the shear‐ and Stoneley‐wave velocities in a transversely isotropic medium are determined by different shear moduli, we demonstrate the feasibility of the acoustic log to identify formations with close to horizontal crack orientations.     

Dependence of borehole shear‐horizontal‐wave seismoelectric response on soil textures

The phenomenon of acoustic waves inducing electric fields in porous media is called the seismoelectric effect. Earlier investigators proposed the usage of seismoelectric effect for well logging. Soil texture has a strong influence on the coupled wave fields during shallow surface explorations. In this article, we study the borehole pure shear‐horizontal wave and the coupling transverse‐electric field (acoustic–electrical coupling wave fields) in the partially saturated soil. Combined with related theories, we expand the formation parameters to partially saturated forms and discuss the influence of soil texture conditions on the seismoelectric wave fields. The results show that the elastic and electrical properties of porous media are sensitive to water saturation. The compositions of the acoustic and electric fields for different soil textures do not change, but the waveforms differ. We also use the secant integral method to simulate the interface‐converted electromagnetic waves. The results show that interface response strength is greatly influenced by soil texture. In addition, considering the sensitivity of the inducing electric field to fluid salinity, we also simulate the time‐domain waveforms of electric field for different pore fluid salinity levels. The results show that as the salinity increases, the electric field amplitude decreases monotonically. The above conclusions have certain significance for the application of borehole shear wave and its coupled electric fields for resource exploration, saturation assessment and groundwater pollution monitoring.     

Estimating the permeability of the Nojima Fault Zone by a hydrophone vertical seismic profiling experiment

Abstract A multi-offset hydrophone vertical seismic profiling (VSP) experiment was done in a 747 m deep borehole at Nojima Hirabayashi, Hyogo prefecture, Japan. The borehole was drilled to penetrate the Nojima Fault, which was active in the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake. The purpose of the hydrophone VSP is to detect subsurface permeable fractures and permeable zones and, in the present case, to estimate the permeability of the Nojima Fault. The analysis was based on a model by which tube waves are generated when incident P-waves compress the permeable fractures (or permeable zones) intersecting the borehole and a fluid in the fracture is injected into the borehole. Permeable fractures (or permeable zones) are detected at the depths of tube wave generation, and fracture permeability is calculated from the amplitude ratio of tube wave to incident P-wave. Several generations of tube waves were detected from the VSP sections. Distinct tube waves were generated at depths of the fault zone that are characterized by altered and deformed granodiorite with a fault gouge, suggesting that permeable fractures and permeable zones exist in the fault zone. Tube wave analysis shows that the permeability of the fault gouge from 624 m to 625 m is estimated to be approximately 2 × 10⁻¹² m².     

Study of effects of focal depth on the characteristics of Rayleigh waves using finite difference method

This paper presents a relationship between the focal depth in terms of Rayleigh-wave wavelength and the dominant frequency of Rayleigh waves generated in a homogeneous half-space. Rayleigh waves were simulated using a (2, 4) staggered grid P-SV wave finite difference algorithm with VGR-stress imaging technique as a free surface boundary condition. VGR is an acronym for vertical grid-size reduction. The simulated seismic responses using P-wave and SV-wave sources at different focal depths revealed Rayleigh-wave generation up to certain focal depth only for the considered frequency bandwidth. A shift of normalized spectral shape of Rayleigh wave towards lower frequency with increasing focal depth was inferred. Largest spectral amplitude was obtained in the wavelength for which the ratio of focal depth to the wavelength of Rayleigh wave was around 0.17 in the case of P-wave source and 0.9 in the case of SV-wave source. An exponential decrease of spectral amplitude of Rayleigh wave with the departure of the ratio of focal depth to Rayleigh wave wavelength from the above mentioned values was obtained.