An acoustic-wave theory for casing bond evaluation using viscoelastic slip boundary modeling

Slip boundary condition is commonly utilized to model elastic wave propagation through layered earth media. The same approach is used here to characterize acoustic wave propagation along a cased borehole with various cement bond conditions. By modeling the cement layer between casing and formation as a viscoelastic slip interface with complex coupling rigidity parameters, one can not only reduce the complexity in the classical elastic wave modeling of the problem, but also efficiently model various complicated wave phenomena that are difficult for the existing modeling. More specifically, the new theory can well describe the effect of the cement bond condition change and the location of the change (i.e., whether it is in the first interface between casing and cement, or the second interface between cement and formation) on the acoustic waves, demonstrating the good modeling capability and predicting power. Application of the theory to field data shows that the theory can correctly model the acoustic wave characteristics and interpret the cement bond condition, thus providing a useful fundament theory for casing bond evaluation using acoustic logging.