Flexural Waves In An Anisotropic Hard Formation Borehole Model
Name
1996.3 Zhu_Cheng_Toksoz.pdf
Size
403.38 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
97d7446275eb07c5d5faf97a44eceaf4
Author(s)
Zhu, Zhenya Y.
Cheng, Arthur C. H.
Toksoz, M. Nafi
Date Issued
1996
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
Series/Report no.
Earth Resources Laboratory Industry Consortia Annual Report;1996-03
Abstract
To investigate the propagation of flexural waves in a borehole surrounded by an azimuthally anisotropic hard formation, we made an ultrasonic borehole model of Delabole
slate with very strong anisotropy. The axial and azimuthal acoustic fields generated by
a dipole source were measured in the fluid-filled borehole. The results show that there
are three dominant wave modes: fast and slow flexural waves and one we call a "flexural
Stoneley wave. The phase velocities of the fast and slow flexural waves are lower
than and close to those of the fast and slow shear waves of the formation, respectively.
The phase velocity of the "flexural Stoneley" wave is higher than that of the borehole
fluid. Regardless of the polarization of the dipole source, the particle motions of the
fast and slow flexural waves are linear and in the direction of the fast and slow shear
waves, respectively. The "flexural Stoneley" wave, similar to the normal Stoneley wave
generated by a monopole source, is a tube wave with low frequency and high amplitude.
Its main particle motion is in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the borehole axis.
If the formation is azimuthally anisotropic, its particle motion is linear only when the
source polarization is in the same direction as the fast and slow shear waves, and is
elliptic everywhere else. Dipole acoustic well logging could be an effective and potential means for determining the anisotropy of a formation.
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