Energy Partitioning of Seismic Waves in Fractured Rocks

Advances in locating and characterizes fractures in oil and gas reservoirs, and at waste isolation sites from seismic surveys requires improved interpretation methods. Experimental and theoretical results from this work have lead to an understanding of diagnostic signatures of energy that is partitioned into body waves and guided modes by fractures. Compressional waves and shear waves (i.e., shear waves with particle motion perpendicular to the fracture plane) are sensitive to changes in shear stress on a pre-existing fracture and to the formation of a fracture in a previously intact specimen. Both types of waves exhibit a shift in frequency content and a change in the amplitude of the wave as a fracture is formed or a pre-existing fracture is closed. The dispersion characteristics of interfact waves that propagate along a fracture enable quantification of fracture specific stiffness. A new compressional-mode interface wave was measured that has the potential for becoming a diagnostic tool for changes in stress in a fracture. The results of this research provide the basis for the development of seismic imaging techniques and analyses tools for locating and characterizing fractures on the field scale