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Monitoring fracture evolution with compressional‐mode interface waves
Author(s) -
PyrakNolte Laura J.,
Roy Sanjit
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl011125
Subject(s) - longitudinal wave , ultimate tensile strength , fracture (geology) , core (optical fiber) , geology , materials science , mode (computer interface) , seismology , wave propagation , composite material , physics , optics , computer science , operating system
As a tensile fracture was induced in a sandstone core sample under compressional loading, compressional waves were propagated parallel to the plane of tensile stress. Long before catastrophic failure, when a macroscopic fracture was formed, the energy in the compressional wave showed a dramatic shift in spectral frequency from 0.644 MHz to 1 MHz. This frequency shift is a signature of the partitioning of energy from a compressional body wave into a compressional‐mode interface wave. The presence of this signature before failure suggests the presence of an incipient interface wave that is supported by a network of oriented but disconnected microcracks.