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Elastic wave propagation along a set of parallel fractures
Author(s) -
Nakagawa Seiji,
Nihei Kurt T.,
Myer Larry R.
Publication year - 2002
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 - 10.1029/2002gl014925
Subject(s) - rayleigh wave , antisymmetric relation , fracture (geology) , lamb waves , wave propagation , dispersion (optics) , mechanics , stiffness , planar , longitudinal wave , plane (geometry) , plane wave , geology , physics , geometry , materials science , geotechnical engineering , optics , composite material , mathematics , computer graphics (images) , computer science , mathematical physics
Previous studies on elastic wave propagation in fractured media have demonstrated that a single planar fracture supports fracture interface waves and that two plane parallel fractures support fracture channel waves. Here, the results are presented for plane wave propagation through an infinite number of plane parallel fractures with equal fracture spacing and fracture stiffnesses. Analysis of the dispersion equations for this fractured system demonstrates that these waves exhibit symmetric and antisymmetric particle motions, degenerate to classical Rayleigh‐Lamb plate waves when the fractures are completely open, and possess dispersive velocities that are functions of both the fracture stiffness and spacing. Time‐frequency analysis performed on a series of laboratory ultrasonic transmission measurements on a fractured rock analog shows good agreement with the theoretical predictions.