Wave propagation in a fluid‐filled fracture — An experimental study

A laboratory experimental study has been carried out to investigate the mode trapping characteristics of a fluid‐filled fracture between two elastic solids. Using a small circular cylindrical receiver of 2.7 mm diameter, we were able to measure the wave motion directly inside a 2.8 mm thick fracture and to obtain array data for the propagating waves. The data was processed using Prony's method to give velocity of the wave modes as a function of frequency. The experimental results agree with the theoretical predictions quite well. Specifically, in a “hard” (aluminum) fracture where the shear velocity of the solid is greater than the fluid velocity, four normal modes were detected in the frequency range up to 2.4 MHz. Whereas in a “soft” (lucite) fracture where the shear velocity is smaller than the fluid velocity, four leaky‐P modes were detected in the same frequency range. In both cases, a fundamental mode analogous to Stoneley waves in a borehole was detected. In particular, the velocity of this mode approaches zero in the low frequency limit, as indicated by the theory and confirmed by the experiment in a low frequency range down to 25 kHz.