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Model-based Estimation of Rock Strength from Seismic Velocity
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 78th EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2016, May 2016, Volume 2016, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Compressive strength of a rock is an important mechanical property required in many applications in civil and mining engineering, and in oil and gas development fields. Seismic profiling can be effectively used for building a strength model of a large rock mass if seismic data can be converted to rock strength. Correlation of field data measured at a specific site or empirical equations of both properties have been long employed for estimating rock strength from seismic velocity. However these techniques have problems in accuracy and reliability of the estimate. To enable more accurate and reliable estimates, physical models of the compressive strength–seismic velocity relationship are proposed and applied to real data for demonstrating the applicability of the models. Two effective medium models for compressive strength – porosity and for seismic velocity – porosity are combined to model the compressive strength and seismic velocity relationship. Laboratory measurements of unconfined compressive strength and ultrasonic P-wave velocity for sedimentary rocks in Japan are tested for modelling. This application proves that physical model can be effectively used to estimate rock strength from seismic velocity.