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oa Computational Rock Physics Using a Hamiltonian Particle Method for Effective Elastic Properties of Cracked Media
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, The 16th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Exploration Geophysics (RAEG 2012), Nov 2012, cp-408-00002
Abstract
It is important to estimate physical properties of cracked rocks in exploration geophysics. In the past, many analytical studies for elastic properties of a cracked medium have been conducted, for example non-interacting theory, self-consistent theory and so on. However, some limitations (e.g. crack geometries, long wavelength limit) always remain in theoretical approaches. On the other hand, numerical studies, which are much less restrictive, have also been conducted using several numerical methods. In the present study, we apply a Hamiltonian particle method (HPM) for estimating effective elastic properties of cracked media because HPM has some advantages in treating cracked media. In order to investigate the validity of the particle method for determining the effective properties of cracked media, we calculate the effective velocity of cracked region using the particle method and compare with those from several effective medium theories. Our results show good agreements with those from modified self-consistent theory. Since this is consistent with the previous studies, HPM can estimate effective elastic properties of cracked media. HPM has some advantages about computational costs, this indicates that the effective calculation with low computation costs (numerical memory and calculation costs) is possible.