Wave Propagation in Porous Elastoplastic Rocks: Implication for Seismic Attenuation

TL;DR

This paper presents a 1D model for acoustic wave propagation in porous elastoplastic rocks, highlighting how pore-scale plastic yielding causes seismic wave attenuation, with applications in reservoir monitoring and earthquake engineering.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel 1D model incorporating two-phase physics and elastoplastic deformations to analyze seismic attenuation in porous rocks.

Findings

P-wave energy attenuation is linked to pore-scale plastic yielding.

Numerical simulations capture key physical aspects of wave propagation in drained rocks.

Model has potential applications in reservoir monitoring and earthquake engineering.

Abstract

We develop and study a 1D model for the acoustic wave propagation with two-phase physics and irreversible elastoplastic deformations in the rock matrix. We address the effect of the P-wave energy attenuation due to pore-scale plastic yielding in pre-stressed sedimentary rocks. The numerical examples are presented for drained rocks that capture major physical aspects of the process. We anticipate that our model can be used for monitoring of fluid flow in natural and artificial reservoirs using seismic data as well as it can be useful for earthquake engineering.