SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

LWD Sonic Logging in Cased Holes

J. Market, D.P. Schmitt, and R. Deady, Halliburton Energy Services, Houston, Texas
Copyright 2004, held jointly by the Society of Petrophysicists and
Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) and the submitting authors.

partially bonded to completely unbonded cases, the

presence of the casing and the aggregate layers
between casing and formation affect the ability to
detect the formation arrivals as well as the character
of the casing arrivals. The interface waves such as
Stoneley, flexural, and screw modes are affected by
the presence of the casing and cement and by the
quality of the bond.

th

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPWLA 45 Annual

Logging Symposium held in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, June 69,
2004.

ABSTRACT
While LWD sonic logs have been routinely used in
open holes for nearly a decade, LWD sonic logging
in cased holes can also provide useful information,
including cement evaluation logs and formation
velocities. Though it is common practice to acquire
wireline sonic data through casing, it is a relatively
unexplored facet of LWD sonic logging. While
much of the theory is the same for both
environments, there are critical differences related to
the presence of the large LWD tool and the resulting
small fluid annulus which modify the properties of
the guided waves and multiply reflected waves.
Some of the differences are theoretically illustrated
through full wave synthetic seismograms and field
data examples. Well-bonded and poorly bonded
situations are discussed. In the latter case, examples
of a poor casing-cement bond or cement-formation
bond are both investigated.
Examples of compressional velocity data acquired
through casing are presented along with comparisons
to wireline data. Examples of qualitative cement
bond logs based on the attenuation characteristics of
the compressional wave train are also presented.
Finally, operational recommendations and processing
techniques for casing bond logs and compressional
velocities through casing are discussed and quality
control displays illustrated.

Cement evaluation logs can be anything from a gross

indicator of top of cement to a finely resolved image
of the casing itself with 3-dimensional information
about the cement itself, including microannulus
evaluation, channelling, and trapped gas using
azimuthal transreceiver type data. In their more basic
forms, cement evaluation logs primarily evaluate the
amplitude response of the casing arrival, based upon
the concept that unbonded casing will ring freely
with high amplitude, while well-bonded casing will
be dampened by the cement/formation and have a
lower amplitude response.
These technologies, while fairly commonplace in the
wireline environment, have been little explored in the
Logging While Drilling (LWD) environment.
Whereas acoustic scanning image tools have not yet
been developed for LWD, open hole LWD sonic
logging tools have been producing compressional and
shear logs for nearly a decade. In many cases, these
LWD sonic tools have completely replaced wireline
logging runs, saving time and expense (Deady et al,
2001). There are many conditions, however, where
cased hole information could be an addition to the
logging programme: 1) the shallowest runs are often
not logged with a full suite of tools, leaving a gap in
the sonic log. Filling this gap could improve seismic
tie-ins. 2) often the operator would like to know
where top of cement is located but is not willing (or
is unable) to make a wireline run. LWD sonic logs
can provide these services as part of a deeper open
hole run or as a special cased hole trip. Since the
LWD sonic tools must trip through the cased hole
section in order to get to the deeper section being
drilled, cased hole data are often acquired but are
largely disregarded.

INTRODUCTION
Sonic logging in cased holes is an established
wireline service. Cased hole logging is commonly
used to provide compressional wave velocities for the
formation behind casing and cement evaluation logs.
The shear, flexural, and screw wave velocities are
sometimes measured also. In the well-bonded case,
compressional and refracted shear logging is little
affected by the presence of the casing. In the

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

configuration, several modelling studies considered

the cased hole situation, typically omitting the
presence of the actual tool (e.g., Chang and Everhart
(1983), Tubman et al (1984, 1986), Schmitt and
Bouchon (1985), Schmitt (1993), Valero et al.
(2000)). Such an assumption cannot be performed in
the LWD situation: the presence of the steel drill
collar, which greatly decreases the distance from the
tool to the casing and affects the behaviour of the
fundamental (interface) modes, cannot be omitted.
The position of the transmitters and receivers, now
located on the outside of the collar, can lead to mode
contamination. It is also unlikely that the tool will be
centralised in the well bore, due to practical drilling
constraints. In addition, it can be difficult to maintain
balanced sources and receivers in the LWD downhole
environment, due to variations in pressure and
temperature as well as mud/cuttings building on the
tool. The transmitter-to-receiver spacing can be
shorter than in wireline, making the separation of
modes travelling at close velocities more difficult.
Data acquisition also differs in that it is time-based,
not depth-based (as in the wireline case), so data are
sampled at irregular depth intervals.

In the sections below, we will discuss the challenges

of LWD sonic logging through casing, presenting
modelling and field results for a variety of formations
and bonding situations. The primary focus is on
compressional and refracted shear logs, with a
comparison of monopole, dipole, and quadrupole
data type. A detailed analysis of the fundamental
modes is out of the scope of this paper. Basic cement
evaluation services are discussed, presenting
modelling and field results. Finally, best practice
recommendations for acquiring LWD sonic logs
through casing and LWD cement evaluation logs are
suggested.
BACKGROUND
Detecting the compressional velocity through the
casing is dependent on several factors such as the
quality of the bonds, the impedance contrast between
the cement and the formation and the frequency of
the signal.. First, the better the bond, the less the
casing ringing will dominate the signal and interfere
with the fast formation velocities. Second, if the
compressional velocity is close to or slower than the
cement compressional velocity, most of the acoustic
energy is refracted into the formation and little is
reflected back through the cement layers to the
receivers. In the latter situation, cases of a poor
casing-cement bond or cement-formation bond are
investigated. Finally, the frequency of the signal is
important. Higher frequency signals (15+ kHz) tend
to favour excitation of the relatively thin casing,
particularly if it is unbonded. Well bonded casing,
which responds as a system (of casing and cement),
tends to ring at lower frequencies. The formation
itself will generally favour lower frequencies. Most
wireline and LWD tools fire a signal with a centre
frequency of ~12 kHz, but some (e.g. Varsamis et al,
1999) excite a mid-frequency range signal which can
be advantageous in exciting formations through
casing and separating the formation signal from the
casing or cement signals. By firing both frequencies
at each depth, the high frequency data will yield
information about the casing ring (and thus the
cement bond), while the lower frequency firing
allows for logging the formation behind casing.

The synthetic seismograms presented throughout

have been calculated using a discrete wave number
method. The model consists of a vertical borehole
embedded in a radially layered medium which is
vertically homogeneous (Figure 1). Axisymmetry is
assumed, including a centred tool with a fluid core.
Anelastic attenuation is accounted for in each radial
layer through quality factors associated with the P
and S-waves (e.g. Aki and Richards, 1980). In the
presence of an LWD tool, the sources and the
receivers are located on the outer wall of the tool. A
monopole source corresponds to a ring source or a
collection of point sources.
A dipole source
corresponds to two sources 180 degrees apart and
opposite in phase. A quadrupole source corresponds
to four sources 90 degrees apart and alternate in sign.
The simulation allows for unbalanced sources and/or
receivers. The resulting waveforms can be returned
as the individual response at each azimuthal receiver,
or properly combined as a function of the source (for
a dipole, the wavefield of the diametrically opposed
receivers is subtracted, while for a monopole
excitation, all the azimuthal receivers are summed).
The described models do not take into account
irregular borehole shape and/or azimuthal variations
in the cement thickness and the quality of the bonds,

Modelling the LWD cased hole environment

In order to investigate the physics of LWD cased hole
sonic logging, we present modelling results and
comparisons with field data.
In the wireline

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

the synthetic data examples in addition to the

standard waveform displays as it is common to
produce slowness logs using them.

but those situations are beyond the scope of this

work.
A well-bonded case is modelled as four concentric
layers, with the tool in the centre. The inner layer is
the bore fluid followed by the casing, the cement, and
the formation. The formation arrival should be
readily detectable, while the casing arrivals should
have little (or no) energy. The top waveform of Fig.
2 shows a single receiver response for such a case.
The other extreme situation, i.e., the completely
unbonded (free pipe) case, also includes four
concentric layers but the elastic cement is replaced by
a fluid layer. In such a situation, a strong casing
arrival is expected that can overshadow the formation
signal (Fig. 2, bottom waveform). The partially
bonded configuration is more complex: the cement
may not be bonded to the casing or the formation.
Such configurations are modelled through the
introduction of an intermediate fluid layer between
the casing and the cement or between the cement and
the formation. The thickness of the intermediate
fluid layer plays a role. Depending upon the
characteristics of the partially bonded case, some
formation and some casing arrival can be expected
(Fig. 2, middle waveform). In the sections below, the
effects of partial bonding are investigated.

In the presence of a fast formation (top), casing,

compressional and shear arrivals are visible in the
waveforms and VDLs. However, in the waveform
plot (especially the low frequency); it is not easy to
separate the casing and formation P-wave arrivals.
Semblance over multiple receivers can be better at
resolving two waves close in velocity. The high
frequency semblance (left) is dominated by the
casing arrival, but the semblance from the lower
frequency data (right) better distinguishes the two
arrivals.
For the medium formation, only the
compressional arrival is present but with good
coherence and energy. The casing and formation
compressional arrivals are easily separated both on
the waveform and semblance plots, and the
amplitudes/semblances for the low and high
frequency data sets are similar.
In the slow
formation, the casing and formation compressional
arrivals are again easily distinguished, but note that
due to the lower resonant frequency of the formation,
the low frequency data shows higher amplitude
compressional arrivals as well as better semblance.
Figure 4 displays a field data example of a LWD
dipole cased hole log. The left track shows the
semblance VDL from a high frequency (12 kHz)
source while the right shows semblance results from
a low frequency (6 kHz) source. In this case, the low
frequency source is clearly better for exciting the
formation modes.

We first explored a simple well-bonded case with an

LWD tool in the centre of the borehole. The LWD
tool is modelled as a modified steel drill collar (with
an inner fluid annulus) for these studies (Table 2).
The case of a (nominal) 6 -in. tool in 9 5/8-in.
casing is presented. Since LWD tools are available
from 4 -in. to 9 -in. and regularly log 30-in. to 6
1/8-in. holes and casing comes in numerous sizes and
weights, the effects of various combinations were
investigated but cannot be presented here due to
space constraints.

Since there are commercially available monopole,

dipole, and quadrupole LWD tools, we investigated
the relative responses of each in cased holes. For
detecting formation compressional and refracted
shear arrivals (low or high frequency), modelling
shows that the monopole response is generally
strongest, and the dipole a bit weaker, and the
quadrupole response even weaker for detecting
refracted modes behind casing.

Figure 3 shows the semblance VDL results for a

partially bonded case with a centralised LWD tool,
monopole source and three different formations. The
left plot is computed from high frequency data (12
kHz source), while the right is from lower frequency
(6 kHz source) data. The top sample is from a fast
formation, the middle from a medium formation,
and the bottom from a slow formation (Table 6). It
is reminded that a fast formation is one for which the
shear slowness is less than that of the borefluid, while
the shear slowness of a slow formation is greater than
that of the bore fluid. We show semblance plots for

The monopole behaviour of the partially bonded case

can be seen in the field data examples of Figures 5
and 6, which were obtained from the same data set
collected with a LWD dipole tool. The data of Figure
5 were collected in a partially bonded cased section
of the hole while those of Figure 6 were collected a
few hundred metres away in the open hole section.
The hole was nearly vertical, and the tool was

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

consider the case where there is good formationcement bonding but no bond between casing and
cement. This is the free pipe scenario. The
corresponding model includes a fluid layer between
the casing and the cement. Figure 8 shows synthetic
monopole data obtained in the presence of a slow
formation with increasing thickness of the fluid layer
from top to bottom. As the thickness of the cement
layer decreases, it becomes increasing difficult to
detect the formation arrival while the amplitude of
the casing arrival increases.

reasonably centralised in both cases. However, note

the very clear monopole character of the poorly
bonded cased hole waveforms (Figure 5) compared to
the clearly dipole behaviour of the open hole data
(Figure 6).
This is a commonly observed
phenomenon with data collected by a dipole tool: in
open holes, the data are predominately dipole in
character, but in poorly bonded cased holes, the
formation arrivals are nearly always in phase
(monopole character).
The complexity of the LWD environment favours
non pure mode excitation. In the open hole and well
bonded cases, the compressional waves excited by a
monopole or dipole source can have very close
amplitudes. In partially bonded cased holes, a
monopole source excites a much stronger formation
compressional wavetrain than a dipole source.
Conceptually, the observed compressional wavetrain
can be predominately monopole in character in
situations where the monopole component of the
pseudo-dipole source is the most efficient.

The second way to model poorly bonded cased holes

is to place a fluid layer between the formation and the
cement. This is generally referred to as the
unbonded case. Figure 9a shows, from top to
bottom, a fully bonded (no-fluid) case to a
completely unbonded (no-cement case). There is a
clear evolution of the casing-cement first arrival. The
thicker the cement bonded to the casing, the slower
the velocity of the casing arrival.
Figure 9b and 9c are the same partially bonded
examples as illustrated in figure 9a, but with different
cement parameters (see Table 5). For a given
thickness, faster cement leads to a faster casingcement arrival. The slowness value observed in
casing is traditionally used to validate sonic tool
performance. (Dewan, 1983) It is important to recall
that only free pipe (no cement bonded to the casing),
far from the source (so as not to read plate modes
instead of body modes), will arrive with the sonic
velocity of steel, as many factors can affect the
velocity (and frequency) at which cemented casing
will ring.

The behaviour of the fundamental, or interface

modes in cased holes can be complicated
considerably from the already complex LWD open
hole situation. Figure 7 shows monopole (a), dipole
(b), and quadrupole (c) synthetics from a low
frequency source (6 kHz) in the presence of a slow
formation. The top sample of each track is relative to
the open hole situation, the middle one to the wellbonded situation, and the bottom to a poorly bonded
case. Note that in all three cases, the fundamental
mode propagates significantly faster in the wellbonded cased hole than in the open hole but not in the
poorly bonded case. The conditions and position of
the bond will also affect the velocity of the
fundamental modes Given the amount of variables in
cased hole conditions, slower than fluid shear
logging, which is complex enough in the LWD open
hole environment, can become even more difficult in
the LWD cased hole.

The effects of varying annular size and casing

thickness have been found to be minimal on the
measured casing velocity. However, as expected, the
amplitude of the casing arrival is affected.
Over the drilling time, the source and receivers are
most likely going to be unbalanced, amplitude wise.
Such effects have been theoretically investigated and
found to be minimal on the quality and reliability of
the processing. The model used in this study cannot
take into account the tool eccentricity. However,
careful examination and processing of a large
quantity of data tend to prove that the slowness
determination is little affected and that qualitative
detection of cement-bonding quality can still be
performed. It is advantageous to analyze separately

Considering the predominant monopole character of

the observed compressional data in the poorly bonded
situations, only the monopole simulations are
presented in the remaining discussions. With respect
to the compressional part of the wavetrain, dipole and
quadrupole results are not in contradiction.
There are two relatively straightforward ways to
envision partially bonded cases. The first is to

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

speed with the downhole tools acquisition rate to

insure an adequately populated depth grid, and 3)
communicate to all rigsite operations personnel the
nature of the operation and the precise depth range
over which to acquire the high density data in order
to minimise any potential time impact on the rig.

the receiver arrays available at different azimuths

prior to their combinations.
LWD cased hole logging field data examples and
practical operational recommendations
Due to the nature of LWD logging, a few practical
operational considerations should be kept in mind
when planning to acquire cased hole data. Since
LWD tools acquire data by time and not depth, it is
important to consider the need to adequately sample
(populate the depth grid) over the primary zone(s) of
interest. Frequently, tripping in over the cased
intervals can approach instantaneous pipe speeds of
nearly 3000 ft/hour. Even with a four second sample
data acquisition rate this would yield a sample every
3.3 feet. For logging through casing or detailed
cement-bond information, this would not be
adequate.
However, for gross top-of-cement
information, this could well be sufficient. For more
fully detailed through-casing results or cementbonding information, it is recommended to ideally
acquire data over the interval of interest at the rate of
one data point per foot.

Figure 11 shows an example of an interval logged

through casing. The compressional velocity was of
primary interest and was identified as a logging
objective prior to the run so that a high density data
set was acquired on the trip in the hole. The sonic
slowness curves (i.e., compressional, shear (if
present) and casing) are displayed in the leftmost
track. To the right of the depth track is a semblance
VDL from the high frequency firing of the tool (the
low frequency one can also be displayed). The
slowness curves of the left track are superimposed on
the VDL. The next track is the amplitude (energy) of
the casing arrival which can be used as a visual check
of the quality of the cement bond quality. The
rightmost tracks display the waveforms from a single
receiver displayed as a VDL (track 5) or as
waveforms (track 6). The amplitude changes that are
seen in the casing energy curve can also be followed
in these waveform displays.

Figure 10a displays a typical LWD acquisition

sequence with well-cemented casings. As the tool is
tripped into the hole at a rapid speed, low density
data is acquired (yellow) with higher density data
acquired when the pipe is held still during the time
connections are made (black). High-density data will
also be acquired while drilling out of the shoe (red)
and in the open hole (green).

Figure 12 shows an example of a larger interval of

the same well. Most of the cased interval was logged
on the normal trip in, yielding sparse data sampling.
Nonetheless, the casing energy curve yields the fact
that the casing is more than likely unbonded at
~3300-3700 feet. In addition, the compressional log
through casing (magenta curve in the leftmost track)
though sparse, matches the more densely sampled
wireline curve (black) over the same interval. If it
had been impossible to acquire wireline data over this
interval, the sparse compressional log behind casing
would have provided seismic tie-in data for the cased
hole section.

Often it will be decided on the fly to perform

cement evaluation with LWD tools as problems have
been encountered with a recent cement job. It is
becoming common to acquire these data on a trip out
of the hole after the next section has been drilled as a
validation check (assuming an adequate leak-off test).
Another alternative is to run the LWD tool in a
scraper/cleanout assembly when the cement has set
up prematurely inside of the casing. In either case,
adequate information must be acquired over the
critical zone of interest, as illustrated in Figure 10b
(blue).

Figure 13 is another example showing both

compressional log data behind casing, as well as
casing bond information. By examining the casing
energy curve (red curve, middle track), and the
behaviour of the compressional curve, it is readily
seen that the casing is very poorly cemented above
approximately 1735 feet, where the energy of the
casing arrival is large and the compressional curve
undetectable. The interval from 1735 feet to about
1900 feet is partially bonded, as we see both a good
formation arrival and weaker casing arrivals. Finally,

Best practice common sense recommendations are

to 1) identify the potential logging objective zones of
interest. In order to validate the top of cement this
may be only the last couple of hundred feet above the
shoe and into the open hole (i.e. roughly the last 2-3
stands of drillpipe) 2) match the pipe movement

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Dewan, J.T., Essentials of Modern Open-Hole Log

Interpretation., 1983, Chapter 5, Porosity logs, 139170.
Schmitt, D.P., 1993, Dipole logging in cased
boreholes: J. Acoust. Soc Am 93 , 640-646.
Schmitt, D.P., Bouchon, M., 1985, Full wave
acoustic logging: synthetic microseismograms and
frequency-wavenumber analysis: Geophysics 50 ,
1756-1778.
Tubman, K.M., Cheng, C.H., Cole, S.P., and
Toksoz, M.N., 1986, Synthetic full-waveform
acoustic logs in cased boreholes, II poorly bonded
casing: Geophysics 51, 902-913.
Valero, H.P., Skelton, O. And Cao, H., 2000, An
overview of sonic slowness evaluation behind casing.
Paper I presented at the 6th Well Logging Symposium
of Japan.
Varsamis, G., Wisniewski, L., Arian, A., and
Althoff, G., A New Full Wave Dual Mode Sonic
Tool Design and Case Histories: SPWLA 40th annual
logging symposium, May 30-June 3, 1999.

at about 1900 feet the casing arrival abruptly

attenuates, indicating that this is the location of the
top of cement.
CONCLUSIONS
Cased-hole sonic logging, while more complex than
open-hole logging, can nonetheless be well
characterised by modelling to understand the physics
of the system. The special LWD situation is an
extension of the wireline cased hole modelling that is
well developed. Many times, LWD sonic cased hole
data are acquired as a by-product of logging a deeper
open-hole objective and have simply been
disregarded. Thus, a potential wealth of data exist
that needs only be explored. With minimal impact to
operations LWD logs in cased holes can often
provide sonic velocities through casing as well as
basic cement evaluation services, including top of
cement and cement bond information.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank the management of
Halliburton Energy Services for permission to
publish this work.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

REFERENCES

Denis P. Schmitt joined Halliburton Technology in

March of 2002 as a scientific advisor for acoustic and
borehole seismic related issues. He is a member of
SPWLA and SEG.

Jennifer Market is the LWD acoustics specialist for

Halliburton.

Aki, K., and Richards, P.G., 1980, Quantitative

Seismology. Theory and Applications. Vol. I, W.H.
Freeman and Co.
Chang, S.K., and Everhart, A.H., 1983, A study of
sonic logging in a cased hole: J. Petr. Tech., 35,
1745-1750.
Chen, S.T., Eriksen, E.A,1991, Compressional and
shear wave logging in open and cased holes using a
multipole tool: Geopyhsics 56, 550-557.
Deady, R., Bourke, A., Higgins, C., Smith, N.,
2001, Next Generation LWD Sonic Tool Overcomes
a Major Hurdle to Full Wireline Replacement for a
Northwest Shelf Australia Operator, SPE Asia Pacific
Oil and Gas Conference.

Ron Deady is the global product champion for

Sperry-Sun Halliburton's acoustic LWD services.
Deady has over 20 years experience in numerous
field operations, R&D and petrophysical support
roles for several of the major LWD suppliers. He is a
member of the SPWLA, SPE and SEG.

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Table 1: Tool Parameters

Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

Outer Di. (in/cm)

tc (us/ft)

ts (us/ft)

(kg/m3)

3,7,8,9

1.92/4.876

7.25/18.415

52.6

122

5900

5.0

2.0

ts (us/ft)

(kg/m3)

1198.3

100

(kg/m3)

1000

1000

(kg/m3)

*Inner bore fluid, in all cases, is equal to outer bore fluid (see table 2).
Table 2: Bore Fluid Parameters
Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

Outer Di. (in/cm)

tc (us/ft)

3,7,8,9

7.25/18.415

8.68/22.04

189

Table 3: Casing Parameters

Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

Outer Di. (in/cm)

tc (us/ft)

ts (us/ft)

3,7,8,9

8.68/22.04

9.63/24.46

50

91

tc (us/ft)

ts (us/ft)

7500

Table 4: Intermediate Fluid Layer Properties

Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

3,7(bottom)

9.63/24.46

10.63/27

189

1198.3

100

9.63/24.46

various

189

1198.3

100

various

189

1198.3

100

Outer Di. (in/cm)

12.25/31.15

Table 5: Cement Properties

tc (us/ft)

ts (us/ft)

(kg/m3)

12.25/31.15

108

176.2

1920

40

30

9.63/24.46

12.25/31.15

108

176.2

1920

40

30

various

12.25/31.15

108

176.2

1920

40

30

9a

9.63/24.46

various

108

176.2

1920

40

30

9b

9.63/24.46

various

80.2

169.4

1720

40

30

9c

9.63/24.46

various

67.8

122

1920

40

30

tc (us/ft)

ts (us/ft)

(kg/m3)

Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

3,7(bottom)

10.63/27

7(middle)

Outer Di. (in/cm)

Table 6: Formation Properties

Figures

Inner Di. (in./cm)

3a

12.25/31.15

70

116.3

2300

1000

1000

3b

12.25/31.15

90

185.1

2100

1000

1000

120

240.1

2100

1000

1000

3c,7,8,9

12.25/31.15

Outer Di. (in/cm)

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Figure 1. 6 -in. LWD tool in 9 5/8-in. cased hole

Figure 2. Single receiver waveforms showing fully bonded (top),

poorly bonded (middle), and unbonded (bottom) cases.

Figure 3 Waveforms and semblance VDL modelling results for a LWD tool with a monopole source in fast, medium, and slow
formations, partially bonded. The left plot illustrates high frequency data (12 kHz), which favours the casing arrival over the formation
arrival. The right display shows low frequency (6 kHz) data for the same parameters, where the formation arrivals are easier to pick
from the semblance VDL. All data are scaled and are the same.

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Figure 4. Semblance VDL display of high frequency (left) and low frequency data (right) through casing.

Figure 5 Example of LWD data in a cased hole illustrating monopole behaviour.

Figure 6. Open hole data for same tool and same well, showing clear dipole characteristics.

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

a
b
c
Figure 7. Open hole (top), fully bonded (middle) and poorly bonded (bottom) examples of the interface mode behaviour. Monopole
source(a), dipole source(b), and quadrupole source(c).

Figure 8: Waveform and semblance VDL results from modelling the free pipe scenario. LWD tool with a monopole source in a slow
formation. The topmost case is completely bonded, and the lowest case is completely without cement. The amount of cement bonded
to the formation decreases from top to bottom. It is replaced by fluid, as illustrated on the left. .

10

SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

a
b
c
Figure 9: Waveform and semblance VDL results from modelling unbonded scenario. LWD tool with a monopole source in a slow
formation. The topmost case is completely bonded, and the lowest case is completely without cement. The amount of cement bonded
to the casing decreases from top to bottom. It is replaced by fluid as illustrated on the left.

Figure 10. Illustration of casing strings and data acquisition sequence scenarios. (a) Low density data is acquired
(yellow) with higher density data acquired when the pipe is held still during the time connections are made (black). Highdensity data acquired while drilling out of the shoe (red) and in the open hole (green). (b) High data density planned for and
acquired over critical zone of interest (blue).

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SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Figure 11. Example of well-sampled cased-hole data acquired by a LWD dipole tool. Wireline data is presented for comparison.

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SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Figure 12. Example of sparsely sampled cased-hole data acquired by a LWD dipole tool. Wireline data (left track, black) is presented
for comparison.

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SPWLA 45th Annual Logging Symposium, June 6-9, 2004

Figure 13. Example of cased-hole data acquired by a LWD dipole tool. The top of cement is easily seen at ~1900 feet.

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