seismic velocity

By
Omer Eisa and Bashar Omer
 Contents
-Overview.
-factors controlling seismic velocity.
-method of computing SV.
-Types od SV.
-Gassman,biot,geertsma equation.
-concluosion.
 Seismic wave velocities of rocks
The velocity of propagation of any body wave in any homogeneous, •
isotropic material is given by:

Hence the velocity V of a compressional body wave, which involves •

a uniaxial compressional strain, is given by

4
 A pack of uniform spheres
Wang and Nur (I992) discuss theories relating seismic velocity to •
the composition of rocks.

The simplest rock model consists of identical spheres arranged in a •

cubic pattern (fig. 5. 1a) with the matrix subjected to a compressive
pressure P.

If the radius of the spheres is R, the force F pressing two adjacent •

spheres together is the total force acting on a layer of n x n spheres
that is, (2Rn)2P) divided by the number of spheres (n2), or F =
4R2P.

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 A pack of uniform spheres

Fig. 5.1: Effect of

compression on a cubic
packing of spheres. (After
White, 1965). (a) Cubic
packing; (b) force causes
centers to move closely
together, (c) force causes
point contact to become
circular area of contact; (d)
effect of change in force.

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 A pack of uniform spheres
This force causes a point of contact to become a circle of contact •
of radius r and the centers to move closer together a distance s
(see figs. 5.l b and 5.l c), r and s being related to R, F and the
elastic constants E, s of the spheres by Hertz' equations:

r = [3(1 – s2)RF/4E]1/3 , (5.2)

s = (9(1 – s2)2F2/2RE2]1/3

When a P-wave passes, P changes by DP resulting in changes DF= •

4R2 DP and Ds = – 2Re, where e is the strain in the direction of F
(see fig. 5.1d).
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 A pack of uniform spheres
Thus, the effective elastic modulus K is given by •
1/ 3
DP 1 DF  3E P  2
K    2 2
e 2 R Ds  8(1  s ) 

on differentiating eq. (5.2).

The average density is the weight of a sphere divided by the •

volume of the circumscribed cube, that is r = 4/3(pR3r)/ (2R)3
= 1/6pr, r being the density of the material of the spheres.

Thus, we get for the P-wave velocity, Vcubic, •

Vcubic = (K/r)1/2 = [81E2P/(1  s2)2p3r3]1/6 , (5.3)

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 A pack of uniform spheres

Gassmann (1951) calculated the velocity for a hexagonal packing •

of identical spheres (fig. 5.2) under a pressure produced by the
weight of a thickness z of overlying spheres: he obtained for a
vertical ray:

Vhex = [128E2gz/(1  s2)2p2r2]1/6 , (5.4)

where g is the acceleration of gravity.

Because P is nearly proportional to z, eqs. (5.3) and (5.4) give the •

same variation of velocity with depth

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 Expectations based on the model !!

Fig. 5.3(a):
Factors affecting
porosity:

Porosity in a clastic rock

decreases with depth of
burial (compaction),
cementation, and poorer
sorting, but is essentially
unchanged by uplift. The
"limit -of-porosity line
refers to normally
pressured situations and
ignores possible secondary
porosity.
 Seismic wave
velocities of rocks

From the above •

equations it is possible to
produce cross-plot
graphs which allow the
estimation of the matrix
grain type and the
porosity of a rock,
purely from the seismic
P-wave velocity and
density.
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Gassmann,Biot, Geertsma equations
To obtain a useful formula for the velocity of a fluid-filled
porous rock, the effects of porosity and the pore fluid must
be taken into account.

Gassmann (1951) derived expressions for the effective bulk

modulus (Keff) assuming that relative motion between the fluid
and rock is negligible.

We shall follow the account given by White (1983).

The rock is assumed to be a porous skeleton or framework

with the pore fluid moving in unison (harmony) with the rock
so that there are no viscous energy losses.
To distinguish various components of the system, we use
the following notations for the bulk moduli:
kf , refers to the fluid filling the pore space,
ks , refers to the material comprising the skeleton,
k* , refers to average values for the skeleton plus empty
spaces,
and k refers to the fluid-filled skeleton.

We use f for the porosity and C = 1/k for the

Compressibility.
We assume that the saturated rock is isotropic and that
the fluid has no effect on the shear modulus, so m = m
*.

The average density is simply the volume-weighted average:

r = frf + (1f) rs (5.6)
We consider a cube of the saturated rock and apply an
incremental or increasing pressure DP.
We assume that the pores are interconnected so that the fluid
pressure is that applied to the pore openings on the cube faces
(however, no fluid enters or leaves the cube because there is
no fluid motion relative to the rock).
We write for the total pressure:

Pressure P causes a decrease in the volume DV and a dilatation

D = DV/V ;
k as an elastic module is defined as the ratio of the pressure to the
dilatation that it causes, that is,
with the minus sign inserted to make k positive.
Sometimes the compressibility, (C or 1lk) , is used as an elastic
constant rather than the bulk modulus
From the definition of dilatation, we can write the
previous eq. (2.18) in the form
becomes

Thus,
The pressure DPf changes the fluid volume
The DPf also compresses the material of the skeleton,
And finally, DP * compresses the skeleton,
So adding these three effects is coming next….
Thus, the pressure DPf changes the fluid volume by

But DPf also compresses the material of the skeleton, so

Finally, DP * compresses the skeleton so that

 Gassmann, Biot, Geertsma equations
Because M = k + 4m/3 (see eq. (2.58) and table 2,2) we can •
add 4m/3 to both sides and get:
(1  k * / k s )2
M  M * (5.12)
f (1 / k f  1 / k s )  (1 / k s )(1  k * / k s )

Because a2 = M/r, the P-wave velocity depends upon the •

fluid bulk modulus and the porosity as well as the rock
properties.

On the other hand, the fluid influences b only through the density •
r = frf + (1f) rs (5.6)
(see eq. (5.6)): -
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