ROCK MECHANICS CALCULATIONS

This page discusses how well logs are used to determine the mechanical properties of rocks.
These properties are often called the elastic properties or elastic constants of rocks. The best
known elastic constants are the bulk modulus of compressibility, Young's Modulus (elastic
modulus), and Poisson's Ratio. The dynamic elastic constants can be derived with appropriate
equations, using sonic log compressional and shear travel time along with density log data.

Dynamic elastic constants can also be determined in the laboratory using high frequency
acoustic pulses on core samples. Static elastic constants are derived in the laboratory from tri-
axial stress strain measurements (non-destructive) or the chevron notch test (destructive).

The elastic constants of rocks are defined by the Wood-Biot-Gassmann Equations. The
equations can be transformed to derive rock properties from log data. If crossed dipole sonic
data is available, anisotropic stress can be noticed by differences in the X and Y axis displays
of both the compressional and shear travel times. When this occurs, all the elastic constants
can be computed for both the minimum and maximum stress directions. This requires the
original log to be correctly oriented with directional information, and may require extra
processing in the service company computer center.

Elastic properties are measured in the laboratory using triaxial stress tests (static
measurements) and by measuring bulk density and acoustic travel time with a high frequency
impulse (dynamic testing). Both arre done under representative overburden pressure.

ELASTIC CONSTANTS THEORY

The basic theory behind mechanical (elastic) rock properties is held in the equations of Wood,
Biot, and Gassman. These are described below. The practical applications of these equations
are described later on this page.

The composite compressional bulk modulus of fluid in the pores (inverse of fluid
compressibility) is:
1: Kf = 1/Cf = Sw / Cwtr + (1 - Sw) / Coil
OR 1a: Kf = 1/Cf = Sw / Cwtr + (1 - Sw) / Cgas

The pore space bulk modulus (Kp) is derived from the porosity, fluid, and matrix rock
properties:
2: ALPHA = 1 - Kb / Km
3: Kp = ALPHA^2 / ((ALPHA - PHIt) / PHIt / Kf )

The composite rock/fluid compressional bulk modulus is:

4: Kc = Kp + Kb + 4/3 * N

Compressional and shear velocity (or travel time) depend on density and on the elastic
properties, so we need a density value that reflects the actual composition of the rock fluid
mixture:
5: DENS = (1 - Vsh) * (PHIe * Sw * DENSW + PHIe * (1 - Sw) * DENSHY + (1 - PHIe) *
DENSMA)
+ Vsh * DENSSH

Compressional velocity (Vp) and shear velocity (Vs) are defined as:
6: Vp = KS4 * (Kc / DENS) ^ 0.5
7: Vs = KS4 * (N / DENS) ^ 0.5

Although it is not a precise solution, we often invert equations 5 and 6 to solve for Kb and N
from sonic log compressional and shear travel time values.

Where:
ALPHA = Biot's elastic parameter (fractional)
Cgas = gas compressibility
 Coil = oil compressibility
Cwtr = water compressibility
DENS = rock density (kg/m3 or g/cc)
DENSW = density of fluid in the pores (kg/m3 or g/cc)
Kb = compressional bulk modulus of empty rock frame
Kc = compressional bulk modulus of porous rock
Kf = compressional bulk modulus of fluid in the pores
Km = compressional bulk modulus of rock grains
Kp = compressional bulk modulus of pore space
N = shear modulus of empty rock frame
PHIt = total porosity of the rock (fractional)
Sw = water saturtation (fractional)
Vp = compressional wave velocity (m/sec or ft/sec)
Vs = shear wave velocity (m/sec or ft/sec)
Vp = Stoneley wave velocity (m/sec or ft/sec)
KS4 = 68.4 for English units
KS4 = 1.00 for Metric units

The Biot-Gassmann approach looks deceptively simple. However, the major drawback to this
approach is the difficulty in determining the bulk moduli, particularly those of the empty rock
frame (Kb and N), which cannot be derived from log data. Murphy (1991) provided equations for
sandstone rocks (PHIe < 0.35) that predict Kb and N from porosity:
8: Kb = 38.18 * (1 - 3.39 * PHIe + 1.95 * PHIe^2)
9: N = 42.65 * (1 - 3.48 * PHIe + 2.19 * PHIe^2)

RECOMMENDED PARAMETERS:
Water Salinity Cf psi-1 Kf psi Cf GPa-1 Kf GPa
5000 0.0000040 250000 0.580 1.723
35000 0.0000039 270270 0.537 1.862
200000 0.0000027 344828 0.420 2.376

Oil Depth
2000 ft 610 m 0.0000085 117647 1.233 0.811
4000 ft 1220 m 0.0000095 105263 1.378 0.725
8000 ft 2440 m 0.0000116 86207 1.683 0.594
12000 ft 3660 m 0.0000135 74074 1.959 0.510

Gas Depth
2000 ft 610 m 0.001250 800 181.422 0.006
4000 ft 1220 m 0.000510 1961 74.020 0.014
8000 ft 2440 m 0.000180 5556 26.124 0.038
12000 ft 3660 m 0.000100 10000 14.513 0.069

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS
In the following equations, DENS, DTC, and DTS are measured log values. DENSMA, DTCMA,
and DTSMA are rock matrix values which can be assumed from the lithology description or can
be derived from normal log analysis methods using porosity derived from density neutron log
data.

Biot's original paper in 1956 pointed out that sonic velocity varied with frequency and
described a low frequency case (typically 5 to 35 KHz under normal reservoir conditions) and
high frequency case (typically 100 KHz to 1 MHx). Logging tools usually operate in the low
frequency range and conform to Biot's low frequency case except in high porosity (> 35%).
Sonic velocity measurements made under laboratory conditions are usually made at 1 MHz
because the core plugs are small and the high frequency has a short enough wavelength to
fully penetrate the sample. R. A. Anderson's paper in 1984 gave graphs of both high and low
frequency data versus Wyllie porosity. By comparing the response of the two frequencies, we
can create equations to convert high frequency data to equivalent low frequency (logging tool)
values. Travel times taken at high frequency are too fast (DTShi is too low).
1: DTScor = (DTShi - KS1) * 1.25 + KS1
2: DTCcor = (DTChi - KC1) * 1.02 + KC1

Where:
DTCcor = compressional sonic corrected for high frequency effect (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTChi = lab measured compressional sonic reading (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTScor = shear sonic corrected for high frequency effect (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTShi = lab measured shear sonic reading (usec/ft or usec/m)

Sandstone Limestone Dolomite

English Metric English Metric English Metric

KS1 88.8 291 90.2 296 79.2 260

KC1 55.5 182 47.5 155 44.0 144

Use ONLY to convert lab measured high frequency (1 MHz) sonic data to equivalent low
frequency sonic log data.

These new values of DTS and DTC should be substituted for the original measured lab data in
the following sub-sections. The correction for DTC is very small and often ignored.
 Frequency and fluid effects on Sonic travel time (Anderson, 1984)

In gas zones only, the density log and the compressional sonic log data must be corrected to a
liquid filled state. The sonic reads too high and density too low due to the gas effect. If a full
blown log analysis is available, density and sonic can be back-calculated from the porosity and
lithology, provided that reasonable gas corrections were made in that analysis. Another
approach is to use log data from a nearby wet or oil bearing zone in an offset well.

The following equations will also provide better data than the raw log data in gas zones:
3: DENScor = DENS + 0.5 * PHIe * Sgxo * (DENSMA - DENSW)
4: DTCcor = DTC + 0.5 * PHIe * Sgxo * (DTMA_C - DELTW)
5: DTScor = DTS
Where:
DENScor = density corrected for gas effect (gm/cc or kg/m3)
DENS = density log reading (gm/cc or kg/m3)
PHIe = effective porosity (fractional)
Sgxo = gas saturation near the well bore (fractional)
default = 0.80 for sonic, 0.70 for density log
DENSMA = matrix density (gm/cc or kg/m3)
DENSW = water density (gm/cc or kg/m3)
DTCcor = compressional sonic corrected for gas effect (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTC = compressional sonic log reading (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTCMA = compressional sonic travel time in matrix rock (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTScor = shear sonic corrected for gas effect (usec/ft or usec/m)
DTS = shear sonic log reading (usec/ft or usec/m)
DELTW = sonic travel time in water (usec/ft or usec/m)

These new values of DENS and DTC should be substituted for the original log data in the
following sections. Gas correction on DTS is very small so no correction is usually applied.

In very slow formations, where shear travel time was impossible to measure on older sonic
logs, this formula is used to calculate shear travel time (DTS) from Stoneley travel time:
6: DTS = (DENS / DENSW * (DELTst ^ 2 - DELTW ^ 2)) ^ 0.5

The dipole shear sonic log has reduced the need for this calculation, as it sees shear waves
better than older array sonic logs. This new value of DTS should be substituted for the original
log data in the following sub-sections.

When lithology is known from sample descriptions or

from detailed log analysis, the shear travel time or
velocity can be predicted from the porosity, lithology,
and elastic constants from tables or from the following
approximation:
8: DTS = Sum (Vi * DTSMAi) + KS7 * PHIe

Where:
KS7 = 1150 for Metric units (usec/m)
KS7 = 350 for English units (usec/ft) 1.6 – 1.8 for
Vi = volume of each mineral in the matrix rock
(fractional)
DTS_MAi = shear travel time in each mineral (usec/ft or
usec/m)

This is an empirical approximation and KS7 may be

varied by calibrating to available DTS log data.

In rough hole conditions where sonic and density may have problems, it may be necessary to
create synthetic sonic and density curves based on a competent log analysis that did not use
the bad data as inputs to the log analysis model. To calibrate the synthetic curves, we usually
calculate them over the entire interval of interest. In good hole conditions, the synthetic curves
should match the measured curves. If they do not, either the original log analysis is a poor
model or the parameters selected for the synthetic calculation are not appropriate. Ibxe rge
oarameters and model are tuned, the synthetic curves can be generated even in wells where
there are no measured sonic or density data. An example is shown in the previous image in
Tracks 2 and 3. The equations needed are:
9: DENSsyn = Vsh * DENSSH + DENS1 * Vmin1 + DENS2 * Vmin2 + DENS3 * Vmin3 + PHIe *
SW * DENSW
+ PHIe * (1 - SW) * DENSHY
10: DTCsyn = Vsh * DTCSH + DTC1 * Vmin1 + DTC2 * Vmin2 + DTC3 * Vmin3 + PHIe * SW *
DTCW
+ PHIe * (1 - SW) * DTCHY
 11: DTSsyn = Vsh * DTSSH + DTS1 * Vmin1 + DTS2 * Vmin2 + DTS3 * Vmin3 + PHIe * SW *
DTSW
+ PHIe * (1 - SW) * DTSHY

Where:
DFNSsyn, DTCsyn, and DTSsyn are synthetic density, compressional sonic, and sher sonic
DENSx, DTCx, and DTSx are density and sonic parameters for the specific mineral and fluid
terms

Shale values are chosen by observation og the appropriate log interval. Standard parameters
for other minerals (which may need tuning) are:
Quartz Calcite Dolomite Anhydrite Water Oil Gas
DENS 2650 2710 2870 2980 1000 800 350 - 650
DTC 182 155 144 160 650 700 2000 - 3000
DTS 289 290 236 280 1150 1250 3000 - 4500

CALCULATING THE ELASTIC PROPERTIES

Shear Modulus is defined as the applied stress divided by the shear strain.
For rock with porosity:
1: N = KS5 * DENS / (DTS ^ 2)

For rock with no porosity:

2: DENSMA = (DENS - PHIt * DENSW) / (1 - PHIt)
3: DTSMA = DTS / (1 - PHIt)
4: No = KS5 * DENSMA / (DTSMA ^ 2)

Where:
KS5 = 13400 for English units
KS5 = 1000 for Metric units

If the rock is anisotropic, both N and No can be calculated for the minimum and maximum
stress directions by using DTSmin and DTSmax from a crossed dipole shear sonic log.

Density is in gm/cc, travel time is in usec/ft, and N is in psi * 10^6 for English units. Density is
in kg/m3, travel time is in usec/m, and N is in Giga-Pascals (10^9 Pa or GPa) for Metric units.

For quicklook analysis, charts may be faster than a calculator:

 Chart to calculate N from DENS and DTS

Poisson's Ratio is the lateral strain divided by longitudinal strain.

When shear velocity or shear travel time is available:
For rock with porosity:
1: R = Vp / Vs
OR 2: R = DTS / DTC
3: PR = (0.5 * R^2 - 1) / (R^2 - 1)

For rock with no porosity:

4: Ro = DTSMA / DTCMA
5: PRo = (0.5 * Ro^2 - 1) / (Ro^2 - 1)

If the rock is anisotropic, P can be calculated for the minimum and maximum stress directions
by using DTSmin and DTSmax from a crossed dipole shear sonic log. PRmax comes from
DTSmin and vice versa.

When shear travel time is not known, which is the case in the vast majority of older wells, a
value for Poisson's ratio can be estimated. The usual estimate for Poisson's ratio in shaly
sands is:
6: PR = 0.125 * Vsh + 0.27

This was developed in the US Gulf Coast and the parameters might need some adjustment in
other areas.

A table of values for other rock types is shown later in this section.

If good conventional and shear seismic data are available, then Poisson's ratio can be derived
continuously from seismic data. This is sometimes referred to as “seismic petrophysics”.
For quicklook analysis, use this chart for Poisson’s Ratio:

Chart to calculate PR from DTC and DTS

A plot of Poisson's ratio versus compressional velocity, below, shows the effect of lithology
and gas. Values for Poisson's ratio are also listed in Table 1 near the end of this Chapter.

Poisson’s ratio versus lithology

In the absence of good shear sonic data, Poison's Ratio can be estimated from the graph
below, based on known or assumed lithology (courtesy Barree and Associates).
 Correlations of Poisson's Ratio versus DTC

The equations on this graph are:

7: PRshl = min(0.5,max(0,0.000 000 086 754 * DTC^3 - 0.000 044 154 * DTC^2 + 0.008 587 *
DTC - 0.155))
8: PRqrtz = min(0.5,max(0,0.000 000 126 482 * DTC^3 - 0.000 058 769 * DTC^2 + 0.010 703 *
DTC - 0 .296))
9: PRlime = min(0.5,max(0,-0.000 000 341 745 * DTC^3 + 0.000 117 836 * DTC^2 - 0.011 609 *
DTC + 0.646))
10: PRdolo = min(0.5,max(0,-0.000 002 394 128 * DTC^2 + 0.000 708 300 * DTC + 0.2281355))
11: PRcoal = min(0.5,max(0.32,0.000 000 334 448 * DTC^3 - 0.000 083 251 * DTC^2 + 0.004
122 * DTC + 0.478))
12: PR = SUM(Vi * PRi)

Where:
DTC = sonic travel time (usec/ft)
Vi = volume of each component of the ock (fractional)
PRi = Poisson's Ratio of each component (fractional)

NOTE: Be sure to convert metric DTC values to Engliah units.

A high Poisson’s ratio indicates high stress level, which in turn indicates possible boundaries
to a hydraulic fracture. Low Poisson’s ratio indicates weak zones which may not constrain the
frac job, resulting in communication to undesired formations. Most shales constrain fractures
but some may not do so. Two to three meters of rock with a Poisson's Ratio greater than 0.26
is the minimum needed to constrain a typical hydraulic fracture.

Gas zones, where the sonic compressional data has not been corrected for gas, will show
abnormally low Poisson's ratio.

Poisson’s ratio is used to predict fracture pressure gradient in consolidated formations

(Section 20.10).

Typical Poisson's Ratio values

 Sandstone 0.18 - 0.22 deeper, highly compacted,
cemented

Sandstone 0.22 - 0.40 shallow, uncompacted, poorly

cemented

Siltstone 0.20 - 0.28

Shale 0.26 - 0.40

Limestone 0.310

Dolomite 0.283

Anhydrite 0.319

A more detailed list is provided in Table 20.01.

Bulk Modulus is the hydrostatic pressure divided by volumetric strain.

For rock with porosity:
1: Kb = KS5 * DENS *(1 / (DTC^2) - 4/3 * (1 / (DTS^2)))

For rock with no porosity:

2: DENSMA = (DENS - PHIt * DENSW) / (1 - PHIt)
3: DTCMA = (DTC - PHIt * DTW) / (1 - PHIt)
4: Km = KS5 * DENSMA / (1 / (DTCMA ^ 2) - 4/3 * (1 / (DTSMA^2)))

Where:
KS5 = 13400 for English units
KS5 = 1000 for Metric units

If the rock is anisotropic, both Kb and Km can be calculated for the minimum and maximum
stress directions by using DTSmin and DTSmax from a crossed dipole shear sonic log.

Density is in gm/cc, travel time is in usec/ft, and Kb is in psi * 10^6 for English units. Density is
in kg/m3, travel time is in usec/m, and Kb is in Giga-Pascals (10^9 Pa or GPa) for Metric units.

If you like quicklook charts, here is one for Kb:

 Chart for calculating Kb from P and N

Bulk Compressibility is the inverse of Bulk Modulus.

For rock with porosity:
1: Cb = 1 / Kb

For rock with no porosity:

2: Cm = 1 / Km

This term is called rock compressibility and abbreviated Cr in some literature.

If the rock is anisotropic, both Cb and Cm can be calculated for the minimum and maximum
stress directions by using DTSmin and DTSmax from a crossed dipole shear sonic log.

N and Cb predict sanding (sand production) in unconsolidated formations. When log analysis
shows sanding may be a problem, sand control methods (injection of plastic or resin or gravel
packing) can be initiated. Sanding is not a problem when N > 0.6*10^6 psi. in oil or gas zones.
High water cuts increase the likelihood of sanding. This threshold corresponds to Cb of
0.75*10^-6 psi^-1. N/Cb > 0.8*10^12 psi^2 is a more sensitive cutoff than either N or Cb cutoffs.
High N/Cb ratios indicate low chance for sanding. A good cement job is also needed to reduce
sanding.

Biot's Constant is the ratio of the volume change of the fluid filled porosity to the
volume change of the rock when the fluid is free to move out of the rock (ie. the hydraulic
pressure remains unchanged)..

For rock with porosity:

1: ALPHA = 1 - Kb / Km
OR 2: ALPHA = 1 - Cm / Cb
For rock with no porosity, Kb = Km so ALPHA = 0.

If shear travel time is unavailable, this empirical relation may be useful:

3: ALPHA = 1 - (1 - PHID) ^ KS8

where KS8 has the range 2 to 3, with KS8 = 3 most often used.

Biot's Constant versus porosity

In the absence of good shear sonic data, Biot's Constant can be estimated from the graph
above, based on known or assumed lithology (courtesy Barree and Associates). This graph
suggests KS8 in the previous equation is greater than 2.0. The empirical straight line fit to the
data is:
4: ALPHA = 0.62 + 0.935 * PHIe

Young's Modulus is applied uni-axial stress divided by normal strain.

For rock with porosity:
1: Y = 2 * N * (1 + PR)

For rock with no porosity:

2: Yo = 2 * No * (1 + PRo)

If the rock is anisotropic, Y can be calculated for the minimum and maximum stress directions
by using DTSmin and DTSmax from a crossed dipole shear sonic log when calculating N and
P.

Young's modulus calculated from log data is often called the dynamic Young's modulus, Ydyn.

Young’s modulus is used in the fracture width (aperture) calculation in fracture design
software.

Here is the quicklook chart for Young’s modulus:

 Chart to calculate Y from P and N

In the absence of good shear sonic data, Young's Modulus can be estimated from the graph
below, based on known or assumed lithology (courtesy Barree and Associates). The ordinate
on this graph is Young's Modulus divided by density (gm/cc), so multiply the Y axis value by
density to obtain Y.

Young's Modulus versus DTC for various lithologies

The equations on the above graph are:

3: Yshl = 6.894 * DENS * (0.000 000 100 214 * DTC^4 - 0.000 050 013 * DTC^3 + 0.009 417 *
DTC^2
- 0.806 315 * DTC + 27.30)
4: Yqrtz = 6.894 * DENS * (0.000 000 099 297 * DTC^4 - 0.000 049 604 * DTC^3 + 0.009 3678 *
DTC^2
 - 0.807 280 * DTC + 27.68)
5: Ylime = 6.894 * DENS * (0.000 000 037 682 * DTC^4 - 0.000 019 762 * DTC^3 + 0.003 996 *
DTC^2
- 0.380 084 * DTC + 14.97)
6: Ydolo = 6.894 * DENS * (0.000 000 084 048 * DTC^4 - 0.000 041 6941 * DTC^3 + 0.007 775 *
DTC^2
- 0.659 893 * DTC + 22.59)
7: Ycoal = 6.894 * DENS * (0.000 001 498 * DTC^3 - 0.000 588 141 * DTC^2 + 0.069 142 * DTC -
1.84)
8: Ydyn = SUM(Vi * Yi)

Where:
DTC = sonic travel time (usec/ft)
DENS = density (g/cc)
Vi = volume of each component of the ock (fractional)
Yi = Young's Modulus of each component (GPa)
Ydyn = dynamic Young's Modulus of rock (GPa)

NOTE: Be sure to convert metric DTC and DENS values to Engliah units. Results are in GPa.
Divide by 6.894 to get psi * 10^6.

Brittleness Coefficient
A brittleness coefficient was proposed by Mullen in 2007, as shown below:
1: Ybrit = ((Y - 1) / (8 - 1) * 100)
2: PRbrit = ((PR - 0.4) / (0.15 - 0.4)) * 100
3: BritCoeff = (Ybrit + PRbrit) / 2

Where:
Y = Young's Modulus (psi * 10^6)
PR = Poisson's Ratio (unitless)
Ybrit = Young's Modulus for brittleness calculation
PRbrit = Poisson's Ratio for brittleness calculation
BritCoeff = Brittleness Coefficient

Modulus of compressibility

Fluid bulk modulus:

1: Kf = 1/Cf = Sw / Cwtr + (1 - Sw) / Chyd

Pore bulk modulus:

2: Kp = ALPHA^2 / ((ALPHA - PHIt) / PHIt / Kf)

For rock with porosity:

3: Kc = Kp + Kb + 4/3 * N.

For rock with no porosity, Kp = 0 and Kb = Km, and N = No, so:

4: Kc = Km + 4/3 * No

RECOMMENDED PARAMETERS:

Water Salinity Cf psi-1 Kf psi Cf GPa-1 Kf GPa

5000 0.0000040 250000 0.580 1.723
35000 0.0000039 270270 0.537 1.862
 200000 0.0000027 344828 0.420 2.376

Oil Depth
2000 ft 610 m 0.0000085 117647 1.233 0.811
4000 ft 1220 m 0.0000095 105263 1.378 0.725
8000 ft 2440 m 0.0000116 86207 1.683 0.594
12000 ft 3660 m 0.0000135 74074 1.959 0.510

Gas Depth
2000 ft 610 m 0.001250 800 181.422 0.006
4000 ft 1220 m 0.000510 1961 74.020 0.014
8000 ft 2440 m 0.000180 5556 26.124 0.038
12000 ft 3660 m 0.000100 10000 14.513 0.069

The above calculations assume that fluid compressibilities are known from lab measurements
of produced fluids. In recently drilled wells, this information is not always available. It would
therefore be useful to predict fluid compressibility or fluid bulk modulus and use this result to
predict the fluid type in the reservoir. A method using pore bulk modulus is more convenient,
and is based on some empirical evidence for sandstones.

By setting Kb = Km - 0.9 * N in equation 3, and solving for Kp:

5: Kp = Kc - Km + 0.9 * N - 4/3 * N

Interpretation is based on the following:

6: IF Kp <= 0.15 THEN Zone is gas bearing (Kp in GPa):
7: IF 0.15 < Kp < 0.35 THEN Zone is oil bearing
8: IF Kp >= 0.35 THEN Zone is water bearing
Kp is sometimes shown as Kf in the literature so be careful.
If conventional and shear seismic data are of sufficient quality to be inverted, then these same
equations can be used to detect fluid type in porous sandstones

If conventional and shear seismic data are of sufficient quality to be inverted, then these same
equations can be used to detect fluid type in porous sandstones.

Quicklook Bulk and Shear Modulus

Murphy (1991) provided equations for sandstone rocks (PHIe < 0.35) that predict Kb and N from
porosity:
1: Kb = 38.18 * (1 - 3.39 * PHIe + 1.95 * PHIe^2)
2: N = 42.65 * (1 - 3.48 * PHIe + 2.19 * PHIe^2)

These equations are for the water filled case and cannot be used as fluid identification, but
they may have other uses.

CALIBRATING DYNAMIC TO STATIC CONSTANTS

The mechanical properties of rocks derived from log data, or from high frequency sonic
measurements in the lab are called dynamic constants. Those derived in the laboratory from
stress strain tests or destructive tests are called static constants. In my opinion, lab derived
dynamic shear data should be corrected for high frequency effects, as described earlier in this
Chapter. This is seldom done, so it is difficult to compare dynamic log data to dynamic lab
data.

Unfortunately, the difference between dynamic (well log) values and static (lab) values on
cores can be quite large, leading some people to dismiss the log data as wrong or useless.
What makes this worse is that fracture design software has been calibrated to static (lab
derived) values, so dynamic data has to be transformed to equivalent static numbers.

Since the tiny core plugs used for lab work have been de-stressed and re-stressed a number of
times, there is some doubt that this cycle is truly reversible, so lab measurements may not
represent in-situ conditions. The difference between static and dynamic values are larger for
higher porosity, which suggests that some grain bonds are easily broken by coring and
subsequent testing. It might be a wise move to calibrate fracture design software to dynamic
data, since this data is more readily available, and may actually have fewer inherent
measurement problems.

Further, the effects of reservoir anisotropy cannot be simulated in the lab, so there is no
reason to expect lab data to match in-situ log results. A possible solution to this dilemma is
described in later Sections.

Errors in Poisson's ratio strongly

affect calculation of in-situ
closure stress.

Doug Boyd (1991) presented a

summary of published Poisson's
ratio data, shown at the right.

As you can see, there is no direct

relation between dynamic and
static Poisson' ratio. Additional
reasons for the mismatch might
include dry rock measurements
(as opposed to restored state),
moisture variations in shaly
samples, closing of fractures,
pore shape changes, anisotropy
(especially if core plugs are used
instead of whole core),
inconsistent (and often unknown)
experimental methods, and
experimental measurement error.
Results of such a comparison
made today might be less erratic
if anisotropic effects were
reduced by use of crossed dipole
shear sonic data and appropriate
core handling procedures.

Calibration of local data seems possible, but there is no universal correction factor. When field
measured closure stress is available from mini-fracs, a calibration of Poisson's ratio is fairly
easy in a homogenous reservoir, but probably impractical in many cases.
 Young’s modulus is also affected
by differences between static and
dynamic values. A transform
published by Morales and
Marcinew in 1993 is shown in the
graph on the left and formulated
as:

1: Yst = 10^(A + B * log(Ypsi))

Where:
Yst = static Young’s modulus
(psi)
Ypsi = dynamic Young’s
modulus (psi)

A and B are constants that

depend on porosity as shown
below:

Porosity A B

0.00 - 0.10 n/a

0.10 - 0.15 2.137 0.6612

0.15 - 0.25 1.829 0.6920

> 0.25 -0.4575 0.9402

This transform was based on high frequency dynamic lab data compared to static lab data.
Low frequency log data was not used so this widely used transform may have no validity for
log derived rresults.

The same paper quoted other data sets and compared their data to a transform by Eissa. Note
that these transforms invoke the rock density to normalize the data. The equations are:
Average of all data
2: Yst = 10^(0.05 + 0.77 * log(DENS * Ydyn))
Low porosity 10 -15%
3: Yst = 10^(0.02 + 0.77 * log(DENS * Ydyn))
Medium porosity 15 - 25%
4: Yst = 10^(-0.11 + 0.77 * log(DENS * Ydyn))
High porosity > 25%
5: Yst = 10^(-0.72 + 0.77 * log(DENS * Ydyn))

NOTE: DENS is in g/cc and Ydyn is in GPa.

 Static to dynamic transforms for Young's Modulus

Lacy proposed a correlation to obtain static Young's Modulus, Yst, from Ydyn. First convert
Ydyn to English units:
6: Ypsi = Ydyn / 6.894
7: Yst_shl = 6.894 * (0.0420 * Ypsi^2+0.2330 * Ypsi)
8: Yst_qrtz = 6.894 * (0.0293 * Ypsi^2 + 0.4533 * Ypsi)
9 Yst_carb = 6.894 * (0.0180 *Ypsi^2 + 0.4220 * Ypsi)
10: Yst_coa; = Ycoal
11: Yst_lacy = SUM(Vi * Ysti)

NOTE: Results are in GPa. Divide by 6.894 to get psi * 10^6.

Barba's correlation for Yst is:

12: Y99 = min(0.9,max(0.5,(Vsh + Vqrtz) * (-0.0003 * Ypsi^4 + 0.0052 * Ypsi^3 - 0.0203 *
Ypsi^2 + 0.0312 * Ypsi
+ 0.4765) + ((Vlime + Vdolo) * (Ypsi * 0.85 - 0.424)) / (Vsh + Vrock)))
13: Yst_barba = Y99 * Ydyn
NOTE: Results are in GPa. Divide by 6.894 to get psi * 10^6.

EXAMPLES OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES LOGS

The above equations can be computed continuously and presented as logs. The format and
curve complement vary widely between service companies and age of log. Some logs have
Metric depths but the moduli are in English units. Some are vice versa. Here are some
examples.

Mechanical properties log with lithology/porosity track at the right.

Another mechanical properties log