Experimental Study on Seismic Attenuation and Permeability of Large Porosity Rock

Xiaochen  Yang; Kyuro  Sasaki; Yuichi  Sugai; Xiaoming  Zhang

doi:10.4236/gep.2018.65007

Xiaochen Yang¹, Kyuro Sasaki¹, Xiaoming Zhang², Yuichi Sugai¹

Abstract:

The large porosity areas widely present in the underground resulting from natural hazards or artificial damages. The porosity and permeability are suggested to be capable of estimating the mechanical and air flow conditions inside the porous layer in the underground. To accurately measure the porosity and permeability in the porous area is imperative. To address this issue, we experimentally modeled some porous samples in large porosities by using sandstone particles sieved to different sizes. Ultrasonic was employed to apply on the porous sandstone samples to characterize the seismic velocity and attenuation. Permeability was also measured simultaneously to find a correlation with the porosity. The results showed the seismic attenuation decrease as the reduction of frequency and increasing particle size at the same porosity. Seismic attenuation was strongly correlated to porosity and particle size. Velocity showed a good relationship with the porosity change. Permeability was highly dependent on the particle size especially in the higher porosity range. The results indicated that it is possible to find a relationship between the permeability and seismic attenuation via the porosity and particle size.

Keywords: Porous Area, Ultrasonic Measurement, Seismic Attenuation, Porosity, Permeability

Cite this paper: Yang, X. , Sasaki, K. , Zhang, X. and Sugai, Y. (2018) Experimental Study on Seismic Attenuation and Permeability of Large Porosity Rock. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 6, 80-90. doi: 10.4236/gep.2018.65007.

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