Abstract
We perform wave experiments using a vertical shock tube setup. Shock waves are generated by the rupture of a thin membrane. In the test section the incident pressure waves generate borehole-guided waves along water-saturated samples. The tube is equipped with side wall gages and a mobile pressure probe, so that the attenuation and reflection of the wave can be measured. The computation for a single horizontal fracture intersecting a vertical borehole gives a quantitative prediction of reflection and transmission of borehole-guided waves. Three different fracture apertures are used for the calculation. Fracture aperture significantly affects both reflection and transmission coefficients. Large fractures increase reflectivity and decrease transmissivity. In the experiment, we found that both pressures above and below the fracture are influenced by the fracture aperture indeed, thus indicating the potential for fracture detection by borehole waves.
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Acknowledgements
The first author would like to thank China Scholarship Council for the PhD fellowship support. The authors are grateful for the technical assistance of Jan Etienne and Karel Heller and to Evert Slob, Gabriel Chao and Karel van Dalen for valuable discussions.
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This paper has also been published in Volume 91/1, pp. 295–302, doi:10.1007/s11242-011-9845-3 (open access).
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Fan, H., Smeulders, D.M.J. Shock-Induced Borehole Waves and Fracture Effects. Transp Porous Med 93, 263–270 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-012-9963-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-012-9963-6