An innovative application of borehole acoustic image and amplitude logs for geotechnical site investigation

Acta Geophysica volume 68, pages1821–1832(2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Down-hole acoustic televiewer (ATV logging) is a geophysical well-logging device known to be able to reveal underground in-depth image. However, reviewing the current developments in the area of geotechnical engineering, ATV logging data were predominantly used for the purpose of visualizing and calculating the specific structural features in an open borehole, and nothing more. Noticeably, to the majority of engineering applications, it appears that ATV logging played a minor role compared to other geophysical borehole logging tools. Our study does not take it for granted. A systematic study is presented of the significance and consequent applications of ATV logging. The significance of correlation between acoustic amplitude and different geotechnical parameters is discussed and found to be consistent with previous findings. The result tells that ATV logging is actually able to provide timely and ground-truth information during site characterization, if properly used. Additionally, in our study, a simple rock mass evaluation index, Aco-RQD, is proposed, which is applicable to all aspects of geotechnical engineering as long as the continuous ATV logging data are available.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the technical support from the Geotechnical Testing Group (GTG) of Sinotech Engineering Consultants Inc., as well as the financial support from Water Resources Planning Institute, Water Resources Agency in Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Hsien-Chang Kao

  2. Geotechnical Engineering Research Center, Sinotech Engineering Consultants, Inc., 280, Xinhu 2nd Rd., Neihu Dist., Taipei, 11494, Taiwan

    Hsien-Chang Kao, Po-Yi Chou & Hung-Chieh Lo

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  1. Hsien-Chang Kao
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  2. Po-Yi Chou
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  3. Hung-Chieh Lo
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All authors have participated in (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) approval of the final version.

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Correspondence to Po-Yi Chou.

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Kao, HC., Chou, PY. & Lo, HC. An innovative application of borehole acoustic image and amplitude logs for geotechnical site investigation. Acta Geophys. 68, 1821–1832 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-020-00493-2

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Keywords

  • Acoustic image
  • Conductive fractures
  • Straddle-packer test
  • Geotechnical investigation