Assessing the effects of mineral content and porosity on ultrasonic wave velocity

Abstract

The influences of mineral content and porosity on ultrasonic wave velocity were assessed for ten hornfelsic rocks collected from southern and western parts of the city of Hamedan, western Iran. Selected rock samples were subjected to mineralogical, physical, and index laboratory tests. The tested rocks contain quartz, feldspar, biotite, muscovite, garnet, sillimanite, kyanite, staurolite, graphite and other fine grained cryptocrystalline matrix materials. The values of dry unit weight of the rocks were high, but the values of porosity and water absorption were low. In the rocks, the values of dry unit weight are related to the presence of dense minerals such as garnet so not affected by porosity. The statistical relationships between mineral content, porosity and ultrasonic wave velocity indicated that the porosity is the most important factor influencing ultrasonic wave velocity of the studied rocks. The values of P-wave velocity of the rocks range from moderate to very high. Empirical equations, relevant to different parameters of the rocks, were proposed to determine the rocks