Body waves in poroelastic media saturated by two immiscible fluids

Abstract

A study of body waves in elastic porous media saturated by two immiscible Newtonian fluids is presented. We analytically show the existence of three compressional waves and one rotational wave in an infinite porous medium. The first and second compressional waves are analogous to the fast and slow compressional waves in Biot's theory. The third compressional wave is associated with the pressure difference between the fluid phases and dependent on the slope of capillary pressure‐saturation relation. Effect of a second fluid phase on the fast and slow waves is numerically investigated for Massillon sandstone saturated by air and water phases. A peak in the attenuation of the first and second compressional waves is observed at high water saturations. Both the first and second compressional waves exhibit a drop in the phase velocity in the presence of air. The results are compared with the experimental data available in the literature. Although the phase velocity of the first compressional and rotational waves are well predicted by the theory, there is a discrepancy between the experimental and theoretical values of attenuation coefficients. The causes of discrepancy are explained based on experimental observations of other researchers.