Studies on phase and group velocities from acoustic logging

Abstract

It is still argued whether we measure phase or group velocities using acoustic logging tools. In this paper, three kinds of models are used to investigate this problem by theoretical analyses and numerical simulations. First, we use the plane-wave superposition model containing two plane waves with different velocities and able to change the values of phase velocity and group velocity. The numerical results show that whether phase velocity is higher or lower than group velocity, using the slowness-time coherence (STC) method we can only get phase velocities. Second, according to the results of the dispersion analysis and branch-cut integration, in a rigid boundary borehole model the results of dispersion curves and the waveforms of the first-order mode show that the velocities obtained by the STC method are phase velocities while group velocities obtained by arrival time picking. Finally, dipole logging in a slow formation model is investigated using dispersion analysis and real-axis integration. The results of dispersion curves and full wave trains show similar conclusions as the borehole model with rigid boundary conditions.