VELOCITY AND ATTENUATION OF SEISMIC WAVES IN TWO‐PHASE MEDIA: PART I. THEORETICAL FORMULATIONS

Abstract

The propagation of seismic waves in two‐phase media is treated theoretically to determine the elastic moduli of the composite medium given the properties, concentrations, and shapes of the inclusions and the matrix material. For long wavelengths the problem is formulated in terms of scattering phenomena in an approach similar to that of Ament (1959). The displacement fields, expanded in series, for waves scattered by an “effective” composite medium and individual inclusions are equated. The coefficients of the series expansions of the displacement fields provide a relationship between the elastic moduli of the effective medium and those of the matrix and inclusions. The expressions are derived for both solid and liquid inclusions in a solid matrix as well as for solid suspensions in a fluid matrix. Both spherical and oblate spheroidal inclusions are considered. Some numerical calculations are carried out to demonstrate the effects of fluid inclusions of various shapes on the seismic velocities in rocks. It is found that the concentration, shapes, and properties of the inclusions are important parameters. A concentration of a fraction of one percent of thin (small aspect ratio) inclusions could affect the compressional and shear velocities by more than ten percent. For both sedimentary and igneous rock models, the calculations for “dry” (i.e.,air‐saturated) and water‐saturated states indicate that the compressional velocities change significantly while the shear velocities change much less upon saturation with water.