Correlation between seismic wave velocity, rock porosity and maximum principal stress based on the laboratory test data

Authors

  • Jinfei Chai Railway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China
  • Shunchuan Wu Faculty of Land Resources Engineering,Kunming University of Science and Technology,Kunming,Yunnan 650093,China Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Efficient Mining and Safety of Metal Mine, School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing 100083, China
  • Maria Tibbo

Keywords:

wave velocity, axial pressure, rock porosity, crack density parameter, empirical formula

Abstract

 In order to determine the internal relationships among seismic wave velocity, axial pressure, and rock porosity, the rock samples taken from NRS170143 borehole of the Nickel Rim South mine are tested using a Hoek type triaxial cell equipped with axial linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs) and a data acquisition module. The empirical expression between seismic wave velocity and rock pressure is fitted based on the laboratory test data of rock samples. Then, P-V model P-? model and ?-? model are created to analyze the laboratory test data. The results show that: (1) the relationship between axial pressure and rock porosity can be represented by a new empirical equation ?=a*e-b*P-c. With an increase of axial pressure, the value of rock porosity gradually decreases below the straight line ?=1% and close to 0. The P-? model can be a good judge if the pressure has reached the maximum compression pressure in the process of rock compression experiment; (2) The P wave velocity and S wave velocity exponentially increase with increasing axial pressure; Rock porosity and crack density parameter exponentially decrease with increasing axial pressure; (3) there is a linear positive correlation between the ratio of rock porosity to crack density parameter and the ratio of crack thickness to crack length. (4) the relationship between Vp and Vs in each compression test can be fitted to the linear equation Vp=a*Vs+b; for all different samples of NR170143, the ratios (M) of Vp to Vs ranges from 1.35 to 1.85. In summary, the P-V model, P-? model, ?-? model and Vp-Vs-? model can intuitively reflect the relationship among seismic wave velocity, axial pressure and rock porosity.

Author Biography

Maria Tibbo

Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7,Canada

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Published

2019-01-14