Acoustoelastic Theory for Fluid-Saturated Porous Media

Abstract

Based on the finite deformation theory of the continuum and poroelastic theory, the acoustoelastic theory for fluid-saturated porous media (FSPM) in natural and initial coordinates is developed to investigate the influence of effective stresses and fluid pore pressure on wave velocities. Firstly, the assumption of a small dynamic motion superimposed on a largely static pre-deformation of the FSPM yields natural, initial, and final configurations, whose displacements, strains, and stresses of the solid-skeleton and the fluid in an FSPM particle could be described in natural and initial coordinates, respectively. Secondly, the subtraction of initial-state equations of equilibrium from the final-state equations of motion and the introduction of non-linear constitutive relations of the FSPM lead to equations of motion for the small dynamic motion. Thirdly, the consideration of homogeneous pre-deformation and the plane harmonic form of the small dynamic motion gives an acoustoelastic equation, which provides analytical formulations for the relation of the fast longitudinal wave, the fast shear wave, the slow shear wave, and the slow longitudinal wave with solid-skeleton stresses and fluid pore-pressure. Lastly, an isotropic FSPM under the close-pore jacketed condition, open-pore jacketed condition, traditional unjacketed condition, and triaxial condition is taken as an example to discuss the velocities of the fast and slow shear waves propagating along the direction of one of the initial principal solid-skeleton strains. The detailed discussion shows that the wave velocities of the FSPM are usually influenced by the effective stresses and the fluid pore pressure. The fluid pore-pressure has little effect on the wave velocities of the FSPM only when the components of the applied initial principal solid-skeleton stresses or strains are equal, which is consistent with the previous experimental results.