A hybrid model of sound propagation in unconsolidated sediments

Efforts to model sound speed and attenuation in sandy sediments have centered on the use of theories for which either the relative motion of the pore fluid is the dominant attenuation mechanism, such as Biot theory, or the dominant loss mechanism is grain-to-grain friction. A recent model which attempts to incorporate grain-to-grain loss mechanisms into a model of sandy sediments was proposed by Buckingham. This model can fit the frequency dependence of the attenuation measured in ocean sediments and laboratory glass bead sediments, but it does not capture the sound speed dispersion as effectively as Biot theory. The relative success of each model suggests that both attenuation mechanisms may play important roles in sediment acoustics. In order to explore this possibility, a hybrid model has been developed which incorporates Buckingham’s grain-to-grain shearing mechanisms into the frame moduli used in Biot theory. In the hybrid model, the grain-to-grain losses dominate at high and very low frequencies while pore fluid attenuation dominates at mid-frequencies where the sound speed dispersion is the most pronounced. As a consequence, the hybrid model is able to describe both the measured sound speed and attenuation in ocean and laboratory sediments. [Work supported by ONR.]