Establishment and application of an anisotropic shale rock physical model in the observation coordinate system

No shale-rock physical model has been established in the observation coordinate system. To this end, this paper carried out anisotropic wave velocity tests on shale rock and compared the Thomsen, Daley, and Berryman solutions to characterize anisotropic acoustic wave velocity. Finally, the Daley solution was selected. Based on basic rock physical models, such as SCA and DEM methods, and combined with the Daley solution, an anisotropic shalerock physical model was established in the observation coordinate system and applied in Well B1 in the Luzhou area, Sichuan Basin. Our research conclusions were as follows: 1. for the samples from the same core, the P-wave velocities in three directions were in the order V P11 > V P45 > V P33 , shear-wave velocity V S11 was the largest, but V S33 and V S45 did not follow the law of V s33 > V s45 for some samples; 2. the Daley solution, which not only considers the accuracy requirements but also has a complete expression of P-, SV-, and SH-waves, is most suitable for characterization of anisotropic wave velocity in this study area; 3. the rock physical model constructed in the observation coordinate system has high accuracy, in which the absolute value of the relative error of the P-wave slowness was between 0% and 5.05% (0.55% on average), and that of shear-wave slowness was between 0% and 6.05% (0.59% on average); 4. the acoustic waves recorded in Well B1 in the observation coordinate system were very different from those in the constitutive coordinate system. The relative difference of the P-wave was between 6.76% and 30.84% (14.68% on average), and that of the S-wave was between 7.00% and 23.44% (13.99% on average). The acoustic slowness measured in the observation coordinate system, such as in a deviated well or a horizontal well section, must be converted to the constitutive coordinate system before it can be used in subsequent engineering applications; 5. the anisotropic shale-rock physical model built in the observation coordinate system proposed in this paper can provide basic data and guidance for subsequent pore pressure prediction, geomechanical modeling, and fracturing stimulation design for deviated and horizontal wells.