| The geometric features and physical characteristics of fractures in rock masses are often considered major factors controlling the production of oil and gas. Therefore, it is important to detect fractures in oil and gas reservoirs. Of the various geophysical methods, seismic methods are particularly attractive for fracture detection and imaging because of the sensitivity of elastic waves to the mechanical compliance associated with fractures. Based on the effects of fracture on the velocities and amplitudes of seismic waves, several studies have shown the potential for using seismic tomography and vertical seismic profiling (VSP) techniques to characterize fracture systems in reservoirs.; In this thesis, seismic wave propagation through a fracture system is numerically investigated by the finite-difference method. When seismic waves propagate in a medium with single fractures of infinite and finite length, the head wave and the dispersive interface waves (symmetric and antisymmetric modes) along the fracture are strongly excited by the explosion source if the seismic source is moved close to the fracture with low stiffness. In a fracture waveguide, fracture channel waves are supported by the waveguide, even in the absence of a velocity contrast between the fracture waveguide and surrounding host rock. The particular modes generated strongly depend on the polarization of the seismic source. When the seismic source is vertically (horizontally) polarized, antisymmetric (symmetric) modes are excited. In addition, if the thickness of the fracture waveguide increases, a complex particle motion of the fracture channel waves develops because the fracture channel waves partly couple with the interface waves along the fractures. For seismic wave propagation through a multi-fracture system consisting of equally spaced fractures, both an explicit fracture model and an equivalent transversely isotropic (TI) medium model were used to model the fracture system. In comparison to the results from the TI model, the explicit fracture model exhibits distinct behaviors with respect to the velocities, amplitudes, waveforms, constructive interference properties and frequency spectra of seismic waves. These results illustrate that the static equivalent medium theory fails to predict amplitude effects that are present in the explicit model of fractured rock. The major reason for this shortcoming is that the TI model for a fractured system ignores frequency-dependent scattering. |
