Discrepancy between measured dynamic poroelastic parameters and predicted values from Wyllie’s equation for water-saturated Istebna sandstone

Abstract

AbstractThe drilling-related geomechanics requires a better understanding of the encountered formation properties such as poroelastic parameters. This paper shows set of laboratory results of the dynamic Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and Biot’s coefficient for dry and water-saturated Istebna sandstone samples under a series of confining pressure conditions at two different temperatures. The predicted results from Wyllie’s equation were compared to the measured ones in order to show the effect of saturation on the rock weakening. A negative correlation has been identified between Poisson’s ratio, Biot’s coefficient and confining pressure, while a positive correlation between confining pressure and Young’s modulus. The predicted dynamic poroelastic rock properties using the P-wave value from Wyllie’s equation are different from measured ones. It shows the important influence of water saturation on rock strength, which is confirmed by unconfined compressive strength measurement. Linear equations have been fitted for the laboratory data and are useful for the analysis of coupled stress and pore pressure effects in geomechanical problems. Such results are useful for many drilling applications especially in evaluation of such cases as wellbore instability and many other drilling problems.