Ultrasonic borehole velocity imaging

Geophysics ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. F25-F30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth W. Winkler ◽  
Ralph D’Angelo

We describe a new technique for making high-resolution velocity images of rocks using refracted ultrasonic waves. The use of refracted waves makes this technique potentially suitable for imaging borehole walls. In the laboratory, we use a single-transmitter, two-receiver, first-arrival method for making velocity measurements, with a spatial resolution on the order of [Formula: see text]. Our acoustic pulses are centered near [Formula: see text]. Scans of a borehole wall reveal dipping thin layers and fractures. When external stress is applied perpendicular to the borehole, stress concentrations appear on our images as axial bands of high and low velocities. Breakouts created by high stress also can be imaged. On a planar sample, a velocity image reveals shale laminations and carbonate stringers. For field applications, this technique offers the potential for imaging in both conductive and nonconductive muds and provides images based on a physical property (velocity) that currently is not used for fine-scale borehole imaging.

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Houpert ◽  
E. Ioannides ◽  
J. C. Kuypers ◽  
J. Tripp

A recently proposed fatigue life model for rolling bearings has been applied to the study of lifetime reduction under conditions conducive to microspalling. The presence of a spike in the EHD pressure distribution produces large shear stresses localized very close to the surface which may account for early failure. This paper describes a parametric study of the effect of such spikes. Accurate stress fields in the volume are calculated for simulated pressure spikes of different height, width and position relative to a Hertzian pressure distribution, as well as for different lubricant traction coefficients and film thicknesses. Despite the high stress concentrations in the surface layers, reductions in life predicted by the model are modest. Typically, the pressure spike may halve the life, with the implication that subsurface fatigue still dominates. In corroboration of this prediction, preliminary experimental work designed to reproduce microspalling conditions shows that microindents due to overrolling particles are a much more common form of surface damage than microspalling.


Geophysics ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
M. E. Arnold

Pressure amplitudes were determined for various kinds of seismic signals observed on special test records obtained during field tests conducted along a 14,000-ft seismic lines in Eugene Island Block 184, offshore Louisiana. Vibrators attached to a Seismograph Service Corp. (SSC) boat generated swept‐frequency and monofrequency signals. Signals from detectors on a streamer cable towed by the boat were recorded by an SSC recording system. Signals from a vertical spread of detectors were recorded by a DFS/9000 recorder on the Transco 184 platform centrally located in the test area. Location of the boat was determined by analysis of time relations of signals from responders located at established positions some distance from the test area. Clock times from manually referenced timing code generators were recorded by both the SSC and DFS recorders to permit synchronization between separately recorded signals. The signals analyzed were separated into three classes: [Formula: see text] includes direct and refracted waves; [Formula: see text] consists of primary reflections; and [Formula: see text] includes signals diffracted from scatterers. The average level of first‐arrival signal [Formula: see text] and reflected signal [Formula: see text] for frequency sets 25, 40, 42.2, 50, and 70.4 Hz in the range of 1414 and 2143 ft, which encompasses streamer cable single‐detector groups, is 337 and 29.6 microbars, respectively. The amplitude of signals [Formula: see text], believed to be diffracted from the contact between key reflectors and a salt dome, ranges from 13 to 20 microbars and is 10 to 100 times the amplitudes of towing and ambient noise, respectively. The observed decay of first‐arrival signal amplitude is approximately proportional to the square root of range distance, or about 2 dB/1000 ft. The observed decay of reflected signal amplitude with range distance is approximately 1 dB/1000 ft.


Author(s):  
Tibor Kiss ◽  
Wing-Fai Ng ◽  
Larry D. Mitchell

Abstract A high-speed rotor wheel for a wind-tunnel experiment has been designed. The rotor wheel was similar to one in an axial turbine, except that slender bars replaced the blades. The main parameters of the rotor wheel were an outer diameter of 10“, a maximum rotational speed of 24,000 RPM and a maximum transferred torque of 64 lb-ft. Due to the working environment, the rotor had to be designed with high safety margins. The coupling of the rotor wheel with the shaft was found to be the most critical issue, because of the high stress concentration factors associated with the conventional coupling methods. The efforts to reduce the stress concentrations resulted in an advanced coupling design which is the main subject of the present paper. This new design was a special key coupling in which six dowel pins were used for keys. The key slots, now pin-grooves, were placed in bosses on the inner surface of the hub. The hub of the rotor wheel was relatively long, which allowed for applying the coupling near the end faces of the hub, that is, away from the highly loaded centerplane. The long hub resulted in low radial expansion in the coupling region. Therefore, solid contact between the shaft and the hub could be maintained for all working conditions. To develop and verify the design ideas, stress and deformation analyses were carried out using quasi-two-dimensional finite element models. An overall safety factor of 3.7 resulted. The rotor has been built and successfully accelerated over the design speed in a spin test pit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Thang Trong Dam ◽  
Viet Duc Tran ◽  

Shock waves, which derive from explosions, generate reflected and refracted waves when propagating in the layered medium with various acoustic stiffness. Depending on the acoustic characteristic of each layer of the medium, properties of reflected and refracted waves will increase or decrease pressures/stresses at the investigated point of medium, compared to influences of explosive shock waves (incident waves) propagated in a homogeneous and isotropic medium. Based on this mechanical physical property, scientists have studied a diversity of solutions decreasing effects of explosive shock waves in various medium such as rock and soil, water, air. However, currently there have not been any comprehensive theoretical studies on the reduction in intensity of the underwater explosion shock wave when interacting with bubble curtain. By using the analytical method and the virtual explosive method, the paper presents the propagation rule of new waves formed when the underwater explosion shock wave interacts with the bubble curtain. The results showed that the more the thickness of the bubble curtain or the higher the bubble content or the longer the distance from the explosive to the curtain, the weaker the intensity of the shock wave when passing through the curtain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. T89-T102
Author(s):  
David Mora ◽  
John Castagna ◽  
Ramses Meza ◽  
Shumin Chen ◽  
Renqi Jiang

The Daqing field, located in the Songliao Basin in northeastern China, is the largest oil field in China. Most production in the Daqing field comes from seismically thin sand bodies with thicknesses between 1 and 15 m. Thus, it is not usually possible to resolve Daqing reservoirs using only conventional seismic data. We have evaluated the effectiveness of seismic multiattribute analysis of bandwidth extended data in resolving and making inferences about these thin layers. Multiattribute analysis uses statistical methods or neural networks to find relationships between well data and seismic attributes to predict some physical property of the earth. This multiattribute analysis was applied separately to conventional seismic data and seismic data that were spectrally broadened using sparse-layer inversion because this inversion method usually increases the vertical resolution of the seismic. Porosity volumes were generated using target porosity logs and conventional seismic attributes, and isofrequency volumes were obtained by spectral decomposition. The resulting resolution, statistical significance, and accuracy in the determination of layer properties were higher for the predictions made using the spectrally broadened volume.


Author(s):  
DONG-RYUN KIM ◽  
JAE-HOON KIM

Adhesive interface tests using ultrasonic waves are far superior to other nondestructive tests for detecting the disbond interface. However, a multilayered structure consisting of a steel case, rubber insulation, liner, and propellant poses many difficulties for analyzing ultrasonic waves because of the superposition of the reflected waves and the large differences in the acoustic impedances of the various materials. Therefore, ultrasonic tests for detecting the disbond interface of multilayered structures have been applied in very limited areas between the steel case and rubber insulation using an automatic system. The existing ultrasonic test cannot detect the disbond interface between the rubber and propellant of a multilayered structure because most of the ultrasonic waves are absorbed in the rubber material, which has low acoustic impedance. This problem could be overcome by amplifying the ultrasonic waves using the ultrasonic resonance method. The Lamb waves were used to evaluate the instability of the ultrasonic waves caused by the contact condition on the surface of the multilayered structure. In this paper, a new technique to detect the disbond interface between the liner and propellant using the property of ultrasonic resonance and Lamb waves is discussed in detail.


1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Iremonger ◽  
W G Wood

An investigation has been made into the suitability of the finite-element method for studying the stresses in composite materials and the case of a single broken fibre in a matrix has been examined. It has been found that high stress concentrations occur in the region of the fibre break which increase with decreasing end gap and would cause matrix yielding or fracture at comparatively low overall stresses. When the end gap is not void but filled with matrix much lower stress concentrations occur which, below a certain value of end gap, actually decrease as the gap is made smaller.


Aerospace ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. Alexander ◽  
Diann Brei

It is common practice to reduce the voltage level within piezoelectric actuators by utilizing multiple layers, typically bonded together. Unfortunately, this has a tendency to result in device failure due to delamination. For example, with benders the typical lifetime is 105 to 106 cycles, limiting its use in practical applications. This poses an interesting design tradeoff: the stroke is increased due to sharper gradients between material layers; however, the higher gradients lead to high stress concentrations at those interfaces. One approach to reducing these stresses is to grade the material properties through a monolithic piece of piezoceramic so that no interfaces or bonding elements exist, but this comes at the cost of stroke. This paper explores the design tradeoff inherent to monolithic functionally graded piezoelectrics. An analytical free-displacement model for a monolithic piezoceramic beam with a generic gradient is derived. Key to this is the inclusion of the complex electric field distribution which rises from the non-homogeneous material properties. This model is used along with finite element models to examine the effect of continuous linear and stepwise material gradients on the displacement performance as well as the stress levels. The study shows that using monolithic functionally graded piezocermics can significantly reduce the stresses with only a minor impact on the device stroke.


Author(s):  
Jose´ Renato M. de Sousa ◽  
George C. Campello ◽  
Antoˆnio Fernando B. Bueno ◽  
Eduardo Vardaro ◽  
Gilberto B. Ellwanger ◽  
...  

This paper studies the structural response of a 6.0″ flexible pipe under pure tension considering two different situations: the pipe is intact or has five wires broken in its outer tensile armor. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model devoted to analyze the local mechanical response of flexible pipes is employed in this study. This model is capable of representing each wire of the tensile armors and, therefore, localized defects, including total rupture, may be adequately represented. Results from experimental tests are also presented in order to validate the theoretical estimations. The theoretical and experimental results indicate that the imposed damage reduced the axial stiffness of the pipe. High stress concentrations in the wires near the damaged ones were also observed and, furthermore, the stresses in the inner carcass and the pressure armor are affected by the imposed damage, but, on the other hand, the normal stresses in the wires of the inner tensile armor are not.


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