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Petrophysical and Acoustic Properties of Exposed Sandstone of

Seri Iskandar, Perak in Constituents of its Elastic Properties.
Zainal Azimudin Z. Abidin, Siti Nuralia M. Nazor, Nor Sara Izzatti Bashah
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering Department
31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Emails: z.azimudin@gmail.com; nuralia.nazor@petronas.com.my
Abstract- acoustic properties of the rock is
mostly based on the sonic velocity response of
either compressional or shear wave motion
which have travelled through the rock. These
waves velocity is much more controlled by the
petrophysical properties of the rock such as the
pore space where generally we can know that
higher porosity would response in slower wave
velocity. However, wave velocity response is not
entirely controlled by porosity only but by the
elastic properties of the rock. Elastic properties
of the rock are not a constant domain since rocks
of many places exhibit different properties
basically from its minerals composition and its
depositional settings. Factors that affect the
velocity response are discussed in this paper.

I. INTRODUCTION
Compressional and shear wave velocity is a
common tool being used in subsurface imaging
within the industry. The wave velocity of the
rock is an important component which tells a
thousand words on the rocks properties. Wave
response is recorded in term of the time delay
where it exhibit from the physical and chemical
properties of the rock. Basically, in order for the
wave to travel through the rock, the rock must
have components that enable the wave motion to
travel through the medium where the medium
undergoes compressional or shear vibration.
This unique property of the rock is
called the elastic properties of the rock. Elastic
properties of the rocks play a big role in deciding
the wave velocity response, however, there are
still factors that influencing the elastic properties
of the rock such as the pore space, grain sorting,
minerals composition and fluid phases.
One of the good way in estimating the
elastic properties of the rock is by plotting the
samples within the Voigt-Reuss bound where the
estimation for the effective elastic modulus of
the samples can be interpreted.

Figure 1. The Voigt-Reuss bound plot which can
be used to estimate the effective elastic modulus.

II. OBJECTIVES
1) To study the factor effecting the
relationship between porosity and sonic
velocity of the exposed sandstone of the
studied area.
2) To characterize the elastic properties of the
exposed sandstone of the studied area.

III. METHODOLOGY
Total of 12 samples was collected from
the outcrop where from this 12 samples, core
plugs and thin section of the rock was produced.
The thin section was used mainly to see the grain
distribution and its sorting besides being used for
sandstone classification based QFL minerals
classification.
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The compressional (Vp) and shear (Vs)
wave velocity of the core plug samples was
measured using the Sonic Viewer (OYO)
machine at ambient condition. The velocity
results are manually picked at the first arrival of
the wave as shown in Figure 2. The results
gathered from the sonic velocity measurement
include the Poissons ratio (v), shear modulus
() and elastic coefficient () besides having
compressional wave velocity (Vp) and shear
wave velocity (Vs). The porosity of the core plug
samples was also measured using the helium
porosity meter.

Figure 2. Result from the sonic velocity
measurement. Red line shows the manually
picked first arrival which determined the
velocity value.

IV. ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES
Acoustic properties of the compressional
and shear wave can be calculated from the P-
wave velocity (Vp) and S-wave velocity (Vs).
The most basic acoustic properties is the
compressional to shear wave velocity ratio
(Vp/Vs). The ratio can be calculated easily by
dividing the P-wave velocity to the S-wave
velocity.

Another acoustic property in mind is the
Poissons ratio which can be defined as the ratio
of transverse contraction strain to the axial strain
in a uniaxial stress state. Material that is
compressed in one direction usually tends to
expand in the other two direction perpendicular
to the direction of compression which the
phenomenon is called the Poisson effect.
Poissons ratio () is the measurement which is
to define this effect where the ratio is the fraction
of expansion divided by the fraction of
compression. Poissons ratio for the samples is
already provided by the Sonic View machine
therefore not need to calculate.
Besides having the shear modulus of the
rock, it is also important to have the P-wave
modulus and the bulk modulus of the rock. The
moduli can be calculated easily using the
following equation.
(

(1)

(2)
K is the bulk modulus
Kp is the P-wave modulus
Vp is the P-wave velocity
is the density of the sample
is the shear modulus
Bulk modulus is the ratio of the
hydrostatic stress to the volumetric strain of the
rock which is used to measure the resistance of
the rock towards compression. Bulk modulus of
the rock is highly corresponding to the ability of
the rock to resist compression force which will
result in deformation of the rock.
The use of these elastic moduli is to
study on the relationship that might explain
furthermore on the deviation within the sonic
velocity relation to the porosity change in
constituents of the ability to adapt to both
compressional and shear wave motion which
traveled through the rock medium.


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Table 3. The data set of the physical properties of the rocks and acoustic properties its exhibit.
Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Tag A1-9 A1-8 A1-3 A1-11 A2-3 A2-5 A1-5 A1-4 A1-2 A2-1 A1-6 A2-4
Density (g/cc) 2.514 2.334 2.168 2.415 2.487 2.435 2.455 2.368 2.293 2.355 2.333 2.431
Vp (m/s) 3625.0 2240.0 1480.0 2469.0 3655.0 2333.0 2646.0 2487.0 2063.0 2455.0 2147.0 3137.0
Vs (m/s) 2675.0 1522.0 980.0 1471.0 2373.0 1550.0 1621.0 1067.0 1650.0 1642.0 1520.0 2125.0
Effective Porosity (%) 8.16% 16.11% 21.90% 14.31% 8.86% 12.21% 10.71% 13.74% 16.50% 14.68% 16.39% 11.55%
Vp/Vs 1.36 1.47 1.51 1.68 1.54 1.51 1.63 2.33 1.25 1.50 1.41 1.48
Poisson's Ratio 0.200 0.387 -0.388 0.095 -0.002 0.076 -0.098 0.071 0.110 0.225 0.136 0.105
Shear modulus (GPa) 17.99 5.41 2.08 5.23 14.00 5.85 6.45 2.70 6.24 6.35 5.39 10.98
Bulk modulus (GPa) 9.05 4.50 1.97 7.75 14.55 5.45 8.59 11.05 1.44 5.73 3.57 9.29
P-Wave modulus (Gpa) 9.05 4.5 1.97 7.75 14.55 5.45 8.59 11.05 1.44 5.73 3.57 9.29

V. RESULTS RELATIONS AND
DISCUSSION
Sandstone is a type of sedimentary rock
which exhibit reservoir properties such as
porosity and permeability. These reservoir
properties play a big role in characterizing
sandstone from other type of rock. Since the
porosity value for sandstone varies according to
the deposition settings, it is important to see the
relationship between porosity and the wave
velocity response.

Figure 4. Relationship between porosity with P-
wave velocity where there are some deviation in
the trend.
From the graph we can generally see that
the trend of the porosity with the p-wave
velocity is a negative linear relation where
higher velocity

responses to a low porosity. However, there are
some deviation trends.
In red box shows an almost the same
velocity value response from different porosity
while in blue box shows that different velocity
response for almost the same porosity value.
This deviation shows that the wave velocity
responses are not entirely depending on porosity
but other factors.

Figure 5. Relationship between Vs and Vs
resulting in Vp/Vs ratio.
Vp/Vs ratio that is plotted shows that
most of the samples are having an average value
of Vp/Vs ratio nearly to 1.5 except for sample 8
and 9. Sample 8 is having a Vp/Vs ratio of 2.33
which is considered to be high. This may explain
why the almost constant value of velocity for
different porosity of sample 4, 8 and 10.
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Figure 6. Relationship of Poissons ratio to the
Vp/Vs ratio.
Another property that might explain the
deviation of sample 4, 8 and 10 is the Poissons
ratio. As plotted in graph above, sample 8 is
having a higher Poissons ratio at nearly 0.4,
sample 4 having it at 0.25 while sample 10
having the ratio near 0.1. This different
Poissons ratio tells that a sample with higher
ratio is a samples that exhibit only a
unidirectional forces rather than bi-directional
lateral and axial forces.
There are also a few samples having a
negative Poissons ratio value. The negative
value of this Poissons ratio is when subjected to
a positive axial strain, the transverse strain will
also be positive which would increase the cross
sectional area. This would happen if the material
exhibits a special material properties which is
called the auxetic materials which is a material
that is having a unique oriented, hinged grains
contact
In constituents of the porosity of the
rock, it is also important to know the state of the
grain support. We can know this by plotting the
P-wave and S-wave modulus against the
porosity. The intersection of the S-wave modulus
trend would mark the critical porosity (

).
Critical porosity is the transition divides the
relationship between velocity and porosity into
two domains. For porosities greater than the
critical porosity, velocity is not strongly
dependent on porosity. For values below the
critical porosity, velocity depends strongly on
porosity and increases significantly with a small
decrease in porosity. Therefore, velocity for
sample 3 can be said that it is not due to the
velocity but due to other factor such as the
density since it is having a low density. It is
important to note that the existence of a critical
porosity transition does not indicate the
transition from a zero-strength suspension to a
frame-supported regime, but rather a transition
where the frame modulus increases beyond a
threshold and causes a substantial velocity
increase [1].


Figure 7. Relationship of wave moduli to the
porosity resulting the critical porosity value at
21.1%
Prediction of the rocks effective elastic
moduli is important to deeper understand the
relationship between the acoustic properties to
the petrophysical properties of the rock. Among
the good way to illustrate the effective elastic
moduli of rock is to plot the bulk modulus of the
samples within the Voigt and Reuss bound.
Using this method, we can generally estimate the
effective elastic moduli of the rock in term of its
constituents to the pore space within the rock.
Although the Voigt and Reuss plot usually being
used for samples with multi phases, but it is still
possible to plot it for a single mineral on account
of its pore space.
In order to use such estimation method,
it is important to specify; (1) the volume fraction
of various minerals and phases, (2) the elastic
moduli of the minerals and phases, and (3) the
geometrical details of the minerals and phases.
For this research samples, the volume fraction on
account is the fraction of the quartz mineral
which has the bulk moduli of 37 GPa (universal
value) and fraction of the pore space containing
no fluid but free air with bulk moduli of 0.141
MPa at constant ambient temperature.
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Figure 8. Voigt-Reuss plot for estimation of
effective elastic modulus of samples.
From the graph we can continue
interpret the data using the critical porosity trend
in earlier part which is at 21.9%. The samples
plotted in this graph shows that samples are
distributed upward where upward towards the
Voigt bound the rock is exhibiting a higher
strength in its compaction and grain to grain
contact due to clay bearing mixture. Going
upward also tells that the degree of diagenesis
process that the rock undergo also higher which
results a higher wave velocity response for
sample 5. This can conclude that the reasons
why sample 5 exhibit a higher velocity even
though having a higher porosity than sample 1 is
due to this effective elastic modulus. Similar
goes to sample 6 and 12 where sample 12 is
having a better effective elastic modulus.

VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The relationship of the acoustic velocity
of the samples tested is negatively linear relation
with its porosity value where the velocity will
increase with the decrease of the porosity. The
negative linear relationship of the velocity and
porosity is controlled by the factors that effecting
both porosity and velocity such as the grain to
grain contacts, cementation and mineral
properties. The secondary trend of sample 1 and
5 which is the same wave velocity response for
different porosity value is mainly caused by the
elastic properties of the rock, where sample 5
with higher porosity value but with almost the
same velocity response as sample 1 is having a
better effective elastic modulus compared to
sample 1 as shown in Voigt-Reuss plot.
Similar to secondary trend of sample 1
and 5, the sample 6 and 12 which is deviated
further away from the general trend is also due to
the effective elastic modulus where sample 6 are
having a lower effective elastic modulus
compared to sample 12. Sample 4, 8 and 10 are
also deviated from the general Vp and porosity
trend which can be explained by the Vp/Vs ratio
where Vp/Vs ratio for sample 8 is very high
which is at 2.33, sample 4 at 1.68 and sample 10
at 1.50. Deviation of sample 2, 3, 9 and 11 can
be said due to a higher content of clay which
causes a weaker grain to grain contact.

VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to the research supervisor, Mrs.
Siti Nuralia who has provided assistance and
guidance to complete this paper. I deeply thank
my advisor, Ms Nor Sara Izzatti and all my
fellow colleagues for all the knowledge and
supports given to me. Thank You.

IX. REFERENCES
[1] Erickson, N., and Jarrard, R.D., 1998,
Porosity/formation-factor relationship for
high-porosity siliciclastic sedimets from
Amazon Fan. AGU. Volume 25, Issue 13,
page 2309-2312.
[2] Castagna, J.P., Batzle, M.L., and Eastwood,
R.L., 1985, Relationships between
compressional-wave and shear-wave
velocities in clasici silicate rocks.
GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 50, No. 4. 571-581.
[3] Mavko, G., Mukerji, T., and Dvorkin, J.,
1998, The rock physics handbook:
Cambridge University Press.
[4] Ruiz, F. J., 2009, Porous grain model and
equivalent elastic medium approach for
predicting effective elastic properties of
sedimentary rocks. Theses of Stanford
University.
[5] Wyllie, M. R., Gregory, A. R., and Gardner,
L. W., 1956: Elastic wave velocities in
heterogeneous and porous media,
Geophysics, 21, 41-70.