J175040 DOI: 10.
2118/175040-PA Date: 29-March-16 Stage: Page: 635
Water-Content Effects on Dynamic Elastic
Properties of Organic-Rich Shale
Bitao Lai, Aramco Services Company; Hui Li, University of Louisiana at Lafayette;
Jilin Zhang, David Jacobi, and Dan Georgi, Aramco Services Company
Summary
Acoustic-velocity measurements are an important nondestructive
way to investigate dynamic rock-mechanical properties. Water con-
tent and bedding-plane-induced anisotropy are reported to signifi-
cantly affect the acoustic velocities of siliciclastic sandstones and
laminated carbonates. This relationship in organic-rich shales, how-
ever, is not well-understood and has yet to be investigated. The me-
chanical properties of organic-rich shales are affected by changes
in water content, laminations, total organic content (TOC), and
microstructures. In particular, kerogen density that accompanies
changes in the composition of the TOC during maturity can signifi-
cantly influence the acoustic responses within source rocks.
To understand how these variables influence acoustic
responses in organic shales, two sets of cores from the Eagle Ford
shale were investigated: one set cut parallel to bedding and the
other perpendicular to bedding. Textures of the samples from
each set were characterized by use of computed-tomography (CT)
scanning. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to mea-
sure the water content, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to analyze
the mineralogy. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was also
used to characterize the microstucture. Acoustic-velocity meas-
urements were then made on each set at various confining pres-
sures with the ultrasonic pulse-transmission technique.
The results show that confining pressure, water content, and lam-
inations have significant impact on both compressional-wave (P-
wave) and shear-wave (S-wave) velocity. Both velocities increase as
confining pressure increases. Velocities measured from cores cut
parallel to bedding are, on average, 20% higher than those cut per-
pendicular to bedding. Increasing water content decreases both
velocities. The impact of water content on shear velocity was found
to be significant compared with the response with compressional ve-
locity. As a result, the water content was found to lower both
Young’s modulus and shear modulus, which is opposite to the
reported results in conventional reservoir lithology. In addition, both
P- and S-wave velocities show a linear decrease as TOC increases,
and they both decrease with increasing of clay content. The mecha-
nisms that lead to water-content alteration of rock-mechanical prop-
erties might be a combined result of the clay/water interaction, the
chemical reaction, and the capillary pressure changes.
Introduction
In recent decades, shale gas holds the biggest share of unconven-
tional resources (Total: Unconventional Gas 2012). The success
of hydraulic-fracturing designs and wellbore stability requires a
good understanding of the geomechanical properties of shale res-
ervoirs. Ultrasonic-velocities test is a nondestructive way to
investigate rock dynamic mechanical properties. The velocity
data generated can be used for seismic and microseismic interpre-
tation, and can provide useful data for calculating petrophysical
properties such as porosity. An ultrasonic velocity test involves
propagating an ultrasonic compression wave and two orthogonal
shear waves along the longitudinal axis of the sample, then meas-
uring the velocity of the waves as they travel through the speci-
Copyright V
C 2016 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 175040) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Houston, 28–30 September 2015, and revised for publication.
Original manuscript received for review 15 July 2015. Revised manuscript received for
review 27 October 2015. Paper peer approved 9 December 2015.
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men. One can estimate dynamic elastic properties of the specimen
through certain correlations between ultrasonic velocities and
rock density (Kate and Gokhale 1997; Kate 2012).
Many studies have addressed the influence of confining pres-
sure on compressional- and shear-wave velocities. The experi-
mental results from these studies indicated that compressional-
and shear-wave velocities increase with increasing confining pres-
sure, especially in the low-confining-pressure range (less than 15
MPa) (Wang et al. 2005; Ji et al. 2007; Gupta et al. 2012). The
increase of rock P- and S-wave velocities with the increase of
confining pressure was partly attributed to the closure of micro-
cracks, fractures, and other voids within the rock (Mohammad
and Ali 2013). Dynamic Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio
also exhibited confining-pressure dependence (Wong et al. 2008;
Ong et al. 2015).
Organic-rich shales, source rocks, often exhibit a number of dif-
ferent fabrics resulting from their depositional environment. Many
possess a laminated structure such as those from the Eagle Ford
that were used in this study. The bedding-plane orientation can sig-
nificantly affect the anisotropic behavior as well as geomechanical
properties. Wong et al. (2008), for example, carried out ultrasonic-
velocities measurements on Colorado shale, and concluded that the
ultrasonic velocities of samples parallel to bedding plane were
higher than ultrasonic velocities of samples perpendicular to the
bedding plane. Similar conclusions were obtained by Dewhurst
et al. (2008) and Alqahtani et al. (2013). Wu and Tan (2010) and
Sone and Zoback (2013) observed that the dynamic Young’s mod-
ulus parallel to the bedding planes was higher than that measured
perpendicular to the bedding planes with the ultrasonic method.
Elastic properties of rocks were also shown to be affected by
water content. In most cases, with an increase of water content,
rocks become weaker and easier to fail. The phenomenon is usu-
ally referred to as a water-weakening effect. Han (2003) incorpo-
rated different flow situations into stress-and-stability analysis for
the region around a wellbore producing oil from weak or unconso-
lidated sands, and analyzed strength weakening, stress redistribu-
tion, and decrease of rock stiffness caused by variation of water
saturation. Meng et al. (2005) concluded that increases in water
content could lead to higher molecule activity, which suggests
that the water content affects rock strength and elastic properties.
Hu et al. (2014) indicated that when shale is saturated, water
menisci could induce a bonding force, which influences the me-
chanical properties of shale. The studies of water-weakening
effects will provide significant insights in propprant embedment,
hydraulic-fracturing aperture estimation, and wellbore-stability
assurance and quantification (Han 2003; Kumar et al. 2015).
In this paper, we focus mainly on the effect of confining pres-
sure, bedding plane, water content, TOC, and mineralogy on the
dynamic elastic properties of Eagle Ford shale. We carried out our
research with 1-MHz ultrasonic measurements and applied NMR
measurements to quantify water content. Compressional- and shear-
wave velocities were measured from the ultrasonic measurements.
The dynamic elastic properties of Eagle Ford shale (e.g., dynamic
Young’s modulus, E; dynamic Poisson’s ratio, ; and dynamic
shear modulus, G) were calculated from P- and S-wave velocities.
Experimental Materials and Methods
Dynamic elastic constants including dynamic Young’s modulus
(E), dynamic Poisson’s ratio (), dynamic bulk modulus (K),
635
 J175040 DOI: 10.2118/175040-PA Date: 29-March-16
Fig. 1—CT radiograph of sample EF_PD_4; laminations are
seen as black-and-white bands. CT radiograph shows the den-
sity contrast; the dense layers, such as calcite layers, attenuate
X-rays more, thus appearing in black color.
dynamic shear modulus (G), and dynamic Lame’s parameter (k),
characterize a shale’s dynamic elastic properties analyzed in this
study. These constants can be calculated from P- and S-wave
velocities. The calculation of the elastic constants of shale was
well-documented by Brich (1960) and Kate (2012):
!
3v2p  4v2s
2 spontaneous imbibition, NMR was used to measure the “wet”
E ¼ qvs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð1Þ
v2p  v2s
v2p  2v2s
v¼ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð2Þ
2ðv2p  v2s Þ
3 sensors in all tests. Samples exposed to air are denoted as “dry”
K ¼ qðv2p  v2s Þ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð3Þ
4
G ¼ qv2s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð4Þ
k ¼ qðv2p  2v2s Þ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð5Þ
where q is sample density, vp is ultrasonic compressional velocity
of shale sample, and vs is ultrasonic shear velocity of shale sample.
Sample Description. To understand how acoustic anisotropic
properties of organic shale are influenced by confining pressure
and water content, two sets of core-samples were drilled from
Eagle Ford shale outcrop samples obtained from a commercial
laboratory: one set cut perpendicular to the bedding (sample
marked with prefix EF_PD), and the other set parallel to the bed-
ding (sample marked with prefix EF_PL). Sample diameter and
length are both 1 in. All samples were characterized for quality-
control purposes with an industry CT scanner with a resolution of
15 mm, before geomechanical testing to make sure that each sam-
ple is mechanically intact (i.e., there are no recognizable fractures
within the samples). The water content of each sample was meas-
ured with Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence on an
NMR (2 MHz). Powder XRD (PXRD) for mineralogical analysis
was performed on all samples. The microfeatures of a selected
number of samples were examined with an SEM. TOC was
obtained with a TOC analyzer.
All plugs are gray or dark-gray carbonate mudstone, with
white stringers of dense calcite. On CT radiograph (Fig. 1), the
laminations are clear with alternating light and darker bands,
where the dense calcite stringers appear as dark bands caused by
the higher density of calcite and the light bands are a mixture of
calcite and quartz with various amounts of organic matter and
pores. SEM photomicrograph (Fig. 2) on an ion-milled surface
showed the calcite microcrystalline crystals and grains, the nano-
fossil fragments, and organic matter filling the pore space. XRD
results confirm that the dominant minerals are calcite and quartz
with minor amounts of clay minerals, pyrite, and gypsum. The
mineralogical compositions and TOC are listed in Table 1.
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15 µm
Fig. 2—Secondary electron SEM photomicrograph of a milled
surface of sample EF_PL_1, showing the sample consisting of
calcite microcrystalline crystals and grains, mostly nanofossil
fragments. Organic matter (dark gray) is seen filling many inter-
granular/intercrystalline pores. The laminations are oriented
vertically in the figure.
Experimental Procedures. Before acoustic velocity tests, sam-
ples were prescreened with an industry CT with a resolution of
15 mm; only those samples without detectable fractures were cho-
sen. Then, NMR was used to measure the initial water content
under air-dried condition. Acoustic-velocity measurements were
then performed on each set of samples at various confining pres-
sures. Velocities measured under air-dried condition are denoted
as “dry” velocities. For “wet” samples, samples were vacuumed
for 24 hours and submerged in 2% KCl water for 48 hours. After
water content. Then, acoustic-velocity tests were conducted on
“wet” samples. After velocity tests, samples were crushed, and
mineralogy and TOC were measured.
Wave-propagation velocities in rocks are frequency-depend-
ent. To be consistent, we used 1-MHz frequency acoustic-velocity
samples, and samples that were submerged in 2% KCl are denoted
as “wet” samples. Because of an extremely small and complex
pore system in shale, it is believed that, under spontaneous-imbi-
bition condition, shale samples are likely partially saturated. The
experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 3, in which core sample is
put in the center of coreholder; P-wave source and receiver and S-
wave source and receiver are put in both sides of the core sample.
Hydrostatic confining pressure ranging from 1.2 to 34.5 MPa (174
to 5,000 psi) was gradually applied to the sample to investigate
confining-pressure effects on acoustic velocity. Each confining-
pressure cycle was repeated at least five times. Figs. 4 and 5
show the maximum, average, and minimum vp and vs velocities
for each confining pressure. As one can see from Fig. 4, the veloc-
ity measurement is very repeatable. Elastic constants, including
Young’s modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio (), bulk modulus (K), shear
modulus (G), and Lame’s parameter (k), are calculated from aver-
age P- and S-velocity values.
Experimental Results and Discussion
Ultrasonic velocity was performed in seven samples perpendicu-
lar to bedding (PD) and eight samples parallel to the bedding
(PL). Among those samples, four PD and three PL samples were
partially saturated to investigate the ultrasonic velocities. On the
basis of Eqs. 1 through 5, dynamic elastic constants were calcu-
lated for all samples. Effects of confining pressure, bedding
planes, water content, TOC, and mineralogy are discussed next.
Effects of Confining Pressure. Confining pressure, instead of
effective pressure, is used here because samples are partially satu-
rated and pore pressure is not known but is likely to be small.
Figs. 4 and 5 are examples showing average P- and S-wave veloc-
ities as a function of confining pressure, respectively. At low con-
fining pressure (less than 15 MPa, equivalent to 2,310 psi), both
velocities increase significantly and nonlinearly with increasing
confining pressure. As seen from the two graphs (Figs. 4 and 5),
there is an increase of 6% for compressional-wave velocity and
5% for shear-wave velocity. This phenomenon can be related to
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Table 1—Physical properties of the tested samples.

fracture closure, including both induced fractures and natural frac-
tures. On the basis of the CT scans, these microfractures must
have apertures less than 10 mm. Velocities for other tested sam-
ples are listed in Tables 2 through 4. Above 15 MPa, both veloc-
ities increase steadily and linearly. This relationship suggests a
constant compressional coefficient. The same trend was observed
by Havens (2010) on Bakken shale.
Elastic constants under each confining pressure are calculated
on the basis of Eqs. 1 through 5. The effects of confining pressure
on elastic constants are illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. One perpen-
dicular to the bedding sample (EF_PD_3) and one parallel to the
bedding sample (EF_PL_4) serve as examples to demonstrate the
trends. As observed in Figs. 6 and 7, confining pressure has a
more significant impact on elastic constants when the confining
pressure is less than 15 MPa. Above 15 MPa, the elastic moduli
are relatively constant or increase only slightly. Note that Pois-
Confining Pressure
son’s ratio increases slightly with the increasing of confining pres-
sure around the range of 0.2; this observation agrees with Sone
(2012), which might be caused by the enhancement of lateral ma-
terial extrusion.
Bedding-Plane Effects. The bedding-plane orientation can highly
affect the anisotropic behavior as well as petrophysical properties
of laminated shales. Bedding-plane influences on acoustic-wave
propagation were recognized by many researchers (Nur 1969; Ver-
nik and Nur 1992; Vernik and Liu 1997; Tahini and Abousleiman
2010; Wu and Tan 2010) on various rocks, including laminated
sandstone, limestones, granite, and shales. Previous experimental
results show that P- and S-waves travel faster along the bedding
planes than perpendicular to bedding planes. The same trends are
observed in this study. Figs. 8 and 9 show P- and S-wave veloc-
ities measured on dry samples parallel to bedding (PL samples).
The velocities are approximately 20 and 24% higher than those

Core Sample 4.0

3.8

3.6
Vp (km/s)

3.4

3.2

3.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
S Source
P Receiver Confining Pressure (MPa)
P Source S Receiver
Fig. 4—Max, min, and average vp of sample EF_PD_2 (wet); the
Fig. 3—Schematic of the experimental setup. Core sample is top bar is the maximum value measured in that specific confin-
placed in a pressure vessel. One P-wave source and receiver ing pressure, the bottom bar is the minimum value measured
and one S-wave source and receiver are attached to both ends under that confining pressure. The dot is the average of the
of the samples. Elevated confining pressure is applied to the measurements. The maximum uncertainty and standard devia-
sample during test. tion of vp are 0.07 and 0.023, respectively.

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2.3
2.2
2.1
Vs (km/s)
2.0
1.9
1.8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Confining Pressure (MPa)
Fig. 5—Max, min, and average vs of sample EF_PD_2 (wet); the
top bar is the maximum value measured in that specific confin-
ing pressure, the bottom bar is the minimum value measured
under that confining pressure. The dot is the average of the
measurements. The maximum uncertainty and standard devia-
tion of vs are 0.021 and 0.011, respectively.
measured on samples perpendicular to bedding, respectively. Figs.
10 and 11 show the results for wet samples. P-wave parallel to
bedding is approximately 22% higher than that perpendicular to
bedding, and S-wave is approximately 15% higher. Note that, in
Fig. 11, there are a few outliners such that S-wave of PL samples
is lower than PD samples. It is believed that the coupling between
sample and velocity sensor is not sufficient.
Effects of Water Content. Understanding the fluid effects on
acoustic properties of sediments is a central issue for evaluating
seismic data. Fluid effects on acoustic velocity were investigated
by many researchers. Nur (1969) studied the effect of saturation
on velocity in low-porosity Troy granites. On the basis of the
Table 2—Confining pressure (CP) vs. Vp and Vs of EF_PD dry samples.
Table 3—Confining pressure vs. Vp and Vs of EF_PL dry samples.
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results, he concluded that 1) the fluid in microcracks greatly
increases the compressional-wave velocity but has no impact on
shear-wave velocity and 2) fluid saturation greatly influences the
effective bulk modulus whereas the shear modulus is almost inde-
pendent of fluid inclusions. Cadoret et al. (1995) measured acous-
tic-velocities on homogeneous limestones at varying water-
saturation levels in three frequency ranges. The results show that
shear velocity does not vary much with frequency and water satu-
ration whereas compressional velocity strongly depends on fre-
quency and fluid saturation.
The fluid-content impact on elastic properties of rock is usu-
ally described by the Gassmann (1995) theory, shown as Eqs. 6
through 8,
35 40 Ks ¼ Kd þ DKd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð6Þ
Kg ð1  Kd =Kg Þ2
DKd ¼ ................... ð7Þ
Kd Kg
1/ þ/
Kg Kf
Gs ¼ Gd ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð8Þ
where Ks , Kd ; Kg and Kf are the bulk moduli of the saturated rock,
dry rock, rock grains, and fluid bulk modulus, respectively. DKd
represents the change of bulk modulus caused by fluid-content
change; / is porosity, while Gs and Gd are the shear moduli of
saturated and dry rocks, respectively.
One can see from Gassmann’s equation that the bulk modulus
changes with water saturation whereas the shear modulus remains
fixed (Cardona et al. 2001; Han and Batzle 2004). However, Gass-
mann’s equation is valid on the basis of the assumptions that (Ber-
ryman 1999; Han and Batzle 2004): (1) porous media are linearly
elastic and isotropic; (2) pores inside porous media are well-con-
nected and at equilibrium pressure; (3) there is no chemical inter-
action between the pore fluid and rock matrix; and (4) the medium
is a closed system with no fluid movement across the boundaries.
Sedimentary rocks, especially highly heterogeneous tight
shales, might not satisfy the assumptions of Gassmann’s equations.
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Table 4—Confining pressure vs. Vp and Vs of EF_PD and EF_PL wet samples.
Elastic Properties (E, K, G, Lame's) (GPa)

40 0.4 40 0.4

Elastic Properties (E, K, G, Lame's) (GPa)

E E
v v
35 K 35 K
G G
Lame's 0.3 Lame's 0.3
30 30

Poisson's Ratio (v)

Poisson's Ratio (v)

25 25
0.2 0.2
20 20

15 15
0.1 0.1

10 10

5 0.0 5 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Confining Pressure (MPa) Confining Pressure (MPa)

Fig. 6—Dynamic elastic constants vs. confining pressure of Fig. 7—Dynamic elastic constants vs. confining pressure of
sample EF_PD_3 (dry). sample EF_PL_4 (dry).

Numerous researchers noticed that, in water-saturated rocks, shear In this work, we partially saturated the Eagle Ford shale sam-
velocity decreases more than expected on the basis of the increase ples by using the spontaneous-imbibition process. The water con-
of bulk density (Wyllie at al. 1963; Baechle et al. 2009). Tosaya tent of the tested samples is listed in Table 5. The P- and S- wave
and Nur (1982) conducted experiments showing that shear velocity velocities for the shale sample EF_PD_4 under all confining pres-
in Pierre shale is a function of water content. The shear velocity of sures are compared in Figs. 12 and 13, respectively. The imbibed
saturated Pierre shale is significantly lower than that of dry sam- water significantly decreases P- and S-wave velocity under all
ples. Japsen at al. (2002) investigated shear modulus in dry and confining pressures, with a decrease of 3% in P-wave velocity
wet chalk plugs from the North Sea, and concluded that the shear and 9% in S-wave velocity, respectively. The impact of the ele-
moduli for the dry samples are 0.5 GPa higher than those for satu- vated water content on bulk modulus and shear modulus for the
rated samples. Similar results were obtained by Assefa et al. same samples is compared in Figs. 14 and 15. The bulk modulus
(2003) with limestone samples, who concluded that the predicted increases 8%, whereas the shear modulus decreases 12% as the
Biot-Gassmann velocity values are greater than the measured ve- water content (wt%) changes from 0.9 to 4.5%. The impact of
locity values caused by rock/fluid interaction. water content on shear modulus is more significant than on bulk

4.8 3.0

4.5
2.7

4.2
Vs (km/s)
Vp (km/s)

3.9 2.4

3.6
2.1

3.3
Blue-EF_PD_Dry Blue-EF_PD_Dry
Pink-EF_PL_Dry Pink-EF_PL_Dry
3.0 1.8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Confining Pressure (MPa) Confining Pressure (MPa)

Fig. 8—vp vs. confining pressure in dry conditions. Fig. 9—vs vs. confining pressure in dry conditions.

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5.0 3.0

4.5
2.5

4.0
Vp (km/s)

Vs (km/s)
3.5 2.0

3.0
1.5

2.5
Blue-EF_PD_W et Blue-EF_PD_Wet
Pink-EF_PL_W et Pink-EF_PL_Wet
2.0 1.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Confining Pressure (MPa) Confining Pressure (MPa)

Fig. 10—vp vs. confining pressure in wet conditions. Fig. 11—vs vs. confining pressure in wet conditions.

Table 5—Water content of EF_PD and EF_PL samples.

modulus. In addition, the imbibed water makes the shale softer.
The comparison of Poisson’s ratio for the sample is shown in
Fig. 16, which illustrates that the water content significantly in-
creases Poisson’s ratio, by 42%. Similar trends are observed for all
the samples tested in this work. Because there are only two water-
content conditions available at this stage, the exact functional de-
pendence of the elastic constants on water content is not yet clear.
TOC Effects. TOC and its maturity have a significant impact on
petrophysical properties of shale, especially on the seismic veloc-
ity and acoustic anisotropy. The most obvious is the influence it
has on the bulk and shear moduli of the rock matrix. In addition,
mineralogy controls the cementation and pore structure of the
rock. On the other hand, the seismic and acoustic (kHz) velocities
can be potentially used as indicators for remote detection of or-
ganic-rich shales, assessing their maturity, locating potential gas/
oil migration pathways, and identification of natural fractures
(Vernik and Nur 1992; Vernik and Landis 1996). Vernik and Liu
(1997) conducted a comprehensive investigation of the impact of
kerogen on acoustic velocities with variable clay content in shales
from the Bakken, Bazhenov, Monterey, Niobrara, and the North
Sea. The results showed that the compressional acoustic velocity

4.0 2.6
Vp _Dry Vs _Dry
Vp _Wet Vs _Wet

3.8 2.4

3.6 2.2
Vp (km/s)

Vs (km/s)

3.4 2.0

3.2 1.8

3.0 1.6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Confining Pressure (MPa) Confining Pressure (MPa)

Fig. 12—Water-content effects on vp for sample EF_PD_4. Fig. 13—Water-content effects on vs for sample EF_PD_4.

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20 14

18 12

Shear Modulus (GPa)

Bulk Modulus (GPa)

16 10

8
14

6
12
Shear modulus_Dry
Bulk modulus_Dry Shear modulus_Wet
Bulk modulus_Wet 4
10 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Confining Pressure (MPa)
Confining Pressure (MPa)
Fig. 15—Water-content effects on G for sample EF_PD_4.
Fig. 14—Water-content effects on K for sample EF_PD_4.

0.28 4.0
Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa
3.9
0.24

3.8
Poisson's Ratio

0.20

Vp (km/s) 3.7
0.16

3.6

0.12
y = –0.0861x + 4.2217
3.5 2
Poisson's ratio_Dry R = 0.95
Poisson's ratio_Wet
0.08
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 3.4
3 4 5 6 7 8
Confining Pressure (MPa)
TOC (wt%)
Fig. 16—Water-content effects on Poisson’s ratio for sample
EF_PD_4. Fig. 17—TOC vs. vp for EF_PD samples.

decreased significantly as TOC increased for shales of both high low. The clay content ranges from 3.4% (wt%) to 8.7%, with a me-
and low clay content. Similar results were observed by Zargari dian value of 5.23%. The TOC content ranges from 2.1 to 6.9%.
et al. (2011). P- and S-wave velocities as a function of TOC are plotted in
The mineralogy was assessed with XRD, and TOC is analyzed Figs. 17 and 18. Curve fitting showed that both P- and S-wave
by a TOC analyzer. The weight percentage of each component is velocities decrease linearly with increasing TOC, and the relation-
shown as Table 1. As one can see from Table 1, the EF samples ships of ultrasonic velocities and TOC are expressed by Eqs. 9
tested are very clean. The overall concentration of clay and TOC is and 10. Relationships of elastic constants with TOC indicate that
Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and bulk modulus vary inver-
2.5
sely with TOC (Figs. 19, 20, and 21), but Poisson’s ratio does not
Cp: 20.7 MPa correlate with TOC for these samples (Fig. 22). The experimental
Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa
observations agree with those obtained by Vernik and Liu (1997):
2.4
vp ¼ 0:0861  TOC þ 4:2217 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð9Þ

2.3
vs ¼ 0:0528  TOC þ 2:26225: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð10Þ
Vs (km/s)

Clay-Content Effects. Shales are the most-abundant sedimentary

2.2 rock on Earth, and clays are a significant constituent of shales.
Clay content can affect porosity, which, in turn, affects seismic
y = –0.0528x + 2.6225
2
velocity (Pirmez et al. 1997). Erickson and Jarrard (1998) deter-
R = 0.95 mined that clay content has no direct influence in high-porosity
2.1
sediments. But for organic-rich shale, which has extremely low
permeability and low porosity, clay is an important component
2.0 that has a significant impact on shale’s petrophysical properties.
3 4 5 6 7 8
Tosaya and Nur (1982) concluded that pore-lining clays can con-
TOC (wt%) siderably alter seismic properties of shale.
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminum silicates and are classi-
Fig. 18—TOC vs. vs for EF_PD samples. fied as phyllosilicates or layer silicates. Clay minerals most often

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32 14
Cp: 20.7 MPa Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa Cp: 34.5 MPa
30 13
Young's Modulus (GPa)

Shear Modulus (GPa)

28 12

26 11

24 10

22 9
3 4 5 6 7 8 3 4 5 6 7 8

TOC (wt%) TOC (wt%)

Fig. 19—TOC vs. E for EF_PD samples. Fig. 20—TOC vs. G for EF_PD samples.

20 0.22
Cp: 20.7 MPa Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa Cp: 27.6 MPa
0.21 Cp: 34.5 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa
18
0.20
Bulk Modulus (GPa)

16 0.19
Poisson's Ratio

0.18
14

0.17

12
0.16

0.15
10 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8

TOC (wt%) TOC (wt%)

Fig. 21—TOC vs. K for EF_PD samples. Fig. 22—TOC vs. Poisson’s ratio for EF_PD samples.

found in shales include kaolinite, illite, smectite, and chlorite.
Those that can have the largest impact on elastic moduli are those
that expand their structures as water enters the interlayer, mainly
those associated with the smectite group. Together, as a bulk com-
posite, they can have a significant effect on elastic properties.
This was seen in studies of expandable clays that show a large
variation in elastic moduli (Bathija et al. 2008). Therefore, it is
4.0
3.8
3.6
Vp (km/s)
essential to understand the clay effects on elastic properties of
clay-bearing shales.
Previous research conducted to study the clay effects on me-
chanical properties of rocks (e.g., Minear 1982) concluded that
clay can significantly reduce elastic modulus and velocities of
sandstones. Tosaya and Nur (1982) observed that increasing clay
content decreased both seismic velocities in both sandstones and
shales. Kumar et al. (2012) tested Woodford, Barnett, Hynesville,
and Eagle Ford shale, and pointed out that Young’s modulus
decreased with total clay content. Similar conclusion was reached
by Akrad et al. (2011).
In this study, both P- and S-wave velocities are inversely pro-
portional to clay content (Figs. 23 and 24). Eqs. 11 and 12 indicate
the nonlinear relationships between ultrasonic velocities and clay
content, which agrees with the conclusion drawn by Yin et al.
(1993). Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and bulk modulus

decrease with increasing clay content (Figs. 25, 26, and 27). Our
results are consistent with the conclusion of Sone and Zoback
3.4
2
y = –0.093x + 0.942x + 1.522 (2013) that static and dynamic elastic parameters generally decrease
2
R = 0.95 monotonically with the clay plus kerogen content. Poisson’s ratio
exhibits no correlation with clay content (Fig. 28). The reason may
3.2 Cp: 20.7 MPa be that the range of clay content of the tested samples is narrow,
Cp: 27.6 MPa which is from 3.4 to 8.7%. Therefore, the correlation of Poisson’s
Cp: 34.5 MPa ratio and clay content is not clear on the basis of our data:
3.0
4 5 6 7 8
Clay Content (%)
vp ¼ 0:093  ðClayÞ2 þ 0:942  ðClayÞ þ 1:522 . . . ð11Þ

Fig. 23—Clay content vs. vp for EF_PD samples.

vs ¼ 0:054  ðClayÞ2 þ 0:550  ðClayÞ þ 1:026: . . . ð12Þ

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2.5 32

30
2.4

Young's Modulus (GPa)

28

2.3
Vs (km/s)

26

2.2
24
2
y = –0.054x + 0.55x + 1.026
2 Cp: 20.7 MPa
2.1 R = 0.95 22
Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa Cp: 34.5 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa 20
4 5 6 7 8
2.0
4 5 6 7 8 Clay Content (%)
Clay Content (%)
Fig. 25—Clay content vs. E for EF_PD samples.
Fig. 24—Clay content vs. vs for EF_PD samples.

14 17

13 16
Shear Modulus (GPa)

Bulk Modulus (GPa)

12 15

11 14

10 13
Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa
9 12
4 5 6 7 8 4 5 6 7 8

Clay Content (%) Clay Content (%)

Fig. 26—Clay content vs. G for EF_PD samples. Fig. 27—Clay content vs. K for EF_PD samples.

Water-Weakening Mechanisms
Previous work and our experimental results show that induced
water tends to make the rock softer and weaker. The influence of
water content on rock-mechanical properties has been studied for
a long time. Generally speaking, imbibed water weakens rock-
mechanical properties (i.e., the rock becomes weaker and softer),
with a few exceptions (Lu et al. 2007). Thus, researchers name
this effect the “water-weakening effect”. Water weakening was
studied for decades on various rocks, including sandstones,
0.22
0.20
Poisson's Ratio
chalks, carbonates, and shales. However, quantifying this effect
and quantitatively describing the weakening mechanisms still
remain challenging. Three potentially major weakening mecha-
nisms are chemical effects, water/clay interaction, and capillary
pressure increase.
Chemical Effects. The mineral of the rock framework can react
chemically with pore fluid. For example, when vitreous silica is
exposed to water, its strength is reduced according to some studies
(Anderson and Grew 1977; Newman 1983). Newman (1983) stud-
ies chalk samples from North Sea, and he concluded that the com-
paction behavior of the chalks is dependent on the water chemistry
of the saturating fluid. The weakening of chalks by water increases
the compressibility values to four to eight times the oil-saturated
values. On the other hand, at reservoir conditions, the in-situ
stresses and high temperature enhance the solubility of calcite in

0.18 water (Hellmann et al. 2002; Korsnes et al. 2006b).

Chemical reactions in the reservoir involved interactions
between the rock skeleton and water and between cementation
0.16
minerals and water. One of the most common chemical reactions
is the dissolution of cementing material, which is described by
0.14 their action (Eq. 13):
Cp: 20.7 MPa
Cp: 27.6 MPa
Cp: 34.5 MPa
½Si þ O þ Si þ H2 O ! 2½SiOH: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð13Þ
0.12
4 5 6 7 8
The -Si-O-Si- bridges break up into two silanol groups: -Si-
Clay Content (%) OH and OH-Si-. In such a hydrolyzed bridge, the hydrogen bond
is weaker by an order of magnitude than the Si-O bond, and this is
Fig. 28—Clay content vs. Poisson’s ratio for EF_PD samples. believed to be the source of the hydrolytic weakening.

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Fig. 29—Atomistic model of the one-layer hydrate of sodium
montmorillonite (Hensen and Smit 2002).
Another chemical effect that causes the rock-strength weaken-
ing is the exchanging cations between rock grain and water at the
intergranular contact. One can demonstrate this by seawater low-
ering chalk strength. Laboratory tests show that Mg2þ from the
chalk surface can be substituted by Ca2þ present in seawater
(Newman 1983; Korsnes et al. 2006a, b).
Water/Clay Interaction (Clay Swelling). Clay minerals are rel-
atively small and have large reactive surface areas. In the pres-
ence of water, clays with expandable layers such as smectites will
expand. The clay swelling occurs in two discrete steps: crystalline
and osmotic swelling (Anderson et al. 2010). Crystalline swelling,
a process by which initially dry expansive clay minerals interca-
late one, two, three, or four discrete layers of water between the
mineral interlayers (Norrish 1954), includes intracrystalline swel-
ling and intercrystalline, in which interparticle swelling can occur
in any type of clay deposit regardless of its mineralogy (Norrish
1954; Ng and Menzies 2007). Crystalline swelling is driven pri-
marily by the energy associated with the hydration of exchange-
able interlayer cations and attraction associated with the solid/
liquid interactions occurring in the immediate vicinity of the clay-
particle surfaces. The size and charge of the hydrated sphere of
the exchangeable cations such Ca2þ or Naþ that enter the inter-
layer will determine the amount of expandability. Fig. 29 shows
the atomistic model of the one-layer hydrate of sodium montmo-
rillonite (Hensen and Smit 2002). The intrusion of the interlayer
clay water causes additional deformation of the clay and induces
an “internal swelling stress” (Liu and Rutqvist 2010). In this case,
the effective stress acting on the rock matrix will be
re ¼ rt  aP  rI ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð14Þ
where re is the effective stress, rt is the total stress that acts on
the rock matrix, a is the Biot constant, P is pore pressure, and rI
is the internal swelling stress. rI is positive for matrix swelling
and negative for matrix shrinkage.
R2
R1
b Decrease
d
Fig. 31—Liquid bridge between two particles.
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Shear Stress
Failure envelope
Failure points
Increase in swelling stress Original stable state
Normal Stress
Fig. 30—Mohr-Coulomb circle caused by increasing clay-swel-
ling stress.
Because the effective stress in the rock matrix decreases as a
result of the increasing clay-swelling stress, the local stress state
will change. A conceptual schematic graph showing the Mohr-
Coulomb circle of the local stress change is shown in Fig. 30.
Shale is highly heterogeneous sedimentary rock; weak points
within the shale (including cementation between clay and other
minerals) might experience mechanical failures. Hence, micro-
cracks, which are defined as small (say, ten times of the rock grain
size) are created. The newly created microcrack will significantly
lower the overall mechanical properties of the clay-bearing rock.
Surface Tension and Capillary Pressure Effects. Liquid-
induced cohesion in granualar media can be illustrated as a liquid
bridge between two identical particles, as shown in Fig. 30. The
attraction force (F), known as capillary force and/or the bonding
force, is the sum of surface tension and capillary pressure, which
is shown as Eq. 15 (Mason and Clark 1965; Groger et al. 2003):
F ¼ 2pbr þ pb2 Pc ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð15Þ
where b is the radius of the liquid bridge, r is the surface tension,
and Pc is the capillary pressure.
As shown in Eq. 15 and Fig. 31, when water content increases,
R1 increases to R2, and thus, capillary pressure decreases. As a
result, the bonding force deceases. It is well-accepted that rock
cohesion increases with capillary pressure and decreases with
the saturation degree (Grgic et al. 2005). As a result, the failure
envelope moves downward, increasing the risk of rock failure
(Fig. 32). Mathematical models account for variations, and behav-
ior of rock strength resulting from capillary force was studied by
Han (2003). He concluded that capillary-induced strength, such as
unconfined compressive strength or tensile strength resulting from
capillary cohesive force, can decrease quickly with water satura-
tion, from several kPa to near zero with only a 5% change of
water saturation.
Discussion. As one can see from the XRD results in Table 1, the
clay minerals are mainly 2:1 dioctohedral clays, including musco-
vite, illite, smectitic clay, and kaolinite. A small portion of the
strength reduction might be caused by crystalline swelling in clay.
Shear Stress
Failure envelope
capillary
pressure
Failure points
Normal Stress
Fig. 32—Failure envelope moves downward caused by capillary
pressure decreases.
April 2016 SPE Journal
 J175040 DOI: 10.2118/175040-PA Date: 29-March-16
Chemical reaction might also happen in shale because extra water
was introduced to the sample. The dissolution of cementing mate-
rials between layering in shale matrix might be another reason
that leads to the strength reduction.
In shale, the pores and pore throats are extremely small, and,
thus, the capillary pressure can be extremely high. Small changes
of water content can lead to dramatically changing capillary pres-
sure. On the basis of Eq. 11, the bonding force will change dra-
matically accordingly. Therefore, capillary pressure might be an
important mechanism that causes water-weakening effect in
shales that contain no significant swelling clay.
Conclusions
Ultrasonic-velocity measurements were performed in seven per-
pendicular to bedding and eight parallel-to-bedding Eagle Ford
shale samples. The effect of confining pressure, lamination (bed-
ding planes), mineralogy, TOC, and water content on the mechan-
ical properties of the organic-rich shale samples was investigated.
Mechanisms that cause water weakening were discussed. The ex-
perimental results and discussions show
(1) Acoustic velocities are confining-pressure-dependent. Both P-
and S-wave velocities increase as confining pressure
increases. The reason might be related to fracture closure.
Confining pressure and elastic constants have positive rela-
tionships. When confining pressure is less than 15 MPa, the
effects of confining pressure are more significant than at
higher confining pressure, greater than 15 MPa.
(2) Shales often are laminated. The bedding-plane orientation can
highly affect the anisotropic behavior as well as petrophysical
properties. At the same confining pressure, velocities of sam-
ples parallel to bedding are higher than those perpendicular to
the bedding in both dry and wet conditions.
(3) Increasing water content decreases both compressional- and
shear-wave velocities. The impact of water content on shear
velocities is multiple times larger than on compressional
velocities. Dynamic Young’s modulus and shear modulus
decrease with increase of water content. Poisson’s ratio exhib-
its positive relationship with water content.
(4) The water content significantly decreases both P- and S-wave
velocities at all confining pressures. As a result, water content
lowers both Young’s modulus and shear modulus, which is in
contradistinction to the Gassmann’s equation prediction for
fluid effects on shear modulus. In addition, water content sig-
nificantly increases Poisson’s ratio, up to 40% (i.e., induced
water can make the shale softer).
(5) TOC and clay have significant effects on petrophysical prop-
erties of shale. Both P- and S-wave velocities decrease with
increasing of TOC and clay content. Young’s modulus, shear
modulus, and bulk modulus vary inversely with TOC and
clay. Poisson’s ratio does not correlate with TOC or clay con-
tent for these test samples.
(6) Water weakening is a complex process. The mechanisms that
lead to water weakening might be combined results of clay/
water interaction, chemical reaction, and capillary pressure/
confining-pressure changes. On the basis of the compositional
analysis, capillary pressure might be the lead reason.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Aramco Service Company for support
and permission to publish this paper. The authors appreciate Hui-
hai Liu for technical insights and Gary Eppler and Qiushi Sun in
the Aramco Services Company Houston research center for the
experimental work.
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Bitao Lai is a petroleum engineer at Aramco Services Com-
pany. Her research interests include geomechanics, rock
mechanics, and fluid flow in unconventional reservoirs. Lai has
authored or coauthored more than 15 technical papers and
holds multiple patents. She holds a PhD degree in petroleum
engineering from Colorado School of Mines. Lai is a member
of SPE.
Hui Li is a PhD student at University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Her
research interests include geomechanics of unconventional
reservoirs and reservoir simulation. Before this, Li was a petro-
leum engineer in China National Petroleum Corporation from
2010 to 2013. She holds an MS degree in petroleum engineer-
ing from China University of Petroleum, Beijing, and a BS
degree from Northeast Petroleum University, China.
Jilin Zhang is a petroleum engineer at the Aramco Research
Center, Houston. Before this, he was a petrophysical consultant
April 2016 SPE Journal
 J175040 DOI: 10.2118/175040-PA Date: 29-March-16
in Formation and Reservoir Services at Halliburton, a petrophysi-
cist/senior geoscientist at Baker Hughes, a manager of geology
with Ellington & Associates, and a petrographer with OMNI Lab-
oratories, and he held several positions in China from 1985 to
1994. Zhang earned an MS degree in geology from the Univer-
sity of Houston, majoring in carbonate petrography and dia-
genesis, and holds an MS degree in marine geology from
China Ocean University, focusing on modern sedimentation of
clastic rocks. His expertise is in mineralogy in general and petro-
physics in shale and carbonate rocks.
David J. Jacobi is currently employed as a geological special-
ist/geochemist at Aramco Services as a member of the Reser-
voir Engineering Team at Houston Research Center. Previously,
he was employed with the technology and research groups
of Baker Hughes, Chesapeake Energy, and ConocoPhillips.
Jacobi’s current research interests involve the integration
of inorganic and organic geochemistry with reservoir engi-
neering to optimize the characterization of source-rock reser-
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voirs. He has been an author or coauthor of numerous
publications and has been awarded patents for various appli-
cations in the petroleum industry. Jacobi holds a BS degree in
geology from Midwestern State University and an MS degree
in geology/geochemistry from Texas Tech University.
Daniel Georgi is the Reservoir Engineering Technology Team
lead at the Aramco Research Center, Houston. Before joining
Aramco Services Company, he was the first Baker Hughes Fel-
low and the vice president of the Baker Hughes Regional
Technology Centers. Previously, Georgi was the Director of
Strategic Technology and Advanced Research at the Inteq/
Baker Atlas Houston Technology Center. He has been involved
with tool development, interpretation development, core-log
integration, and reservoir evaluation of conventional, frac-
tured, and heavy-oil reservoirs. Georgi has authored or coau-
thored more than 100 papers and is inventor or coinventor on
more than 30 patents. He holds a PhD degree in earth scien-
ces from Columbia University.
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