Effects of porosity, orientation and connectivity of microcracks on dispersion and attenuation of fluid-saturated rocks using an upscaling numerical modelling of the squirt flow mechanism

Squirt flow is a wave-induced fluid flow mechanism to account for the velocity dispersion and attenuation of fluid-saturated porous media. Theoretical models of squirt flow cannot deal with complex microcrack-pore networks and thus cannot give accurate dispersion and attenuation curves with respect to frequency. We adopt a numerical oscillatory compressibility test method, based on the quasi-static poroelastic equation of Biot, to model the squirt flow and calculate corresponding P-wave modulus dispersion and attenuation. We also designed nine porous medium models containing different crack-pore configurations and investigated the effects of microcrack porosity, orientation and connectivity on the elastic responses. Modelling results show that not only microcrack porosity but also their orientation has control on the magnitude of the P-wave modulus dispersion and attenuation. Preferentially aligned microcracks may cause frequency-dependent anisotropy in the P-wave modulus and attenuation. Microcrack connectivity has a negligible influence on the dispersion and attenuation magnitude but a large influence on the characteristic frequency of the squirt flow, which is not predicted by theoretical models based on simple representative element volume of crack-pore structure. Therefore, detailed geometry of crack-pore network, of which microcrack porosity, orientation, aspect ratio and connectivity are vital factors, dictates the unique variations in the elastic modulus and associated attenuation with frequency caused by the squirt flow. Pore structure obtained by CT scanning representative of that of the whole rock is needed to obtain more accurate poroelastic responses of the rock with the numerical oscillatory compressibility test method. In this regard, we provide a powerful tool for evaluating dispersion and attenuation of fluid-saturated rock media with complex crack-pore structure, which have potential applications in seismic exploration of hydrocarbon in the subsurface.