The Effective Elastic Properties for Transversely Isotropic Rocks with Randomly Orienting Inclined Penny-Shaped Cracks

Summary Cracks have significant influences on the elastic properties of reservoir rocks, and the effects of crack properties (e.g., crack density, crack aspect ratio and crack orientation) on the elastic properties of rocks have always been the focus of petrophysics and seismic exploration. However, key to the accurate characterization of fractured reservoir is the development of rock physics models that better simulate real fractured reservoirs. Current models are not applicable to rocks with randomly orienting inclined cracks even though such conditions are frequently encountered in the Earth. We derive the theoretical models and simulate the elastic properties of fractured rocks with transversely isotropic background permeated by 3D inclined cracks and randomly orienting cracks, to demonstrate how the elastic properties of fractured rocks are affected by the properties of randomly orienting inclined cracks. The observed petrophysical models and the correlated crack properties and elastic properties have both theoretical and practical implications for insights into the effects of randomly orienting cracks on the fractured rocks and for inverting the crack properties of the fractured reservoirs. This will pave the way for the successful prediction of the elastic properties for rocks with TI background permeated by randomly orienting cracks.