3D FEM simulation of responses of LWD multi-mode resistivity imaging sonde

A new multi-mode resistivity imaging sonde, with toroidal coils as source, can conduct three resistivity measurements: azimuthal resistivity, lateral resistivity, and bit resistivity measurements. Thus, the logging time and cost are greatly saved. The toroidal coils are simplified as an extended voltage dipole and the response equations are derived for a homogenous formation. Based on 3D FEM, the depth of investigation(DOI), vertical resolution, circumferential azimuthal capacity, borehole diameter, mud resistivity, thickness of target formation, and the resistivity of the surrounding formation and mud invasion are simulated. The results suggest that the three measurement modes of the new sonde are different in vertical resolutions and DOIs. The circumferential detection ability of the azimuth button depends on the contrast between the anomaly and formation resistivity and the open angle of the anomaly. Whether the borehole is truncated at the bit or not has a great influence on the simulation results. The borehole and mud invasion affect the apparent resistivity in all modes, but the effects of resistivity of surrounding formation and thickness of the target formation are only corrected for lateral resistivity measurement.

Self-adaptive inversion method of electromagnetic-propagation resistivity logging while drilling data

Because of the constraint mode of the inversion objective function in the traditional resistivity-inversion method of electromagnetic-propagation resistivity logging while drilling(EPR-LWD),obvious differences appear in the radial and vertical investigation characteristics between the amplitude-ratio and phase difference,which affect the practical application of EPR-LWD data.In this paper,according to the EPR-LWD data,a self-adaptive constraint resistivity-inversion method,which adopts a self-adaptive constraint weighted expression in the objective function to balance the contributions of the phase difference and amplitude attenuation,is proposed.A particle swarm optimization algorithm is also introduced to eliminate the dependence of the accuracy and convergence on the initial value of the inversion.According to the inversion results of multiple classical formation models for EPR-LWD,the differences between the adaptive constraint inversion-resistivity logs with the traditional amplitude-ratio and the phase difference of the resistivity logs are discussed in detail.The results demonstrate that the adaptive resistivity logs take into account the advantages of the amplitude-ratio logs in the radial investigation and phase difference logs in the vertical resolution.Further,it is superior in thin-layer identification and invasion-effect appraisal compared with the single-amplitude-ratio and phase difference logs.The inversion results can provide a theoretical reference for research on the resistivity-inversion method of electromagnetic wave LWD.