The investigation of multiple factors on elastic anisotropy of artificial shale based on the orthogonal experiment

Elastic anisotropy of shales is critical to accurate constraints for rock physical models,quantitative interpretation and hydraulic fracturing.However,the causes of elastic anisotropy of shales are very complicated,and the understanding of how multiple influence factors affect the elastic anisotropy of shales is still not clear.Hence,the orthogonal experiment,as an effective multiple factors experimental method,is adopted in this study to analyze the effect of multiple factors for shale elastic anisotropy.Three factors,clay content,organic matter(OM)content and compaction stress are selected as independent variables,the orthogonal test table L_(16)(4^(3))with four levels for each factor is adopted.According to the designed orthogonal table,sixteen artificial shales are constructed based on the cold-pressing method,and all the dry artificial shales are measured by the ultrasonic measurements.The influence of each factor on the elastic anisotropy and the sensitivity orders of three factors are obtained using the range analysis.The orders of sensitivity for selected factors follow the sequence clay content>compaction stress>OM content for velocity anisotropy parameters.The compaction mechanism of artificial shales is also discussed by the compaction factor,which are positively correlated with the velocity anisotropy parameters.The clay platelets orientation distribution function(ODF)of samples is evaluated by a theoretical model,the ODF coefficients are significantly affected by the clay content and compaction stress,and W200 are much more sensitive to these factors than W400.The results can provide a critical rock physics basis for quantitative interpretation and reservoir prediction of the low-maturity or maturity shale reservoir.

High-pressure elastic anisotropy and superconductivity of hafnium:A first-principles calculation

The elastic anisotropy and superconductivity upon hydrostatic compression ofα,ω,and β Hf are investigated using first-principle methods.The results of elastic anisotropies show that they increase with increasing pressure for α and ω phases,while decrease upon compression forβphase.The calculated superconducting transition temperatures are in excellent agreement with experiments.Electron-phonon coupling constants(λ)are increasing with pressure for α and ω phases,while decreasing for β phase.For β phase,the large values ofλare mainly due to the obvious TA1 soft mode.Under further compression,the TA1 soft vibrational mode will disappear gradually.

Laboratory insights into the effects of methane hydrate on the anisotropic joint elastic-electrical properties in fractured sandstones

Fractured hydrate-bearing reservoirs show significantly anisotropic geophysical properties. The joint application of seismic and electromagnetic explorations is expected to accurately assess hydrate resources in the fractured reservoirs. However, the anisotropic joint elastic-electrical properties in such reservoirs that are the key to the successful application of the joint explorations, remain poorly understood. To obtain such knowledge, we designed and implemented dedicated laboratory experiments to study the anisotropic joint elastic-electrical properties in fractured artificial silica sandstones (with fracture density of about 6.2%, porosity of approximately 25.7%, and mean grainsize of 0.089 mm) with evolving methane hydrate. The experimental results showed that the anisotropic compressional wave velocities respectively increased and decreased with the forming and dissociating hydrate, and the variation in the increasing trend and the decreasing extent of the velocity perpendicular to the fractures were more significant than that parallel to the fractures, respectively. The experimental results also showed that the overall decreasing trend of the electrical conductivity parallel to the fractures was steeper than that perpendicular to the fractures during hydrate formation, and the general variations of the two conductivities with complex trend were similar during hydrate dissociation. The variations in the elastic and electrical anisotropic parameters with forming and dissociating hydrate were also found to be distinct. Interpretation of the experimental results suggested that the hydrate binding to the grains evolved to bridge the surfaces of fractures when saturation exceeded 10% during hydrate formation, and the bridging hydrate gradually evolved to floating in fractures during dissociation. The experimental results further showed that the anisotropic velocities and electrical conductivities were correlated with approximately consistent trends of different slopes during hydrate formation, and the joint elastic-electrical anisotropic parameters exhibited a sharp peak at the hydrate saturation of about 10%. The results suggested that the anisotropic joint properties can be employed not only to accurately estimate hydrate saturation but also possibly to identify hydrate distribution in the fractures.

Influence of bedding structure on stress-induced elastic wave anisotropy in tight sandstones

To understand the evolution of stress-induced elastic wave anisotropy,three triaxial experiments were performed on sandstone specimens with bedding orientations parallel,perpendicular,and oblique to the maximum principal stress.P-wave velocities along 64 different directions on each specimen were monitored frequently to understand the anisotropy change at various stress levels by fitting Thomsen’s anisotropy equation.The results show that the elastic wave anisotropy is very sensitive to mechanical loading.Under hydrostatic loading,the magnitude of anisotropy is reduced in all three specimens.However,under deviatoric stress loading,the evolution of anisotropic characteristics(magnitude and orientation of the symmetry axis)is bedding orientation dependent.Anisotropy reversal occurs in specimens with bedding normal/oblique to the maximum principal stress.P-wave anisotropyε0 is linearly related to volumetric strain Sv and dilatancy,indicating that stress-induced redistribution of microcracks has a significant effect on P-wave velocity anisotropy.The closure of initial cracks and pores aligned in the bedding direction contributes to the decrease of the anisotropy.However,opening of new cracks,aligned in the maximum principal direction,accounts for the increase of the anisotropy.The experimental results provide some insights into the microstructural behavior under loading and provide an experimental basis for seismic data interpretation and parameter selection in engineering applications.

A first-principles study of the structural and elastic properties of orthorhombic and tetragonal Ca_3Mn_2O_7

The structural and elastic properties of multiferroic Ca3Mn2O7 with ferroelectric orthorhombic(O-phase) and paraelectric tetragonal structures(T-phase) have been studied by first-principles calculations within the generalized gradient approximation(GGA) and the GGA plus Hubbard U approaches(GGA+U).The calculated theoretical structures are in good agreement with the experimental values.The T-phase is found to be antiferromagnetic(AFM) and the AFM O-phase is more stable than the T-phase,which also agree with the experiments.On these bases,the single-crystal elastic constants(Cij s) and elastic properties of polycrystalline aggregates are investigated for the two phases.Our elasticity calculations indicate Ca3Mn2O7 is mechanically stable against volume expansions.The AFM O-phase is found to be a ductile material,while the AFM T-phase shows brittle nature and tends to be elastically isotropic.We also investigate the influence of strong correlation effects on the elastic properties,qualitatively consistent results are obtained in a reasonable range of values of U.Finally,the ionicity is discussed by Bader analysis.Our work provides useful guidance for the experimental elasticity measurements of Ca3Mn2O7,and makes the strain energy calculation in multiferroic Ca3Mn2O7 thin films possible.

A new direct band gap silicon allotropeο-Si32

Silicon is a preferred material in solar cells,and most of silicon allotropes have an indirect band gap.Therefore,it is important to find new direct band gap silicon.In the present work,a new direct band gap silicon allotrope of o-Si32 is discovered.The elastic constants,elastic anisotropy,phonon spectra,and electronic structure of o-Si32 are obtained using first-principles calculations.The results show that o-Si32 is mechanically and dynamically stable and is a direct semiconductor material with a band gap of 1.261 e V.

Tuning thermal expansion by a continuing atomic rearrangement mechanism in a multifunctional titanium alloy

As to multifunctional titanium alloys with high strength and low elastic modulus, thermal training is crucial to tune their thermal expansion from positive to negative, resulting in a novel linear expansion which is stable in a wide temperature range. Aided by the high-order Hooke's law of elastic solids,a reversible atomic rearrangement mechanism was proposed to explain the novel findings which are unexpected from typical shape memory alloys. To confirm this continuous mechanism, a Ti-Nb based alloy, which possesses a nanoscale spongy microstructure consisting of the interpenetrated Nb-rich and Nb-lean domains produced by spinodal decomposition, was used to trace the crystal structure change by in-situ high energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction analyses. By increasing exposure time, the overlapped diffraction peaks can be separated accurately. The calculated results demonstrate that, in the nanoscale Nb-lean domains, the crystal structure parameters vary linearly with changing temperature along the atomic pathway of the bcc-hcp transition. This linear relationship in a wide temperature range is unusual for first-order martensitic shape memory alloys but is common for Invar alloys with high-order spin transitions. Furthermore, the alloy exhibits smooth DSC curves free of transformation-induced heat peaks observed in shape memory alloys, which is consistent with the proposed mechanism that the reversible transition is of high-order.