Propagation and attenuation of P-waves in patchy saturated porous media

We establish a patchy saturation model and derive the seismic wave equations for patchy saturated porous media on the basis of Biot’s equations and Johnson’s bulk modulus. We solve the equations, obtain the attenuation coefficients, and analyze the characteristics of wave attenuation in the seismic frequency range. The results suggest that seismic waves show attenuation and dispersion in partially saturated rocks in the low frequency range. With frequency increasing, attenuation increases. The attenuation of P-waves of the second kind is more pronounced in agreement with Biot’s theory. We also study the effect of porosity, saturation, and inner sphere radius on the attenuation of the P-waves of the first kind and find that attenuation increases with increasing frequency and porosity, and decreases with increasing frequency and degree of saturation. As for the inner sphere radius, wave attenuation is initially increasing with increasing frequency and inner sphere radius less than half the outer radius. Subsequently, wave attenuation decreases with increasing frequency and inner sphere radius is higher than half the outer sphere radius.