ISSN:
1365-2478
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Recordings were made with three types of detector of the primary compressional (P) and shear (S) wave pulses generated by explosions in boreholes. Charge weights varied from 0.08 kg to 9.5 kg and detector distances varied from about 3 m to about 80 m. Scaling by the simple factor W1/3 where W is the charge weight, enabled observations from different sized charges to be fitted to a single expression.Experiments were carried out in the Bunter sandstone and the London clay and both fluid and solid tamping were used. This variation in tamping had no significant effect on the P-waves but it may have affected the generation of SV-waves. In both media the P-wave energy carried at 30 m from the shot by frequencies less than 100 Hz decreased rapidly with depth and was usually 1–2 % of the available chemical energy for a shot depth of 15 m. The S-wave energy was much less than this, but was highly directional.The P-wave pulse had the appearance of a damped sinusoid in very good agreement with the predictions of the ‘equivalent radiator’ hypothesis. However, the surface of this radiator should be identified not with the blown cavity but with the surface at which the tensile stresses associated with the stress wave become less than the tensile strength of the rock.The predominant frequency for a 1 kg charge at a depth of 15 m was 24 Hz in the clay and 52 Hz in the sandstone. In these and similar media, therefore, an effort should be made to keep individual charges less than 1 kg in reflection shooting and less than 10 kg in refraction shooting.The value of Q was about 50 in clay and about 25 in the sandstone. These estimates are rather uncertain because of the small distances over which the pulses were observed.The Z-transforms of the sampled pulses indicated that they were all of minimum phase, or very near to it.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2478.1969.tb01992.x
