FOUR SCENARIOS

We now consider four scenarios of progressively greater complexity. For the first pair we assume the mineral K_m and drained K_d bulk moduli of all layers are uniform, and therefore that the effective stress coefficient ($\alpha = 1 - K_d/K_m$)is the same in each layer. Furthermore, the overall volume effective stress coefficient is also the same [a fact that follows from (20)]. Although specific in many respects, this model still permits some flexibility in the choice of pore fluids and their spatial distribution. The other main freedom we have left is to assume that each layer's shear modulus is as sensitive or more sensitive than its bulk modulus to irregularities in the pore space (Makse et al., 1999). So, the shear modulus can vary significantly from layer to layer, which will be important to our main discussion. The second pair of scenarios allow the bulk modulus to vary in the layers, and again study both uniform and patchy pore-fluid saturation.

 

• Constant Drained Bulk Modulus, Uniform Fluid Saturation
• Constant Drained Bulk Modulus, Patchy Fluid Saturation
• Two Distinct Gassmann Materials, Uniform Fluid Saturation
• Two Distinct Gassmann Materials, Patchy Fluid Saturation