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Compressibility of Porous Rocks

Article in Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · November 1986

DOI: 10.1029/JB091iB12p12765

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 JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 91, NO. B12, PAGES 12,765-12,777, NOVEMBER 10, 1986

Compressibility of Porous Rocks

ROBERT
W. ZIMMERMAN,
WILBURH. SOMERTON,
ANDMICHAELS. KING1

PetroleumEngineeringLaboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering,University of California, Berkeley

Four compressibilitiesare defined for porous rock, relating changesin the bulk and pore volumes to
changesin the pore and confining pressures.Using a micromechanical theory based on classicallinear
elasticity, three relations are found between these compressibilities.Two of these relations are verified
experimentally for Berea and Bandera sandstone.Bounds are derived for these compressibilities,involv-
ing only the porosity and the elasticmoduli of the rock-forming minerals. For the strains to be unique
functions of the stressesthe compressibilitiesmust be functions only of the difference between the
confining and pore pressures.This dependenceis verified for Berea, Bandera, and Boise sandstone.While
the strains cannot be expressedas functions of an "effective stress,"regardlessof how it is defined, the
(elastic) volumetric behavior of porous rocks can be studied through tests conducted at zero pore
pressure.

INTRODUCTION the confining pressure and pore pressure that will govern the
There are four different compressibilitiesthat can be associ- deformation of the rock; this has the effect of reducing the
ated with a porous rock, each of which relates changesin number of pressure variables from two to one. If the volu-
eithertheporevolumeV• or thebulkvolumeV0to changesin metricstrains% and % are definedto be equal to the frac-
eithertheporepressure
Pt,or theconfining Pc.Using tional changes in bulk and pore volumes, respectively, then
pressure
a notation in which the first subscriptindicatesthe relevant the effective stress concept can be stated in its most general
form as
volumechangeand the secondsubscriptindicatesthat pres-
sure which is varied, thesecompressibilitiescan be defined as
follows:
deo
-- Vb
i -- Coc(Pc
--moPt,)[dPc
- no
dPt,] (5)
det,
=dVq
= -Ct,c(Pc
_ mt,pt,)[dp
c_ nt,
dPt,] (6)
where the superscripti refers to the initial, stress-freevalues of
the volumes. The compressibilities are assumed to depend on
1(•h (3) some effectivestress(Pc- mPt,),wherethe m factorsare often
referred to as the effective stress coefficients. The n factors,
which expressthe effect that pore pressure has relative to the
1 effect of confining pressure,are also called effective stresscoef-
CPe
=• •Je• (4) ficients. When this concept has been used in the past, a clear
distinction between the different effective stresses has not usu-
The first two of thesecompressibilities,
Co•and Coy,are each
referred to as bulk compressibilities, since they involve ally been made; one purpose of this paper is to clarify this
issue.
changesin the bulk volume of the rock, which is the volume
that would be measuredmacroscopicallyif the porosity of the REVIEW OF PAST WORK
rock were ignored.The other two compressibilities,
Cw and
Terzaghi [1936] was the first to recognize that the pore
Cvv,are porecompressibilities
and express
the effectof pres-
sure variations on the volume of void space contained in the fluid pressure plays an important role in rock or soil defor-
rock. In general, the stress-strainbehavior of porous rocks is mation. Experiments with sand, clay, and concrete led him to
nonlinear, and each of these compressibilitieswill be a func- the conclusion that only the difference between the confining
tion of both the pore and confining pressures,as well as other pressureand the pore pressurewas "effective"in changing the
parameterssuchas the temperature.The definitionsof the two bulk volume, or in influencing failure conditions. These results
were in contrast to the conclusion he had derived theoreti-
compressibilitiesinvolving changesin confining pressurecon-
tain minus signs, to ensure that the numerical values of all cally, which was that the "effective stress" should be (Pc
four compressibilitieswill be positive. -4•P.t,), where 4• is the porosity.Terzaghi'sempiricalex-
As it is often not practical to measureall four of these pressionfor the effectivestress,involving only the simple dif-
compressibilitiesfor each type of rock at all pressuresof in- ference between the confining and pore pressures,turns out to
terest, it is desirable to have some method of correlating the be very nearly correct for unconsolidated or highly cracked
different compressibility values to each other. One concept materials, but it is not true as a general rule for all porous
which has been widely used for this purpose is that of "ef- media. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed a priori that the
"effective stress" for failure will be the same as that for elastic
fective stress," which is taken to mean some combination of
processessuch as pore or bulk strain.
Blot [1941] develQped the first rational theory for the me-
•Now at Royal Schoolof Mines, Imperial Collegeof Technology,
London, England.
chanical behavior of porous materials. The equations he de-
veloped for pore and bulk compressibilities are similar to
Copyright 1986 by the American GeophysicalUnion. those which will be developed in this work, with a few excep-
Paper number 6B6121. tions. Biot considered a more general case in which the rock
0148-0227/86/006B-6121$05.00 grains are not necessarilyhomogeneous or isotropic, leading
12,765
12,766 ZIMMERMANET AL.: COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS

to one less relation among the various compressibilities.The For the idealized porous solid described above, the four
main difficulty with Biot's work is that it was carried out in porous rock compressibilitiesare not independent,and three
termsof variables
whicharenot readilyidentifiable
with { V•, relationscan be found betweenthem. In the following deri-
V0,Pc,andP;,).Thetheorywaslaterextended ['Biot,1973]to vation of theserelations,appliedpressuresand the resulting
the case of nonlinear behavior, using higher-order approxi- strainswill be incrementalchangessuperimposed
on a preex-
mations to the true stress-strainrelations, along the lines of isting state of stress and strain. While the stress-strainrela-
second-order elasticity theory. Biot's work is based on energy tions which result from this analysiswill be nonlinear,repre-
considerations and is indepenent of any micromodel; it can senting the integration of incremental relations, the total
thus be said to form the basis of the modern nonlinear ther- strains will still be "infinitesimal" in the sense of classical
momechanical theory of porous materials Ee.g.,Nunziato and linear elasticity.Higher-order (nonlinear)termsin the relation-
Cowin, 1979]. shipsbetweenthe strains and the displacementgradient will
Geertsma[-1957] rederived Biot's equations, using the more thus be neglected.The validity of this approximation is en-
physically obvious setof variables { V;,,V0,Pc,P;,).Theexplicit sured by the fact that the bulk strains will never exceed a few
assumption of an isotropic, homogeneousmatrix material led percentfor a consolidatedrock in the elastic range of its be-
Geertsma to the correct determination of the effective stress havior. Pore strainsmay well be much larger than a few per-
coefficients npand no.Variationsof the compressibilities with cent, but this causesno difficulty, sincethe pore strain is de-
stress,along with the m coefficients,were not considered,and fined (exactly) as the pore volume increasedivided by the
the equations for the strain increments were integrated only in initial pore volume.
the linear case. The only type of boundary conditions which will be con-
Van der Knaap •1959] extended Geertsma's work to the sideredin the following analysiswill be uniform hydrostatic
case of nonlinear stress-strain behavior. Integrated stress- pressureof magnitude Pc over the entire outer surfaceof the
strain relations were obtained, although this required the un- porous body and uniform hydrostaticpressureof magnitude
stated assumption that the rn coefficientswere equal to unity. Pv over the entireinterior (pore)surface.Confiningpressures
Van der Knaap's derivation required that the bulk volume be will be reckoned positive if they are tensile,so that the exter-
expressible as a Taylorseriesin Pc and P;,(i.e.,be an analytic nal hydrostaticpressurewill representstresses whichare nega-
function), which is a very restrictive condition. In fact, the tive. This systemof appliedstresses will be denotedby (Pc,
empirical curve-fitting formula used by Van der Knaap for the P;,), whereit is understood that eitheror both of the stress
bulk compressibilityof Belait sandstoneis not analytic nor are incrementsmay be equal to zero.
the compressibilitieswhich result from the sphere-packmodel If the stressincrement(dP, dP) is appliedto the body(that
discussedby Geertsma[1957]. is to say, dPc- dPe- dP), the resultingincrementalstress
Nur and Byerlee [1971] rederived the correct expressionfor statein the rock will be that of uniform hydrostaticpressure
%, employing a line of reasoning similar to that of Geertsma. of magnitude dP throughout the matrix. This is verified by
Their derivation assumed, however, that the finite stress-strain first noting that this state of stresssatisfiesthe stressequilibri-
relations are linear, which is true neither for the data which um equations,which specifythat the divergenceof the stress
they presentedon Weber sandstonenor for most porous tensor vanishes,since the divergence of a constant tensor is
rocks. The experimental results of Nur and Byerlee will be identically zero. Also, this state obviously satisfiesthe bound-
examinedfurther after the integratedstress-strainrelationsare ary conditions on both the outer and inner surfacesof the
presentedbelow. matrix. This stressstate leadsto a uniform dilatation of mag-
RiceandCleary[1976] solvedseveralboundaryvalueprob- nitude -dP/Kr, or -Cr dP, where C• is the compressibilityof
lems within the context of the Blot [1941] theory of quasi- the rock matrix material and K• = 1/C• is its bulk modulus.
static deformation. In order to render the field equations This state of stressand strain within the matrix is exactly the
linear, and thus amenableto analytic solution,the compress- same as that which would occur if the pores were filled up
ibility parameterswere assumedto be constant.The present with matrix material, and the boundary conditions on the
work treats the more widely occurring case where the com- outer surfacewere left unchanged(theseobservationsare from
pressibilitiesvary with stress,althoughthe equationsare inte- Geertsrna [1957]). In this latter case, the total bulk strain is
gratedonly in the specialcaseof hydrostaticloading. equal to --C• dP, so that the bulk volume changeis given by
d V• = -- CrV• dP.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS Now considerthe stressincrement{dP, 0}, which corre-
COMPRESSIBILITIES spondsto a changeonly in the confiningpressure.By defini-
tion, this will give rise to a changein the bulk volume givenby
In order to developa mathematicaltheory of the compress-
dV• = -C•,c V• dP. C•,cwill dependon the elasticmoduli of the
ibility of porous rocks, it is first necessaryto choosea model
for rocklike material. For the purposesof this theory,rock will
matrix materialand the geometryof the pore space,so it must
in general be consideredas an additional independentparam-
be consideredto be an isotropic,homogeneous,elasticmatrix
permeated with void spacesof various shapesand sizes.The
eter. If the stressincrementis {0, dP), the resultingbulk
matrix must form a completely connectednetwork, while the volumechangewill, againby definition, be equalto Cbt,
V•alP.
For the infinitesimalchangesbeingconsidered,the principleof
void spacemay consisteither of a connectednetwork of pores,
isolated pores,or some combination of both pore types.The
superposition will be valid,sothe stressincrement{0, dP} can
voids need not be homogeneouslydistributedthroughout the
be separatedinto the differenceof the two increments{dP,
dP} and {dP, 0}. The strainsresultingfrom the stressin-
material nor be random in their spatial orientation. Grain
crement{0, dP) will thereforebe equal to the differencebe-
shapeor sizedoesnot enter into consideration,as no explicit
tweenthe strainsresultingfromthe stressincrements {dP,dP}
distinctionwill be made betweenthe grain-formingminerals
and intergranular clays or cementingmaterial. The extent to and {dP, 0}. Using the notationdV•(dPc, dP;,)to referto the
bulk volumechangeresultingfrom the stressincrement{dPc,
which any of theseassumptionsare necessaryfor a particular
theoretical result, and the effect that different assumptions
dPp},
might have, will be discussedas the results are derived. dV•(O,dP) = dV•(dP, dP) - dV•(dP, O)
 ZIMMERMANET AL.: COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS 12,767

so
separated or even that they are distinct and unconnectedfrom
each other. The reciprocal theorem is applicable to any two
dP = dP- dP) = (Cc - dP
sets of forces applied to an elastic body, and in the present
hence case,one set of forces is consideredto be the totality of the
pore pressuresapplied to the entire pore surface of the rock.
Cbp= Cbc- Cr (7) The above use of the reciprocal theorem should not be con-
The principle of superposition is applicable since, over the fused with use of the reciprocal theorem for the purposesof
range of pressurefrom P to P + dP, the compressibilitiescan deriving explicit numericalvaluesfor the bulk volume change
be consideredto be nearly constant.Accounting for the vari- due to the pressurizationof a single,isolated pore of a given
ation of C•c and C•pwith pressurewould introducetermsof shape [e.g., Walsh, 1965]. In this latter instance,explicit nu-
order (dP)2 in the expressions for dV•,which would vanishin merical resultsare obtainedthrough the solutionof the appro-
the limit of infinitesimally small dP. priate boundary value problem, which can only be accom-
A relationbetweenCpcand Cppcanbe derivedin a similar plished if the pores are infinitely separated.In the present
manner. Consider again the states of stressand strain which context,the displacements at the pore surfaceare being relat-
resultfrom the applicationof the stressincrement{dP, dP}, ed to those at the exterior surface,but explicit expressionsfor
and recall that in the matrix, this is exactly the same elastosta- thesedisplacementsin terms of the shapesof the poresare not
tic state which would occur if the pores were filled in with the being considered.
matrix material. For this resulting hypothetical solid body the Equations (7), (8), and (11) provide three relations between
local dilatation is again everywhereequal to -C, dP. In par- thefourcompressibilities {Cvc,Cpp,Coo, Cop},with• andC•as
ticular, this is true for those regions of this solid body which the only other parametersexplicitlyinvolved.Any three of the
had formerly been the pores of the porous body. Hence the four porous rock compressibilities can thereforebe expressed
dilatation of these regionsof the porous body is also equal to in termsof •, C, and any fourth compressibility, althoughit is
-C, dP, which implies that the total pore volume change is often convenient to consider Cooto be the "fundamental"
given by dVp=-c,w dP. Using the samestressstate de- porous rock compressibility.In terms of Cbc,C, and •b the
composition as before,in which{dP,dP} = {dP, 0} + {0, dP}, other compressibilitiesare
the pore volume changesare
Ct,p = Ct,c -- C, (12)
dVp(O,
dP) = dW(dP,dP) - dVp(dP,
O)
Cpc= (Ct,c - C,.)/ck (13)
so
Cpp= [C•c -(1 + ck)c,]/ck (14)
Cppw dP = -c•w dP - (-Cpc w dP) = (Cpc- C•)Vv dP
Since real rocks are rarely composedof minerals which are
hence
isotropic and homogeneous,the questionmay be raised as to
Cpp= Cpc- Cr (8) the appropriatenessof the assumptionsmade during the deri-
vations of (12)-(14). On the length scale of distancesbetween
The pore compressibilitiesand the bulk compressibilities pores the matrix material is usually a single grain of a rela-
can be related through use of the Betti reciprocal theorem tively anisotropic crystal such as quartz. Also, the matrix of a
[Sokolnikoff,1956]. This theoremstatesthat if an elasticbody rock usually consistsof more than one type of mineral. Biot
is acted upon by two setsof forces,say Fx and F2, the work [1941] did not assumemicroscopicisotropy or homogeneity,
done by Fx acting through the displacementsdue to F2 will and his analysiscan be shownto reproduce(7) and (11), but
exactly equal to the work done by F2 acting through the not (8).In Biot'stheorythedifference betweenCpcand Cpvis
displacementsdue to F x. Applying this theorem to the two not necessarilyequal to C, and the resulting equations con-
setsof forces{dP, 0} and {0, dP}, the work doneby the first tain an additional, independent parameter which can be iden-
set acting through the displacementsdue to the second set is tified [Brown and Korringa, 1975] with the pore volume
given by change causedby equal pressureincrementsapplied to both
the external and internal surfaces.
W•2 = -dP[dV•(O,
dP)]= -dP(C•pV•dP)= -Ct,pV•(dP)
2
Despite the failure of most rocks to physically conform to
(9) the idealizedmodeldiscussed earlier,thereare compellingrea-
sonsto use the resultswhich follow from the assumptionof
The minus sign is neededto accountfor the fact that a posi-
matrix isotropy and homogeneity.For one, the calculations
tive confiningpressurewill act in the direction oppositeto the
outward unit normal of the surface, while the bulk volume
which are needed to relate compressibilityto pore shape
would increaseif the displacementwere in the direction of this become extremely cumbersomewithout these two assump-
normal.Similarly,W 21is givenby tions. Furthermore,the compressibilities of the major mineral
componentsof most rocks do not differ by large amounts,
W2• = dP[dW(dP,
0)] -- dP(- Cpc
W dP)= - Cpc
Vp(dP)
2 implying that the elasticpropertiesof the matrix may be more
homogeneousthan the variegatedmineralogicalcomposition
would at first imply. In fact, if the mineralogicalcomposition
21
No minus sign is needed in the defining equation for W , of a given rock is known, it is a relatively simple matter
since the pore pressureacts in the same direction as that of [Brace, 1965] to compute a fairly accurate "effective"value for
increasingpore volume. The Betti reciprocaltheorem implies C, defined so that if the material were nonporous, a hydro-
thatW•2 = W2•,sothatCt,
vVb= Cp•Vp.
Sincetheporosity
4• static compression P would lead to an overall volume strain of
is definedas W/Vb,thisleadsto theresult -C•P. Furthermore, the equationsderived by Brown and Kor-
ringa [1975] for the more general case show that the overall
Cbv = CkCpc (11)
bulk behavior is fairly insensitiveto the numerical value of the
It is worth noting that the use of the reciprocal theorem in additional parameter.
this context does not presupposethat the pores are well- While Biot's [1941] developmentis more general than that
12,768 ZIMMERMAN
ETAL..'COMPRESSIBILITY
OFPOROUS
ROCKS

developedin this work, many other treatmentsof porousrock Cpp (1 q- v•)q- 2(1 - 2v•)•p
(19)
behavior have included additional restrictive assumptionsor C 2(1 - 2v3(1 -
simplifications.Often the volume changeof the matrix materi-
al is neglected [-e.g.,Domenico,1977], leading to equations These bounds can be minimized with respect to vr to find
bounds which do not involve the rock matrix Poisson's ratio
which can be derived from (12)-(14) by setting C, equal to
zero. The two pore compressibilitiesthen become equal to (which may be more difficult to estimate than C•). These
each other, as do the two bulk compressibilities.This assump- minima each occur when v• -- 0, leading to
tion is justified for unconsolidatedsands, for which Cbc/Cr C• 3q•
may be as high as 102 [Newman,1973]. Most consolidated >_1 +- (20)
C 2(1 -
rocks, however,will have a ratio of Cbc/Crno greater than two
or three, at least at pressuresabove about 10 MPa, in which Cop 3•p
> (20
caseneglectingthe compressibilityof the rock minerals would - 2(1 -
not be acceptable.
Cpc 3
BOUNDS ON THE COMPRESSIBILITIES > (22)
C - 2(1 -
Variational principleshave been usedby Hashin and $htrik-
Cpp 1 + 2tp
man [1961] to find upper and lower bounds for the bulk > (23)
modulus K of a two-component material. These bounds can c, - 2(1 -
be applied to porous media if the elasticmoduli of the second The bounds (20)-(23) are plotted in Figure 1 for porositiesup
component, the pore space,are consideredto vanish. These to 0.50, which coversmost ranges of application to geological
bounds are in general more restrictive than the classical materials,although they remain valid for all porosities.
"series"and "parallel" boundsof Reussand Voigt [Hill, 1952], For a given matrix material and a specifiedporosity, these
which for porous materials merely predict that 0 < K/K• < bounds hold for all possible pore geometries,subject to the
(1 --•p). The Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound for porous ma- restriction of macroscopicisotropy. It can be shown [Eshelby,
terials is 1957], however, that the effective overall bulk modulus of a
body containing a very low concentration of spherical pores
K C
- < (15) coincideswith the Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound (15), in the
K, Ct,c - 1 + [(1 + v,)•p/2(1- 2v,)] limit of vanishing porosity. This proves that for pores which
where vr is Poisson'sratio for the rock matrix material. It are well-separated, spherical pores have the least possible
should be noted that thesebounds have been proven only for effect on Co•, as compared with all other pore shapes.While
media which are not only isotropic on a microscalebut also this is perhaps obvious, (17)-(19) reveal the somewhat less
macroscopically
isotropic,whereas(12)-(14)do not require this obvious fact that spherical pores will lead to the minimum
latter property. The resultsof this sectionwill thereforebe possiblevaluesfor Copor Cpp,for example.In fact,by con-
strictly valid only for this special,albeit fairly common, case. sidering the case where the minimum distancebetween pores
Hashin and Shtrikman [1961] have in fact demonstrated a approaches infinity, which implies that the porosity goes to
special mode of packing of hollow sphereswhose effective zero in (19), it follows that
bulk modulus can rigorously be shown to match the upper 3
bound, proving that this bound is the sharpestone possible. Cpp[isolated
pore]> Cpp[isolated
spherical
pore]-
4G,.
Sincea porous body of any porosity may have an interconnec-
ted network of thin cracks which completely severs it and (24)
rendersit incompetent,there can be no nonzerolower bound
for K/K,, and indeed the Hashin-Shtrikmanlower bound is where G• (which equals [3(1 - 2vr)]/[2(1 + v•)C•]) is the shear
zero. Note that an upper bound on K/K, is at the sametime a modulus of the rock matrix material. While it is probably not
lower bound for C•c/C,. possible to prove similar results for pores at finite con-
Despite the widespread acceptance of the Hashin- centrations,where each pore will be affectedby the elasticfield
around each other pore, it seemslikely that as a general rule,
Shtrikman lower bounds for C•, and extensiveother work
done on establishingbounds for the elastic moduli of two- spherical pores will be the least compressibleof all pore
phasemedia [e.g., Watt et al., 1976], it doesnot appear that shapes.
these bounds have heretofore been extended to the other three
EFFECTIVE STRESS COEFFICIENTS
porous body compressibilities.Examination of (12)-(14) re-
veals that a lower bound on C• leads immediatelyto lower By combining(5) and (6) with (1)-(4), the incrementalstress-
bounds on the other three compressibilities,while the absence strain relationshipscan be written as
of a finite upper bound on Cb• implies the same lack of an
d%= dV•/V•'= -C•½[dP½ - (C•p/C•½) dPp] (25)
upper bound for them also. In terms of the compressibility
and Poisson's ratio of the rock matrix material, these four dep= dVp/Vp'
= -Cp•[dP•-- (Cpp/Cp•)
dPp] (26)
bounds are
where the superscripti indicates the initial (stress-free)value.
Ct,• 3(1 -- v•)•p Comparison of (25),and (26) with (5) and (6) shows that the
_> 1 + (16)
Cr 2(1 - 2v3(1 - •p) effectivestresscoefficientsn are simply equal to the ratios of
theappropriate}
compressibilities.
Utilizing
therelationships
Ct,p > 3(1- v•)qb (17)
(12)-(14) betwee• the four compressibilities,these coefficients
C• 2(1 - 2v3(1 - •P) are found to be

Cpc 3(1- vr) Cb• - C• C•

•> (18) = 1 (27)
C• - 2(1 - 2v3(1 -•P) n•= Ct,
c
 ZIMMERMANET AL.' COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCICS 12,769

1.0
i i I i

0.8

c• u=.3
or 0.6

• 0.4

o
o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 O.S 0.2

POROSITY

Fig. 1. Lower bounds for the four porous rock compressibilities

(1-4), as functions of porosity. Bounds are based on the Hashin-
Shtrikman boundsfor two-phasematerials and are strictly valid only 0
for a macroscopicallyisotropic rock composedof an isotropic matrix o .I .2 .3 .4
phase. POROSITY •

Fig. 2. Lower bounds for the effectivestresscoefficientsnb (de-

Ct,c - C,(1 q- •p) •pC, fined in (5) and (6)), as functions of porosity and the Poisson ratio of
-- 1- (28)
nv= Ct,
c-- C,. Ct,
c-- C,. the matrix phase. The conditions of validity are the same as for the
compressibilitybounds in Figure 1.
Here thesecoefficientsare expressedin terms of Ct,c, although
this is not necessary.Since Ct,c is typically stress-dependent,
thesecoefficientswill likewisevary with stress. In the limit of v• approaching its maximum possiblevalue of
Since Cbcand Cr are both positive,as is (Cbc- Cr), (27) and 0.50,both n• and nvapproachunity.Henceif the matrixcom-
(28) imply that neither effectivestresscoefficientwill exceed pressibility can truly be neglected,the pore and confining
unity, indicating that the pore and bulk volumes are each pressureswill each have the same effect on the strains,except
more sensitive to changes in confining pressure than to for sign.
changesin pore pressure.The Hashin-Shtrikman bounds on The two coefficients
n• and n• are not onlyin generaldiffer-
C•c/C, lead immediately to the following bounds for n•
(Figure 2), which are again with respectto all possiblepore
1.0 ,u=.5
geometries:
3(1 - vr)•,
< n• < 1 (29)
1/--o4

The bounds which are independentof v• are

0.8 u=.3
3½
< n• < 1 (30)
2+½- -
Since 3½/(2 + •p)always exceeds•pby a finite amount, nbmust ß

be greaterthan •p.As there is no upper bound on Ct,c, either of

the two n coefficientscan approach arbitrarily closeto unity.
The form for n•,in (28) is not the mostconvenientone for
establishingbounds on this coefficient;a more amenableform
follows from (26) and (8):

nv = 1 - (C,/Cvc) (31)
In this form it is clearthat the boundsfor Cvcgivenin (18)
leadto boundsfor n• (Figure3)'
(1 + vr) + 2(1 - 2v,)•b
< nv < 1 (32)
3(1 - v•)
The most generallower bound, which again occursfor v• - 0,
is 0 I I I
0 .I .2 .3 .4

(1 + 2•b) POROSITY •
3
<
-
nv<
-
1 (33)
Fig. 3. SameasFigure2, for nv.
12,770 ZIMMERMAN
ETAL.'COMPRESSIBILITY
OFPOROUS
ROCKS

ent, but in fact it can be shownthat ne is alwaysgreaterthan [Schreiber et al., 1973], along with extensive empirical data
no.This is provenby formingthe difference(ne -no), and [Andersonet al., 1968], show that the bulk compressibilityof
examining the sign of this expression.In terms of Cbc,Cr, and rock-forming minerals do not change by more than a few
percent over the range of confiningpressuresconsideredin the
presenttheory (0-200 MPa).
cXCc( - &) - c3 The Euler condition for the exactness of a differential
(34)
ne- nt,= Ct,
c(C•,c
- Cr) [Leighton, 1970] is simply the requirement that if a single-
Since (1 -4)) is the Voigt upper bound on C,/Ct,c, it follows valuedfunctione(Pc,Pc)actuallyexists,its two mixedpartial
that both the numerator and the denominator in (34) are non- derivativesmust be equal. Application of this test to the differ-
negative. In fact, since the Voigt bound is never attained (be- entialsder,and dee yields
cause the Hashin-Shtrikman bound is more restrictive), the r3Ct,c
numeratormustalwaysbe positive,thusprovingthat nv will (38)
always be greater than n•.
c'•
Pe c3
Pc
Startingwith the definition4)- W/V• and usingthe rules c•Cec c'•Cec
(39)
for differentiating quotients, a similar analysiscan be carried OPe OPt
out for the porosity change d(p (which there is no particular
reason to measurewith respectto the initial porosity, since 4) Both C•cand Cecmustthereforesatisfythe samesimplepar-
is dimensionless), yielding tial differential equation, Of(x, y)/c•x=-Of(x, y)/Oy, whose
general solution is known to be f(x, y)=f*(x- y), wheref*
d& = - [Ct,c(1- •) - C•](dPc-dP e) (35) is any function which depends on x and y only through the
combination (x - y). Thus
The effectivestresscoefficientn, is thereforealwaysequalto
unity, and the incremental porosity change depends only on Ct,c = C•c(Pc- Pc) (40)
the changein the differencebetweenPc and Pv' The term
[Ct,c(1 - 4>)- C•] has been shownto be positive,so the poros- Cec= Cec(Pc- Pc) (41)
ity is a decreasing
functionof thedifferentialpressure
Pc- Pv' whichis to say that rn•= me = 1. Relations(7) and (8) then
This is a nontrivial conclusion since, for example, as an in- showthat Cbeand Ceealsodependonly on the differential
crease in confining pressure will decreaseboth the pore and pressure
(Pc- Pc)'
bulk volumes,it is not cleara priori that the ratio W/V0will These results can also be understood in terms of the follow-
also decrease.
ing physicalconsiderations.The porous rock compressibilities
INTEGRATED STRESS-STRAIN RELATIONS
will change only if there is a qualitative alteration of the ge-
ometry of the pore space.Pores which are more or less"equi-
The stress-strain relations described thus far refer to stress
dimensional" will not undergo drastic changesin shape, since
increments which are small enough to allow the compress- their strains will not exceed a few percent. Cracks of small
ibilities to be considered constant throughout the process. aspectratio will, however,closeup completelyunder sufficient
These compressibilitiesin effect yield the local slopes of the confining stress,at which point they ceaseto contribute to the
stress-straincurves,and their multiplicative inversesare some- overall compressibility of the body. (Closed cracks would,
times referred to as the tangent moduli. While theserelations however, affect the behavior of the rock under deviatoric load-
will be usefulfor someapplications,such as elasticwave prop- ing). Consider, for example, an isolated crack which is in the
agation, in which the tangent moduli are the important pa- shape of an oblate spheroid whose minor and major axes are
rameters, it is often desired to calculate the total strains. Inte- in the ratio of 0•:1, where 0• is the aspect ratio. It can be
gration of (25) and (26) requires knowledge of the precisevari- shown, using the resultsof $neddon[1946] and superposition
ationof the compressibilities with both PcandPc,whichleads arguments similar to those used above, that the compression
to considerationof the m coefficients(see (5) and (6)). It will of sucha crack is describedby
now be shown that under the assumptionthat the two strain
differentials (25) and (26) are exact, the two effective stress dV 4(1 - v•2)
C•d(Pc- Pe)+ C• dPe (42)
coefficients
rn,and me mustboth equalunity.In thiscase,the Vi 3n(1- 2vr)•
finalstrainswill dependonlyon thefinalpressuresPcandPc,
Since the aspect ratios of cracks which can be completely
and not on the specificsof the pathtakenin {Pc,Pc} space.
Although there is no overriding reason for these differentials closedby pressuresbelow a few hundredmegapascals must be
to be exact, it seems that this has often been taken as an lessthan 0.01, the first term on the right in (42) will be much
implicit assumptionin previous work on this subjectand is larger than the secondterm, which doesnot includethe factor
certainly a specialcasewhich deservesstudy in its own right. 1/•. Hence the closureof the crack will be governed,to a very
The path independenceof strain will probably not hold if good approximation, by the differential pressure. Crack
there are frictional forces acting on the surfacesof closed shapesother than the spheroid[Walsh, 1965; Mavko and Nur,
cracks, although it has been argued [Walsh, 1980] that these 1978] merely lead to slightly different forms for the terms
forces will not be present under hydrostatic loading in the which dependon v• but do not alter the conclusionthat the
absence of shear. differential pressuredominates crack closure and thereby de-
terminesthe variation of compressibilitywith stress.
A generalization
of (25)and(26),in whichC,cand Cecare
takento be arbitraryfunctionsof Pcand Pc,is nowneeded' Assuminghenceforththat m•= me = 1, the strain differ-
entialscanbe integrated
alonganypathin {Pc,Pc} space. A
d%= -Cbc(Pc,Pp)ape+ ECsc(Pc,
Pp)- Cr] ape (36) simple, and physically meaningful,path is that along which
the confiningpressureis first increasedto its final value,while
d%= -Cpc(Pc,Pp)dPc+ [Cpc(Pc,
Pp)- Cr] dPp (37) the pore pressureremains at zero, after which Pc remains
where(7) and (8) havebeenusedto eliminateC•pand Cpp.Cr fixed,whilePeincreases
to itsfinalvalue.For thefirststageof
is taken to be constant,sincequantum mechanicalarguments thispath,Pe= 0, so (Pc- Pc)= Pc and de•- -Ct, c(Pc)dPc.
 ZIMMERMAN
ETAL.' COMPRESSIBILITY
OFPOROUS
ROCKS 12,771

Using P without a subscriptas a dummy variable of integra- REGULATOR

m
tion,

' (43) PR
'•'•--•EED
ICOMF
, LVDT
!
OIL
For the secondstageof thispath,Pcis fixed,sod%= CbedPe, RESERVOIR

and (using(12))
HEATER
'T I i'"l_i-•
PRESSURE / REGULmO•I I 1.•J
VESSEL i • STE•mNG
•b2 = d%-- [C&(Pc- P)- Cr] dP (44)

Putting P'= (Pc - P), dP' = -dP, and this integral can now
•IR BRINE • NITROGEN
betakenfromP' = Pcto P' = (Pc- Pe),asfollows: PRESSOR RE SE RVOIR T•N K

Fig. 4. Schematicdrawing of the experimentalapparatususedto

•b2 = d%= - [Cbc(P')--Cr] dP' measurethe pore compressibilityof sandstonesamples.Bulk com-
½
pressibilitywasmeasuredin similarapparatus,with screw-typeRuska
pump replacingthe air-actuatedpositive-displacement
pump.
= --
[PC
½-Pc)
Cbc(P')dP'-- CrPe (45)
where fib is a sort of "secant value" of nb. Since Cbcis an
The total strain,in light of the fact that the strainis zero in the
average of Cbc,the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds will still apply
stress-free
state,is givenby thesumof %xand%2:
to it, and so the associatedbounds on nbwill be applicable to
hb.The analogous
expression
for eeis likewisefoundto be
%(Pc,Pe)= -
•oPC
Cbc(P)
dP -
•piPC
-Pp)
Cbc(P)dP - CrPv
c

•e(Pc,Pe)= --Cpc(Pd)[Pc
-- apPp] (52)
= --
Pc
-Pv)
Cbc(P)dP -- CrPp (46) where

Cr
The equivalentexpression
for •pis •p= i C-pc(Pd) (53)
•p(Pc,Pp)= --
Pc
-Pp)
Cpc(P
)dP - CrPp (47) Note that, particularly for low porosity rocks, (13) could not
be indiscriminately used to expressthe pore strain integrals in
In these forms, each strain dependson one term (the inte- termsof Cbcinsteadof Cpc,withoutaccountingfor the fact
(Pc-- Pp)and a second that the porosity varieswith stressduring the integrations.
gral)involvingthe differentialpressure
term whichinvolvesonly the pore pressure.At first sightit no Interestingly enough,in neither casecan the total strain be
longerappearsthat the effectivestresscoefficients
nband np expressedpurely in terms of an "effectivestress,"regardlessof
will be useful, since they do not explicitly appear in (46) or how it is defined. The differential pressure will always be
(47). Considernow, though,a processin whichPe remains neededto evaluate C-(Pd),while the other term in each ex-
fixed at zero, whence pression
involves(Pc- hPp).At thispoint,a discussion of the
results of Nur and Byerlee [1971] on Weber sandstoneis in
order. Although they plotted the total bulk strain againstthe
% = -- Cbc(P)dP (48)
effective
stress(Pc- nbPe)((P)in theirnotation),it shouldbe
notedthat the differentialpressure
(Pc- Pe)((P') in their no-
The "secantcompressibility"
½&is now definedto be the ratio
tation) was needed to first evaluate nb. Therefore, while the
of -- % to P•'
total strain seemsto correlatewith (Pc- nbPp),the strain
cannot in fact be determined without knowledge of both Pc
_= - p•
C,• %=•1 C,•(P)
dP (49) work.
and Pe, which is consistentwith the resultsof the present
The most important result of this section, however, is
C• can be interpretedas the averagevalue of C•, over the that the integrated stress-strainbehavior will be known if Cbc
range of pressuresfrom 0 to P•. Using the notation Pa = (P• is known, and this compressibility can be measured at zero
- Pv),thegeneralexpression
givenby (46)cannowbewritten pore pressure,if desired.In other words, the elastic behavior
as
of a porous body can be investigatedthrough experiments
that do not involve the pore pressure.This possibility is an
%(P•,Pp)= --Cbc(Pd)Pd-CrPp (50) important motivation for realizing the concept of "effective
in which C•,(P) is first evaluatedat P = Pd and is then multi- stress"[see Nur and Byerlee, 1971] and has here been shown
plied by Pd.This can be written in an "effectivestress"form as to be true.
follows'
EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

%(P•,
Pp)= --Cbc(Pd)
Pd+Cbc(Pd
)Pp In order to attempt to verify the relations derived between
the four porous rock compressibilitiesand to check whether

=--•bc(Pd)[Pc
--Pp
+•bc(Pd
Cr)PB• or not me =mb = 1, experiments
were conductedon three
consolidatedoutcrop sandstones.The experimental apparatus
used to measurethe porous rock compressibilitiesis depicted
schematicallyin Figure 4 (seeZimmermanet al. [1985] for a
•bc(Pd)JP• more detailed descriptionof the experimentalapparatusand
= -- Cbc(Pd)[P
c -- •vPp] (•1) procedure).The purposeof the apparatusis to subjecta cylin-
12,772 ZIMMERMANET AL.' COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS

accomplished after first subjecting the rock to a vacuum of

/DT
about 100 #m Hg for 12 hours in order to avoid trapping any
LVDT
MOUNT air in the pores. The porosity is determined by noting the
difference between the dry and saturated weight, while the
bulk volume is determined by measuring the specimen'sdi-
)GEN INLET mensions with vernier calipers. Stainlesssteel end caps, with
holes drilled through them to allow for passageof the pore
fluid, are then placed on both ends of the specimen.Rubber
O-RINGS O-rings are fitted into grooves which are cut around the cir-
cumference of the end caps, after which the entire core and
end cap assembly is sheathed in trifluorethylene resin heat-
PISTON -- shrink tubing.
Measurement
of C•,ccommences
with the computerinstruc-
ting the steppingmotor to alter the setting of the regulator so
AIR BLEED as to provide a particular level of nitrogen pressure.This in
turn provides a particular pore fluid pressureby means of the
previously discussedpiston device. The confining pressureis
then increasedby injecting more siliconeoil into the pressure
SCREWED-ON --
vesselwith the air-actuated pressureintensifier. Following a
CAP specifiedincrement in the confining pressure,a period of sev-
eral minutes is needed for the pore fluid systemto equilibrate
(probably due more to frictional effects in the piston device
I CM
0 -RINGS than to viscoelasticeffects in the specimen),after which the
computer recordsthe pore volume changefrom the output of
the LVDT. This is continuedthrough a cycle of increasingand
decreasingconfining pressure,up to a maximum of (usually)
41.4 MPa and back down to a value slightly above that of the
pore pressure;this procedureis then repeatedat severaldiffer-
PORE FLUID INLET
ent pore pressures.
Fig. 5. Device which measures amount of fluid expelled from Since this processtakes place at constant pore pressureand
pores of the rock sample and controls the pore pressure.Pore fluid constant temperature, the total volume occupied by the brine
pressureis 20 times that of the nitrogen pressure,which in turn is will be fixed. The volume changeof the pores in the core must
controlled by a computer-controlled pressureregulator.
therefore be exactly compensatedby the volume change of the
remainder of the pore fluid system. This remainder can be
drical rock specimento a variable hydrostatic confining pres- divided conceptually into two parts: the measurementcylinder
sure and an independentlycontrollable pore pressure,while and the tubing, valves, and so forth. Since the pressurewhich
measuring the changesin both the bulk and pore volumes of the tubing is subjected to does not change (constant pore
the specimen. The confining pressure is applied within a pressureinternally and atmospheric pressureexternally), the
chrome-steelalloy pressurevesselwhich has a working pres- amount of fluid contained therein is constant. Hence any de-
sure of 69 MPa (10,000 psi). An air-actuated pressureintensi- creasein the volume of the pores will show up as an increase
fier is usedto pump the pressurizingfluid (siliconeoil) into the in the volume contained in the measurementcylinder and will
vessel.A strain-gaugetype pressuretransducerwith a range of be measureddirectly by the LVDT. The above considerations
O-138 MPa (0-20,000 psi) is placed betweenthe pump and the would not be true if the pore pressure were changed, and so
pressure vessel,measuring the confining pressure to within measurement
of C•,•,wouldrequirecalibrationteststo account
+ 0.035 MPa ( + 5 psi). for pore fluid compressionand the complicanceof the tubing
The device depicted in Figure 5 is used both to measure etc. Such calibrations have proved to be very difficult to carry
changesin the pore volume and to control the pore pressure. out [Greenwald,1980], and so C•,•,measurements
were not
A precision-borecylindercontaininga movablepistonis con- attempted in this work.
nected in parallel with the pore fluid system.Attached to this Cb•,valuesweredetermined in a mannersimilarto that used
piston is a linear variable differential transformer(LVDT), for C•,c,usinga modifiedversionof the experimentalapparat-
whose motion allows volume changes to be measured to us shown in Figure 4, with a positive-displacementscrew-type
within + 1.3 x 10- ½cm3. Thispistonis rigidlyconnected
to a Ruska pump replacing the air-actuated pressure intensifier.
larger piston, with an area ratio of 20'1, upon which pressu- This pump essentiallyfunctions as the bulk volume analogue
rized nitrogen acts to control the pore fluid pressure.The of the device depicted in Figure 5, with the volumetric dis-
pressure of the nitrogen is controlled by a stepping-motor placement read manually from a vernier-type scaleinstead of
operated regulator, which in turn is controlled by a LSI 11/23 as the outputof an LVDT. SinceCb•,is measured at constant
microcomputer. The pore pressure is measured by a strain- confining pressure,the volume of the confining fluid is con-
gauge type pressure transducer with a range of 0-69 MPa stant, and as the bulk volume of the rock expands,for exam-
(0-10,000 psi),accurateto within + 0.035 MPa ( + 5 psi). ple, the fluid expelled from the pressurevesselshows up di-
Test specimensin the form of right circular cylinders, 5.08 rectly in the Ruska pump, where it can be measured by the
cm in diameter and 5.08 cm in length, are first cut from a slab vernier scale. Analogously to the comments made about the
of sandstone.The specimenis then dried for 24 hours at 66øC pore compressibilitymeasurements,if the confining pressure
in a vacuum oven to remove any moisture from the pores, were varied during bulk compressibilitymeasurements(i.e., if
after which it is carefullysaturatedwith brine composedof 5 g C•c were measured),calibration testswould be neededto ac-
KC1 per 1000 ½m3 of deaerated,distilledwater.Saturationis count for the compliance of the pressurevesseland the com-
 ZIMMERMANET AL.: COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS 12,773

-0.03 I I I I
pressibility
of theconfining
fluid.SinceonlyCbpand Cpcwere
measured in this work, calibration tests were not needed.
BOISE
All tests were conducted at room temperature, which was
approximately 22øC. Temperature control was not utilized,
although the pressurevesselswere covered with reflective insu-
lation. An analysisof the systemrevealedthat the Cop
measurementswere much more sensitiveto slight temperature -0.0Z
pp=
1.75
MP6
variationsthan werethe Cpcmeasurements
due mainlyto the
large ratio of confining fluid volume to rock volume. This 8.55
problem was partially mitigated by using a less compressible
confiningfluid (glycerin)for the Copmeasurements,
although
an optimal system would have as small a ratio of confining
fluid volume to rock samplevolume as possible.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Experimentshave been conductedon three quarried, con-

solidated sandstones(Boise, Berea, and Bandera) for the pur-
pose of verifying the theoretical results pertaining to the
porousrock compressibilities. Boiseis a medium-fine-grained
feldspar-quartzosesandstone with angular to subangular
grains, Berea is a fine-grainedquartzosesandstonewith sub-
angular to subroundedgrains, and Bandera is a quartzose
sandstonewith very fine grains which are subangular to sub-
rounded. All three are well compacted and are of medium
porosity,with Boisetypicallyhavingporositiesin the range of
24-28%, Berea 18-23%, and Bandera 15-18%. For the par-
ticular specimensusedin this study the porositieswere 25.6%,
22.2%, and 16.5%, respectively.The average grain diameters
of these sandstones have been estimated to be 300 /•m for
Boise,200/•m for Berea, and 80/•m for Bandera. (The above
mineralogicalinformation is from Greenwald[1980]).
Before discussingthe experimental results, the data re-
duction procedure will be briefly described.In each experi-
ment, measurementswere made of volume changes,while it is
more convenient to discussthe results in terms of compress-
ibilities.Sincethe differentialpressure
(Pc- Pv) wasneveral-
lowed to approach too close to zero, which would have de-
stroyedthe seal betweenthe pore and confiningfluids,it was
not possibleto determinethe volume changesrelative to those
at zero pressures.The strains were therefore only determined
to within some additive constant, the value of which does not
affect the calculated compressibilities.The compressibilities
were found by first fitting a curve to the stress-straindata and
then differentiating the expressionfor the curve. For this
method to yield meaningfulresultsthe curve must fit the mea-
sured stress-straindata quite well. After some experimentation
it was found that in each case the stress-strain data could be
fit with a curve of the following form:
• = AP- Be-P/P*+ D (54)
where A, B, D, and P* are constants which are found by a
leastsquaresregression.
(For Cpctests,for example,e would
be %, while P would be Pc-)The parameterP* entersthe
expressionin a nonlinear fashion, so that the determination of
the coefficientsis not a simple linear regressionproblem. A, B,
and C were found for fixed values of P*, after which an opti-
mal value of P* was chosen by minimizing the variance be-
tween the measured values and the fitted curve. In each case,
the standard deviation for the optimal curve was no more
than about 1% of the average strain, while the correlation
coefficientsr were all greater than 0.9990. The compressibility
is then found by differentiating (54):
C = A + (B/P*)e-P/P* (55)
0 I I I
0 I0 20 30 40 50
CONFINING
STRESS,
Pc(MPo)
Fig. 6. Pore strain of Boise sandstoneas a function of confining
pressure,at three differentpore pressures.Curves result from a least
squares
fit, usinga functionof the form% = APe- B exp (--Pc/P*)
+ D. Sinceonly changesin the pore strainswere measured,the data
points and curveshave been shiftedvertically so that the pore strains
vanish at zero differential pressure;this has no effect on the computed
compressibilities.
Figure 6 shows the stress-straindata for Boise sandstone,
along with the fitted curves.Sincethe strainswere measured
only to within an unknown constant,the curves (and data
points) have been shifted vertically so that the strains are zero
whenPp= Pc;thiswill haveno effecton the computed
com-
pressibilitiesbut was done merely to facilitate the plotting of
the data. The Boise sandstonewas typical of the other two
sandstonesinsofar as the degreeto which the data were fitted
by the curves.
The compressibilityof which the most extensiveand sys-
tematicmeasurements weremadeis Cpc,andsothiscompress-
ibility will be usedto testwhetheror not m (specifically
top)
equalsunity. The fitted Cv½curvesas functionsof Pc for a
Boise core are shown in Figure 7, for three different pore
pressures.If the effectivestressconceptis correct, the curves
should all more or lesscoincideif they are each shiftedto the
leftby the amountmpPp.
The bestestimate
for mpis foundby
minimizing the average deviation of the three compress-
ibilities, as determined at 10 equally spacedeffectivepressures
from 3.45 to 34.5 MPa (500-5000 psi). It was found that the
results were not affected by altering the number of pressures
considerednor by ignoring either the higher or lower extremes
of the pressurerange.The optimal value was found to be 1.02,
for which the averagestandard deviation of the five curvesat
these10 pressures
was0.02650.Usingthe valuemp= 1.0 in-
creasesthe average deviation by only 2%, to 0.02702, while a
valuesuchas mp= 0.90increases this measureof scatterby
80%, to 0.04832.The optimalvalue of mpis thereforevery
close to unity, with a high probability. In Figure 8 the three
Cpccurvesare plottedagainstthe differentialpressure
-Pp), and it is seenthat the curvesshowmuchlessscatter
when presentedin this form.
The same analysishas been carried out for Bandera (Fig-
ures 9 and 10) and Berea (Figures 11 and 12), with similar
results.
The optimaleffective
stress
coefficient
rnpwasfoundto
be 1.06 for Bandera, and 1.02 for Berea.When plotted against
 12,774 ZIMMERMAN
ETAL.' COMPRESSIBILITY
OFPOROUS
ROCKS

2.0
i i i i 4.0 I I I
Pp Z.4•MP(3
B4NDER4
=1.75 M Po
BOISE

8.55 15.45 1.7• 11.03

-
•.o3

• i.0 2.0

o
u

0• i i I I 0 I I I I
0 I0 20 30 40 50 0 I0 2O 3O 4O 5O
CONFININGSTRESS,Pc (MPe) CONFINING STRESS, Pc (MPe)

Fig. 7. Porecompressibility
Cw of Boisesandstoneasa function Fig. 9. Sameas Figure 7, for Banderasandstone.
of confiningpressureat differentpore pressures.
Compressibility
curvesare obtainedby differentiating the curvesthat werefit through
the stress-strain
data points,asin Figure6. The relationships(12)-(14)betweenthe four porousrock
compressibilities
weretestedsomewhatlesssystematically, but
with resultsthat tend to supportthe theoreticalpredictions.
(Pc-- Pv),i.e.,assuming
rnv = 1,thecurves
areextremely
close, Figure 13 showsthe verificationof (13) for a Bereasandstone
particularlyfor effectivepressureswhich are not too low. The
of 22% porosity.
The presentCvcdatawereusedto predict
divergencefor low effectivepressuresis to someextentdue valuesfor Cbcusing(13),whichwerethen comparedto those
merely to the fact that the data were "forced" to be fitted to a
measureddirectly by King [1969] using acousticalmethods
curveof a particularform.If the stress-strain curvefit is per- on a dry specimen. As Bereaconsists predominantly of quartz
formedmanually,andthecurvedifferentiated with a protrac- (88%), Crwastakento be the sameasthat of quartz,whichis
tor, the compressibility valuesat low effectivepressures show 2.27x 10-5 MPa-•. (Accounting for the remaining12%,
much lessscatter [Zimmerman,1984]. These resultsindicate
mostlyfeldsparandcalcite,wouldalterCr by onlya fewper-
that for all practicalpurposes,the pore compressibilities of cent.)Althoughspecimens from differentblocksof Bereasand-
consolidated sandstones are functionsonly of the differential stonewere involved in the two setsof measurements,the two
pressure (Pc- Pv)' specimens had the sameporosity,and the agreementis excel-
lent, particularlyat effectivepressures
not too closeto zero.
2 I I i I
i i i i

B4NDERA

.0

•01
pp=l.7
Mpe
BOIS
1.03

•o 1.75
.....

I 20 3 01 ! I I I
IO 20 30 40 50
EFFECTIVE
STRESS,Pc-Pp(MPe)
Fig. 8. Porecompressibility
Cvcof Boisesandstone(samecurves EFFECTIVE
STRESS,
Pc-Pp
(MPe)
asin Figure7)asa function
of(Pc- rnvPv),
withmr -- 1.Theoptimal Fig. 10. SameasFigure8, for Bandera
sandstone.
Optimalvalueof
valueof mr wasactually1.02. mr wasactually1.06.
 ZIMMERMANET AL.: COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS 12,775

2.0 I0
I ! I I i I I I
Pp= .41MP•3
BEREA BERE4

1.59 _

RANGEPREDICTEDFROM -

Cb
c=
C
r+•bcpc AMIC CbcVALUES(KING,
1969)--

i I I I o i I I I
i0 20 30 40 50 o io 20 30 40 50
CONFININGSTRESS,Pc (MPo) EFFECTIVE
STRESS,
Pc-Pp(MPo)
Fig. 11. Same as Figure 7, for Berea sandstone. Fig. 13. Comparison of bulk compressibilitiesC•,c measured
acousticallyby King r1969] on a dry sample,to valuespredictedfrom
pore compressibility
C•,cmeasurements,
usingthe relation C•,c--C,
This comparison between predicted and measured bulk + &Cpc.
compressibilitieswas necessarilymade with dynamic bulk
compressibilitymeasurementscarried out on a dry sample,
the onesconducted
to measureCp½,
sincein thoseteststhe
sincesaturatedspecimens exhibit lower dynamiccompress- pore fluid is always allowed to equilibrate with an external
ibility values.To seewhy this is so, considera pore which is
reservoir. Wave propagation in saturated porous rocks is
being compressedby a passingstrain wave. If there were
complicated by this fluid relaxation phenomena,and wave
liquidin the pore,its viscosity
wouldpreventit fromescaping velocitiesthereforedependon frequency,fluid viscosity,and
during the brief time neededfor the strain pulse to pass permeability, along with the effective elastic moduli and den-
through,and the fluid would in effectbe trapped.The fluid sity. The discussionof effectivestressesfor static compress-
would resistthe compression of the pore, to a certainextent, ibility thereforecannotnecessarily
be carriedover to the prob-
and therebyincreasethe total stiffness
of the rock.(Thisphe- lem of wave propagation in fluid-saturated rocks without a
nomenonis treated in detail by Cleary [1978].) The often- carefulexaminationof the effectof the pore fluids,and, indeed,
mentioneddiscrepancybetweenstaticand dynamiccompress- there is conflicting evidence as to whether or not an effective
ibilities is in large part due to this fluid saturationeffect.These
stress principle applies to dynamic phenomena [i.e.,
considerationsdo not apply in static (drained)testssuch as Christensenand Wang, 1985].
A more conclusivetest of the compressibilityrelationships
8.41MPo i I i would involve the measurementof two or more compress-
ibilities for the samespecimen.This was done for the Bandera
BEREA
sandstone,
for whichboth Cpcand Cbvweremeasured,
with
the results shown in Figure 14. As in the case of the pore
strain measurements, the bulk strain was fitted to a curve of
the generalform (54),with Cbvfoundby differentiation, as in
(55). The C•v valuesso derivedlie more or lesswithin the
rangepredictedby the Cvcdata in conjunction with (11).The
C•pdata are presented as distinctvaluesat effectivepressures
of 10, 20, 30, and 40 MPa, rather than as a continuouscurve,
merely for ease of comparison.As mentioned earlier, however,
the Cbvmeasurements
wereprobablynot as accurateas the
Cvc measurements,
and closeragreementshould not be ex-
pected.
Nevertheless,
if an"average"
expression
for Cpcis used,
the C•v valuesare typically within 25% of the predicted
values.This shouldbe consideredgood agreement,in light of
the extreme difficulty which has always accompaniedpore
15.38
compressibilitymeasurements(see,for example,Knutsonand
Bohor [ 19633).
0 I I I I The above theoreticaland experimentalresultsmay also
0 IO 20 30 40 50
shedsomelight on previousstudiesof other stress-dependent
EFFECTIVE STRESS, Pc-Pp(MPe) rock properties.Walsh [1981] studied fluid flow through a
Fig. 12. SameasFigure8, for Bereasandstone. Optimalvalueof mp singlenominallyplanar fractureand found that permeabilities
was actually 1.02. measuredunder various confining pressuresand pore pres-
12,776 ZIMMERMANET AL.' COMPRESSIBILITY
OF POROUSROCKS

i i i I moduli of the matrix material. A proof has been given that

BANDERA
showsif the total volumetricstrains are unique functionsof
thepressures {Pc,Pp},thecompressibilities
mustdependonly
on the differentialpressure
(Pc- P•,)-A physically
plausible
explanationfor this dependence, which shouldapply equally
well to sedimentaryor igneousrocks,has been given in terms
of the closure of very fine microcracks. The distinction be-
RANGE PREDICTED FROM tween the tangent and secant compressibilities,which has
often been often overlooked in discussionof effectivestress,
Cbp
='Cpc CbpVALUES
has also been examined. It has been demonstrated that while
the total pore or bulk strainscannot be describedin terms of a
single "effectivestress,"it is true that the volumetric behavior
of elasticporousrocks(underhydrostatic loading)canbe fully
determinedthrough testscarried out at zero pore pressure.
The dependenceof the porous rock compressibilitieson the
differentialpressurehas beenverifiedexperimentallyfor three
consolidatedsandstones (Figures6-12), with excellentagree-
ment. The relationshipsbetweenthe various porousrock com-
pressibilitieswere also tested(Figures 13 and 14), with rela-
I I I I tivelygoodagreementbetweenthe theoryand the data.
i0 20 30 40 50

EFFECTIVE
STRESS,
Pc-Pp(MPo) Acknowledgment. R. W. Zimmerman would like to thank the
StandardOil Company (Sohio)for providingsupportwhile he was a
Fig. 14. Comparison
of measured bulk compressibilities
Cbpto postdoctoralresearcherat the Universityof California.
valuespredicted
fromporecompressibility
Cpcmeasurements(made
on the samesample),
usingthe relationCbv= •bCvc.
Thisrelation
followsfrom the reciprocaltheoremwithout any assumptions
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(Received April 11, 1986;
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acceptedJune 13, 1986.)

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