Rayleigh wave propagation along the boundary of a non-Newtonian fluid-saturated porous medium

The Frenkel-Biot theory is used to study the reflection of elastic waves from the boundary of a non-Newtonian (Maxwell) fluid-saturated porous medium. The velocity and attenuation of a Rayleigh surface wave propagating along the boundary of the medium are determined. Two models of a fluid-saturated porous medium are used for calculation: with pore channels of a fixed diameter and with a lognormal distribution of pore channels in size. The results of calculations show that, when the fluid in the porous medium is characterized by a small Deborah number (i.e., exhibits non-Newtonian properties), the velocity of Rayleigh waves exhibits a considerable frequency dispersion. The results also suggest that, in principle, it is possible to estimate the Deborah number from the measured frequency dispersion of the Rayleigh wave velocity.