title: Acoustic attenuation in self-affine porous structures.
abstract: As acoustic waves propagate through fluid-filled porous materials possessing heterogeneity in the elastic compressibility at scales less than wavelengths, the local wave-induced fluid-pressure response will also possess spatial heterogeneity that correlates with the compressibility structure. Such induced fluid-pressure gradients equilibrate via fluid-pressure diffusion causing wave energy to attenuate. This process is numerically simulated using finite-difference modeling. It is shown here, both numerically and analytically, that in the special case where the compressibility structure is a self-affine fractal characterized by a Hurst exponent H, the wave's quality factor Q (where Q(-1) is a measure of acoustic attenuation) is a power law in the wave's frequency omega given by Q proportional to omega(H) when /H/<<1, and given by Q proportional to omega(tanhH) in general.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road MS 90-1116, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. srpride@lbl.gov
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Pride
authors.forename: Yder J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Masson