Application of contact theory to evaluation of elastic properties of low consolidated porous media

A new approach to the calculation of the elastic bulk modulus of low consolidated porous media is developed based on a physical consolidation model of rocks and the classical Hertz contact theory. The derived analytical relationships for the elastic bulk modulus, which take into account some micro-structural characteristics of packing, are compared with theoretical predictions from various micromechanics theories, Hashin-Shtrikman strict bounds as well as with experimental results available for low consolidated granular materials. The latter comparison demonstrates a good agreement.Luiz Bortolan Neto, Andrei Kotousov and Pavel Bedrikovetsk