The aim of the research is to develop a numerical technique that makes it possible to formulate analytical solutions for acoustic and elastic wave propagation in heterogeneous media. Up to date, these exact solutions only existed for homogeneous media, but recently we managed to formulate a theory that makes it possible to do this also for heterogeneous media.

Modeling wave propagation in heterogeneous media

There is the need from the industry for fast techniques that make it possible to calculate acoustic wave propagation in heterogeneous media. Ideally, this is done using analytical solutions that require little computing power. Until recently, these solutions only existed for homogeneous media. The aim of the research is to now also formulate these analytical solutions for heterogeneous media. This new method is expected to be about a thousand times faster than conventional simulation techniques. The applications in which this can be used are diverse, although we initially limit ourselves to geophysical problems related to CO2 storage and geothermal energy.