Application of results on Eshelby tensor to the determination of effective poroelastic properties of anisotropic rocks-like composites

The present work is devoted to the determination of the macroscopic poroelastic properties of anisotropic elastic porous materials saturated by a fluid under pressure. It makes use of the theoretical results provided by Withers [Withers, P.J., 1989. The determination of the elastic field of an ellipsoidal inclusion in a transversely isotropic medium, and its relevance to composite materials. Philosophical Magazine A 59 (4), 759-781.] for the problem of an ellipsoidal inclusion embedded in a transversely isotropic elastic medium. The particular case of a spherical inclusion is very important for rock-like composites such as argillite and shales. The implementation of these results in a micromechanical theory of poroelasticity allows to quantify the effects of the solid matrix anisotropy and of pore space on the effective poromechanical properties. Closed form expressions of Biot tensor and of Biot modulus are presented as well as numerical applications for anisotropic shales. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.