Calculating rock mechanics parameters based on the inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves

In geotechnical engineering rock mechanics parameters are the important values which characterize rock mechanics property. In this paper, 2D Fourier transform is used to extract high signal-to-noise ratio dispersion curves, damped least square method is applied to inversely derive the S-wave velocity automatically so as to calculate rock mechanics parameters. Data of Rayleigh wave exploration in Erlian Basin of Inner Mongolia is used as an example to obtain profiles of dynamic rock mechanics parameters. It was found that the maximum exploration depth can reach 120 m provided that the acquisition and processing parameters are reasonable. Compared with other rock mechanics parameters testing technique, the characteristics of Rayleigh wave exploration are fast, efficient, economical and nondestructive. (authors)