Generalized collar waves in acoustic logging while drilling

Tool waves, also named collar waves, propagating along the drill collars in acoustic logging while drilling (ALWD), strongly interfere with the needed P- and S-waves of a penetrated formation, which is a key issue in picking up formation P- and S-wave velocities. Previous studies on physical insulation for the collar waves designed on the collar between the source and the receiver sections did not bring to a satisfactory solution. In this paper, we investigate the propagation features of collar waves in different models. It is confirmed that there exists an indirect collar wave in the synthetic full waves due to the coupling between the drill collar and the borehole, even there is a perfect isolator between the source and the receiver. The direct collar waves propagating all along the tool and the indirect ones produced by echoes from the borehole wall are summarized as the generalized collar waves. Further analyses show that the indirect collar waves could be relatively strong in the full wave data. This is why the collar waves cannot be eliminated with satisfactory effect in many cases by designing the physical isolators carved on the tool.