Patent ID: 9581708
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: G01V

Claim:
1. An apparatus for estimating a property of a subsurface material, the apparatus comprising: a carrier configured to be conveyed through a borehole penetrating the earth; an acoustic wave guide coupled to the carrier, the acoustic wave guide comprising an acoustic plate configured to guide an acoustic wave along a lateral path of the plate on which the subsurface material is disposed and an acoustic reservoir coupled to the acoustic plate and at least partially surrounding the acoustic plate, the acoustic reservoir having a mass greater than the mass of the acoustic plate and being configured to absorb leakage of the acoustic wave from the acoustic plate; a first acoustic transducer coupled to the acoustic plate and configured to transmit an acoustic wave along the path; a second acoustic transducer coupled to the acoustic plate and configured to receive the acoustic wave that travels along the path; and a controller configured to operate the first acoustic transducer and the second acoustic transducer in order to estimate the property.