On dispersive propagation of surface waves in patchy saturated porous media

•We present numerical results for Rayleigh wave in patchy saturated media.•Rayleigh wave shows a significant transition behavior at low frequencies.•The dispersive characteristics in the frequency and time domains depend on the gas fraction.

Frequency-dependent velocity and attenuation for Rayleigh-wave propagation along a vacuum/patchy saturated porous medium interface are investigated in the low frequency band (0.1–1000 Hz). Conventional patchy saturation models for compressional waves are extended to account for Rayleigh wave propagation along a free surface. The mesoscopic interaction of fluid and solid phases, as a dominant loss mechanism in patchy saturated media, significantly affects Rayleigh-wave propagation and attenuation. Researches on the dispersion characteristics at low frequencies with different gas fractions in patchy saturated media also demonstrate a strong correlation between the Rayleigh-wave mode and the fast compressional wave. Especially, the strongest attenuation with the maximum value of 1/Q1/Q for Rayleigh waves are obtained in the frequency range of 1–200 Hz. Numerical results show that the significant dependence of velocity and attenuation on frequencies and gas fractions presents a distinctive dynamical response of Rayleigh waves in the time domain.