Characterization of blocks for ornamental rock production with ultrasonic and georadar imaging methods

• Grant number: 20/14582-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: July 01, 2021 - June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geophysics
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Alberto Mendonça
• Grantee: Carlos Alberto Mendonça
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Carlos Alberto Moreno Chaves ; José Agnelo Soares ; Paulo José Brandão Barbosa Lourenço ; Renato Luiz Prado

Abstract

This proposal is developed from a project recently submitted to FAPESP - Process 2019/2367-5, cooperation FAPESP-FAPESQ. Since its initial formulation, the proposal was motivated by the need to non-destructively assess the quality of rock blocks used in the production of ornamental stones, especially for the units to be shipped abroad. A multidisciplinary team was then formed with researchers from Brazil (USP, UFCG) and Portugal (University of Minho) with support from productive sectors of the mining sector. The proposal was in general well ranked, but not successful in that FAPESP-FAPESQ cooperation call. The proposal presented here maintains the same objectives as the initial proposal, but sized down in terms of material resources and programmed activities. The parts with instrument development and field-testing were suppressed or resized to conform 24-months project, but available resources at IAG/ USP (GPR-Ground Penetrating Radar system) were incorporated as an evaluation technique. Field tests with blocks in the quarry front were resized, most of the experimental tests recast to a testing block available at CEPETRO-UNICAMP, already accessible to the project. The current version of the project enriches the methodological approach for data processing and inversion, including imaging tests with georadar and data analysis using the FWI (Full Waveform Inversion) formulation. FWI methods will be applied to elastic and electromagnetic data sets acquired with transmitter-receiver pairs placed on opposite sides of the block or attached on a common side. The methodological approach using inversion methods is still unexplored as non-destructive methods, which qualifies the present proposal in terms of innovative research, with the potential for technological innovation for the mining sector. (AU)