3D Forward Simulation of Borehole-Surface Transient Electromagnetic Based on Unstructured Finite Element Method

Abstract

The time-domain electromagnetic method has been widely applied in mineral exploration, oil, and gas fields in recent years. However, its response characteristics remain unclear, and there is an urgent need to study the response characteristics of the borehole-surface transient electromagnetic(BSTEM) field. This study starts from the time-domain electric field diffusion equation and discretizes the calculation area in space using tetrahedral meshes. The Galerkin method is used to derive the finite element equation of the electric field, and the vector interpolation basis function is used to approximate the electric field in any arbitrary tetrahedral mesh in the free space, thus achieving the three-dimensional forward simulation of the BSTEM field based on the finite element method. Following validation of the numerical simulation method, we further analyze the electromagnetic field response excited by vertical line sources.. Through comparison, it is concluded that measuring the radial electric field is the most intuitive and effective layout method for BSTEM, with a focus on the propagation characteristics of the electromagnetic field in both low-resistance and high-resistance anomalies at different positions. Numerical simulations reveal that BSTEM demonstrates superior resolution capability for low-resistivity anomalies, while showing limited detectability for high-resistivity anomalies Numerical simulation results of BSTEM with realistic orebody models, the correctness of this rule is further verified. This has important implications for our understanding of the propagation laws of BSTEM as well as for subsequent data processing and interpretation.