Reliable estimates of far-field stresses are indispensable for robust rock engineering analysis. Here, by using the combined finite-discrete element method, we simulate a series of stress fields of a natural fracture network to examine whether the Euclidean mean of local stresses can be used to estimate the far-field stress. The calculations show that given a large number of local stress measurements, their Euclidean mean gives a close approximation of the far-field stress state. Whereas when only a limited number of local stresses are available, the probability of obtaining a practically acceptable estimate of far-field stress increases with the increasing number of stress measurements. The required number of stress measurements for deriving an acceptable estimate varies with the geomechanical condition; in general, the larger the overall stress variability is, the more local stress measurements are needed. Our research findings suggest that given a limited number of stress measurements, which is often encountered in rock engineering projects, attention is needed when deriving the far-field stress state based on them, and simply using their mean as far-field stress for further rock structure design and numerical analysis may yield erroneous results.
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53rd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium
June 23–26, 2019
New York City, New York
Estimating Far-Field Stress Using the Mean of Local Stresses
N. Bozorgzadeh;
N. Bozorgzadeh
Royal Military College of Canada
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V. Chau
V. Chau
Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Paper presented at the 53rd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, New York City, New York, June 2019.
Paper Number:
ARMA-2019-1878
Published:
June 23 2019
Citation
Gao, K., Lei, Q., Bozorgzadeh, N., and V. Chau. "Estimating Far-Field Stress Using the Mean of Local Stresses." Paper presented at the 53rd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, New York City, New York, June 2019.
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