Page 160 - Rock Mechanics For Underground Mining

5 Pre-mining state of stress

5.1 Specification of the pre-mining state of stress

The design of an underground structure in rock differs from other types of structural
design in the nature of the loads operating in the system. In conventional surface struc-
tures, the geometry of the structure and its operating duty define the loads imposed on
the system. For an underground rock structure, the rock medium is subject to initial
stress prior to excavation. The final, post-excavation state of stress in the structure
is the resultant of the initial state of stress and stresses induced by excavation. Since
induced stresses are directly related to the initial stresses, it is clear that specification
and determination of the pre-mining state of stress is a necessary precursor to any
design analysis.
The method of specifying the in situ state of stress at a point in a rock mass,
relative to a set of reference axes, is demonstrated in Figure 5.1. A convenient set
of Cartesian global reference axes is established by orienting the x axis towards
mine north, y towards mine east, and z vertically downwards. The ambient stress
components expressed relative to these axes are denoted p xx , p yy , p zz , p xy , p yz , p zx .
Using the methods established in Chapter 2, it is possible to determine, from these
components, the magnitudes of the field principal stresses p i (i = 1, 2, 3), and the
respective vectors of direction cosines ( xi , yi , zi ) for the three principal axes. The
corresponding direction angles yield a dip angle, i , and a bearing, or dip azimuth, i ,
for each principal axis. The specification of the pre-mining state of stress is completed
by defining the ratio of the principal stresses in the form p 1 : p 2 : p 3 = 1.0: q : r
where both q and r are less than unity.
The assumption made in this discussion is that it is possible to determine the in situ
state of stress in a way which yields representative magnitudes of the components of
the field stress tensor throughout a problem domain. The state of stress in the rock
mass is inferred to be spatially quite variable, due to the presence of structural features
such as faults or local variation in rock material properties. Spatial variation in the
field stress tensor may be sometimes observed as an apparent violation of the equation
Figure 5.1 Method of specifying the
in situ state of stress relative to a set of equilibrium for the global z (vertical) direction. Since the ground surface is always
of global reference axes. traction-free, simple statics requires that the vertical normal stress component at a

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