Analytical Investigation for In Situ Stress Measurement with Rheological Stress Recovery Method and Its Application

In situ stress is one of the most important parameters in underground engineering. Due to the difficulty and weakness of current stress measurement methods in deep soft rock, a new one, rheological stress recovery (RSR) method, to determine three-dimensional stress tensor is developed. It is supposed that rock stresses will recover gradually with time and can be measured by embedding transducers into the borehole. In order to explore the relationship between the measured recovery stress and the initial stress, analytical solutions are developed for the stress measurement process with RSR method in a viscoelastic surrounding rock. The results showed that the measured recovery stress would be more close to the initial stress if the rock mass has a better rheological property, and the property of grouting material should be close to that of rock mass. Then, the RSR method, as well as overcoring technique, was carried out to measure the in situ stresses in Pingdingshan Number 1 coal mines in Henan Province, China. The stress measurement results are basically in the same order, and the major principal stresses are approximately in the direction of NW-SE, which correlates well with the stress regime of Pingdingshan zone known from the tectonic movement history.