Sensitivity Analysis Of Borehole Deformation Measurements Of In-Situ Stress Determination When Affected By Borehole Eccentricity

The problem of the measurement of in situ stresses in rock masses has, in recent years, become one of the prime concerns of investigators and researchers in the field of rock mechanics. Numerous instruments have been developed for that purpose and various techniques have been used to determine the absolute values of these stresses at a point.l The "stress-relief" technique has gained the widest acceptance. In its usual application it relies on one of the two following principles: (1) Measurements of the changes in a "solid inclusion" in a borehole,2 or (2) Measurements of the diametral deformation of a borehole with a free boundary." The theoretical development, in the case of the latter, is based upon an evaluation of the deformation of a circular hole in an infinite plate under the action of a uniaxial stress field. Expressions for the deformations may be obtained by using either the plain strain or the generalized plane stress theoretical approach of the classical theory of Elasticity, which assumes that the material is linearly elastic, homogeneous and isotropic. The solution for the case of a biaxial stress field is obtained by the Principal of Superposition. The circular hole becomes elliptical after deformation takes place under the action of a uniaxial or biaxial stress field applied to the plate. In the practical application of the technique, the reverse procedure is applied. A borehole is drilled in the rock and a deformation-measuring