TABLE OF CONTENTS D.ASK 1 and F.H.CORNET 2
Vattenfall Power Consultant AB, Lule , Sweden
(daniel.ask@vattenfall.com )
2 Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France
In this paper, we propose a protocol for evaluating the complete stress field and its variation with depth using an integrated stress determination approach. Although the strategy is based on sampling the stress field with hydraulic methods, it may be applied to most stress measuring techniques and integrated studies. It is shown that the procedure will not be hampered by difficulties reported with the individual stress measuring techniques. Our strategy is based on the directions of the ISRM suggested methods for rock stress estimation by hydraulic fracturing and hydraulic tests on pre-existing fractures (Haimson & Cornet, 2003). In addition, we pay particular attention to the sampling strategy and considerations of the continuity hypothesis.
Keywords: Rock stress evaluation; Integration; Hydraulic fracturing (HF); Hydraulic tests on pre-existing fractures (HTPF).
Knowledge of the prevailing stress field is important for rock mechanical studies, because it provides means to analyze the mechanical behavior of rock and serves as boundary conditions in rock engineering problems. Most in-situ stress measuring methods provide point-wise estimates of local stress tensors of a considerably smaller rock volume than that of the rock mechanical problem in question. The regional stress tensor can be determined from a number of rock stress estimates of local stress tensors. Because the local stress tensors often are influenced...
