Showing papers on "Stress field published in 2017"

In Situ Stress and Active Faulting in Oklahoma

Abstract: Appreciable injection‐induced seismicity has been occurring in north‐central Oklahoma since 2009. To better understand these earthquakes, we have compiled new information on the state of stress in the state to compare it with both mapped faults and faults inferred from earthquake epicenters and focal plane mechanisms. Seventy‐five new in situ stress orientations are available from wellbores throughout the state. In the north‐central part of the state where the induced seismicity is occurring, stress orientation and relative magnitude from focal mechanism inversions show excellent agreement with the wellbore stress orientations. All of the data show remarkably uniform stress directions. The azimuth of S Hmax , the maximum horizontal stress, is about N85°(±5°)E. Strike‐slip faulting is occurring in central Oklahoma, with strike‐slip/normal and normal faulting observed in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas. As very few of the thousands of M ≥2.5 earthquakes that have recently occurred are located on, or near, already mapped faults, we utilize the stress information to interpret the likely fault planes associated with over 300 well‐constrained focal plane mechanisms. In the vicinity of the January 2016 sequence of magnitude 4 and 5 earthquakes in the Fairview, Oklahoma, region, we illustrate how knowledge of the stress field can be used to identify the faults responsible for the seismicity and better evaluate the potential hazard associated with possible future earthquakes in the area. The September 2016 M w 5.8 Pawnee event occurred on an unmapped N70°W trending strike‐slip fault expected to be active in the local stress field.

Visualization and Transparentization of the Structure and Stress Field of Aggregated Geomaterials Through 3D Printing and Photoelastic Techniques

Abstract: Natural resource reservoirs usually consist of heterogeneous aggregated geomaterials containing a large number of randomly distributed particles with irregular geometry. As a result, the accurate characterization of the stress field, which essentially governs the mechanical behaviour of such geomaterials, through analytical and experimental methods, is considerably difficult. Physical visualization of the stress field is a promising method to quantitatively characterize and reveal the evolution and distribution of stress in aggregated geomaterials subjected to excavation loads. This paper presents a novel integration of X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, three-dimensional (3D) printing, and photoelastic testing for the transparentization and visualization of the aggregated structure and stress field of heterogeneous geomaterials. In this study, a glutenite rock sample was analysed by CT to acquire the 3D aggregate structure, following which 3D printing was adopted to produce transparent models with the same aggregate structure as that of the glutenite sample. Uniaxial compression tests incorporated with photoelastic techniques were performed on the transparent models to acquire and visualize the stress distribution of the aggregated models at various loading stages. The effect of randomly distributed aggregates on the stress field characteristics of the models, occurrence of plastic zones, and fracture initiation was analysed. The stress field characteristics of the aggregated models were analysed using the finite element method (FEM). The failure process was simulated using the distinct element method (DEM). Both FEM and DEM results were compared with the experimental observations. The results showed that the proposed method can very well visualize the stress field of aggregated solids during uniaxial loading. The results of the visualization tests were in good agreement with those of the numerical simulations.

Study the dynamic crack path in brittle material under thermal shock loading by phase field modeling

Abstract: A thermal–mechanical coupled phase field fracture model is developed to study the complex dynamic crack propagation path in brittle material under thermal shock loading. By introducing a global continuum phase-field variable to describe the diffusive crack, the coupling between heat transfer, deformation and fracture is conveniently realized. A novel elastic energy density function is proposed to drive the evolution of phase-field variable in a more realistic way. The three-field coupling equations are efficiently solved by adopting a staggered time integration scheme. The coupled phase field fracture model is verified by comparing with three classical examples and is then applied to study the fracture of disk specimens under central thermal shock. The simulations reproduce the three different types of crack paths observed in experiments. It is found that the crack grows through the heating area straightly at lower heating body flux, while branches into two at higher heating body flux loading. The crack branching prefers to occur in the heating area with larger heating radius and prefers to occur outside the heating area with smaller heating radius. Interestingly, the crack branches when propagation speed is at its lowest point, and it always occurs close to the compression region. It is shown that the heterogeneous stress field induced by temperature inhomogeneity may have a strong influence on the crack branching under the thermal shock loading.

The Influence of Temperature on Time-Dependent Deformation and Failure in Granite: A Mesoscale Modeling Approach

Abstract: An understanding of the influence of temperature on brittle creep in granite is important for the management and optimization of granitic nuclear waste repositories and geothermal resources. We propose here a two-dimensional, thermo-mechanical numerical model that describes the time-dependent brittle deformation (brittle creep) of low-porosity granite under different constant temperatures and confining pressures. The mesoscale model accounts for material heterogeneity through a stochastic local failure stress field, and local material degradation using an exponential material softening law. Importantly, the model introduces the concept of a mesoscopic renormalization to capture the co-operative interaction between microcracks in the transition from distributed to localized damage. The mesoscale physico-mechanical parameters for the model were first determined using a trial-and-error method (until the modeled output accurately captured mechanical data from constant strain rate experiments on low-porosity granite at three different confining pressures). The thermo-physical parameters required for the model, such as specific heat capacity, coefficient of linear thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity, were then determined from brittle creep experiments performed on the same low-porosity granite at temperatures of 23, 50, and 90 °C. The good agreement between the modeled output and the experimental data, using a unique set of thermo-physico-mechanical parameters, lends confidence to our numerical approach. Using these parameters, we then explore the influence of temperature, differential stress, confining pressure, and sample homogeneity on brittle creep in low-porosity granite. Our simulations show that increases in temperature and differential stress increase the creep strain rate and therefore reduce time-to-failure, while increases in confining pressure and sample homogeneity decrease creep strain rate and increase time-to-failure. We anticipate that the modeling presented herein will assist in the management and optimization of geotechnical engineering projects within granite.

Present‐day stress orientation in the Clarence‐Moreton Basin of New South Wales, Australia: a new high density dataset reveals local stress rotations

Abstract: Early phases of the Australian Stress Map project revealed that plate boundary forces acting on the Indo-Australian Platecontrol the long wavelength of the maximum horizontal present-day stress orientation in the Australian continent. However, all numerical models of the stress field to date are unable to predict the observed orientation of maximum horizontal stress in the northeast of New South Wales, Australia. Recent coal seam gas exploration in the Clarence-Moreton Basin, eastern Australia, provides an opportunity to better evaluate the state of crustal stress in this part of the continent where only limited information was available prior to this study. Herein, we conduct the first analysis of the present-day tectonic stress in the Clarence-Moreton Basin, from drilling-induced tensile fractures and borehole breakouts interpreted using 11.3km of acoustic image logs in 27 vertical wells. A total of 2822 drilling-induced stress indicators suggest a mean orientation of N069 degrees E (+/- 23 degrees) for the maximum horizontal present-day stress in the basin which is different from that predicted by published geomechanical-numerical models. In addition, we find significant localised perturbations of borehole breakouts, both spatially and with depth, that are consistent with stress variations near faults, fractures and lithological contrasts, indicating that local structures are an important source of stress in the basin. The observation that structures can have a major control on the stresses in the basin suggests that, while gravity and plate boundary forces have the major role in the long wavelength (first-order) stress pattern of the continent, local perturbations are significant and can lead to substantial changes in the orientation of the maximum horizontal present-day stress, particularly at the basin scale. These local perturbations of stress as a result of faults and fractures have important implications in borehole stability and permeability of coal seam gas reservoirs for safe and sustainable extraction of methane in this area.

Thermal effects on wave propagation characteristics of rotating strain gradient temperature-dependent functionally graded nanoscale beams

Abstract: In the present article, wave dispersion behavior of a temperature-dependent functionally graded (FG) nanobeam undergoing rotation subjected to thermal loading is investigated according to nonlocal strain gradient theory, in which the stress enumerates for both nonlocal stress field and the strain gradient stress field. Mori–Tanaka distribution model is considered to express the gradual variation of material properties across the thickness. The governing equations are derived as a function of axial force due to centrifugal stiffening and displacements by applying Hamilton’s principle according to Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. By applying an analytical solution, the dispersion relations of rotating FG nanobeam are obtained by solving an eigenvalue problem. Obviously, numerical results indicate that various parameters such as angular velocity, gradient index, temperature change, wave number, and nonlocality parameter have significant influences on the wave characteristics of rotating FG nanobeams. Hen...

Experimental measurement of residual stress and distortion in additively manufactured stainless steel components with various dimensions

Abstract: Disk-shaped 316L stainless steel parts with various diameters and heights were additively manufactured using a direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technique. Neutron diffraction was used to profile the residual stresses in the samples before and after removal of the build plate and support structures. Moreover, distortion level of the parts before and after the removal was quantified using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Large tensile in-plane stresses (up to ≈ 400 MPa) were measured near the as-built disk top surfaces, where the stress magnitude decreased from the disk center to the edges. The stress gradient was steeper for the disks with smaller diameters and heights. Following the removal of the build plate and support structures, the magnitude of the in-plane residual stresses decreased dramatically (up to 330 MPa) whereas the axial stress magnitude did not change significantly. The stress relaxation caused the disks to distort, where the distortion metric was higher for the disks with smaller diameters and heights. The distribution of the residual stresses revealed a marked breakdown of self-similarity in their distribution even comparing disk-shaped samples that were fabricated under identical printing parameters; the stress field profiles were not linearly scaled as a function of height and diameter.

Stress Models of the Annual Hydrospheric, Atmospheric, Thermal, and Tidal Loading Cycles on California Faults: Perturbation of Background Stress and Changes in Seismicity

Abstract: Author(s): Johnson, CW; Fu, Y; Burgmann, R | Abstract: Stresses in the lithosphere arise from multiple natural loading sources that include both surface and body forces. The largest surface loads include near-surface water storage, snow and ice, atmosphere pressure, ocean loading, and temperature changes. The solid Earth also deforms from celestial body interactions and variations in Earth's rotation. We model the seasonal stress changes in California from 2006 through 2014 for seven different loading sources with annual periods to produce an aggregate stressing history for faults in the study area. Our modeling shows that the annual water loading, atmosphere, temperature, and Earth pole tides are the largest loading sources and should each be evaluated to fully describe seasonal stress changes. In California we find that the hydrological loads are the largest source of seasonal stresses. We explore the seasonal stresses with respect to the background principal stress orientation constrained with regional focal mechanisms and analyze the modulation of seismicity. Our results do not suggest a resolvable seasonal variation for the ambient stress orientation in the shallow crust. When projecting the seasonal stresses into the background stress orientation we find that the timing of microseismicity modestly increases from an ~8nkPa seasonal mean-normal-stress perturbation. The results suggest that faults in California are optimally oriented with the background stress field and respond to subsurface pressure changes, possibly due to processes we have not considered in this study. At any time a population of faults are near failure as evident from earthquakes triggered by these slight seasonal stress perturbations.

Experimental simulation of water-inrush disaster from the floor of mine and its mechanism investigation

Abstract: Mine water inrush is very common in China and can cause hysteretic and severe damages to the safety production of coal mines. Essentially, water inrush from coal floor can be attributed to the connection of cracks and the formation of water channel in floor rocks under the interaction of stress field and seepage field. In this paper, the interaction between cracks, stress field, and seepage field in floor rocks was studied by physical simulation; the evolution law of water inrush from floor cracks was obtained under the fluid-solid coupling effect, and the monitoring of rock stress and seepage pressure was realized by virtue of soil pressure and pore-pressure sensors. The results indicated that the permeability of floor rocks had regional and temporal characteristics due to the cyclical variation of in-situ floor stress. The high-permeability zone occurred under the early mining stress area, and gradually extended and connected inside the floor. As a result, more confined water could flood into the connected cracks and thus changed the seepage field in front of working face. This work provides new approaches and knowledge for researching coal floor water inrush and has important significances for the prevention of coal water disasters.

On the link between stress field and small-scale hydraulic fracture growth in anisotropic rock derived from microseismicity

Abstract: . To characterize the stress field at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS) underground rock laboratory, a series of hydrofracturing and overcoring tests were performed. Hydrofracturing was accompanied by seismic monitoring using a network of highly sensitive piezosensors and accelerometers that were able to record small seismic events associated with metre-sized fractures. Due to potential discrepancies between the hydrofracture orientation and stress field estimates from overcoring, it was essential to obtain high-precision hypocentre locations that reliably illuminate fracture growth. Absolute locations were improved using a transverse isotropic P-wave velocity model and by applying joint hypocentre determination that allowed for the computation of station corrections. We further exploited the high degree of waveform similarity of events by applying cluster analysis and relative relocation. Resulting clouds of absolute and relative located seismicity showed a consistent east–west strike and 70° dip for all hydrofractures. The fracture growth direction from microseismicity is consistent with the principal stress orientations from the overcoring stress tests, provided that an anisotropic elastic model for the rock mass is used in the data inversions. The σ1 stress is significantly larger than the other two principal stresses and has a reasonably well-defined orientation that is subparallel to the fracture plane; σ2 and σ3 are almost equal in magnitude and thus lie on a circle defined by the standard errors of the solutions. The poles of the microseismicity planes also lie on this circle towards the north. Analysis of P-wave polarizations suggested double-couple focal mechanisms with both thrust and normal faulting mechanisms present, whereas strike-slip and thrust mechanisms would be expected from the overcoring-derived stress solution. The reasons for these discrepancies can be explained by pressure leak-off, but possibly may also involve stress field rotation around the propagating hydrofracture. Our study demonstrates that microseismicity monitoring along with high-resolution event locations provides valuable information for interpreting stress characterization measurements.

Stress relaxation behaviour in IN718 nickel based superalloy during ageing heat treatments

Abstract: Designing microstructure of components made from Inconel 718 nickel based superalloy (IN718) with tailored mechanical properties for high temperature applications, require sequential thermo-mechanical processing. This often includes straining and annealing at solution annealing temperature (i.e. ≈ 980 °C) followed by water quenching and subsequent aging heat treatments at lower temperatures. In addition to the microstructure development (i.e. precipitation) the aging heat treatment partially relieve the residual stresses generated at previous stages of forging and water quenching, however the stress field will not be completely relaxed. In this study, a series of experiments were conducted on round tensile specimens made from IN718 bar to investigate tensile stress relaxation behaviours at elevated temperatures used for aging heat treatments. The stress relaxation curves obtained can be described by a hyperbolic function with a non-zero asymptotic stress (σ ∞ ), which seems to be proportional to the initially applied stress (σ 0 ) for a fixed temperature. This behaviour is investigated at temperatures between 620 °C and 770 °C that is a temperature range used in industry to perform the aging heat treatments to obtain microstructures with tailored mechanical properties. It has been shown that the σ ∞ / σ 0 ratio has decreased rapidly with increasing temperature at this range. The relaxation behaviour has been assessed numerically and an empirical relationship has been defined for each temperature that can be used for modelling purposes.

Deformation correlations, stress field switches and evolution of an orogenic intersection: The Pan-African Kaoko-Damara orogenic junction, Namibia

Abstract: Age calibrated deformation histories established by detailed mapping and dating of key magmatic time markers are correlated across all tectono-metamorphic provinces in the Damara Orogenic System Correlations across structural belts result in an internally consistent deformation framework with evidence of stress field rotations with similar timing, and switches between different deformation events Horizontal principle compressive stress rotated clockwise ∼180° in total during Kaoko Belt evolution, and ∼135° during Damara Belt evolution At most stages, stress field variation is progressive and can be attributed to events within the Damara Orogenic System, caused by changes in relative trajectories of the interacting Rio De La Plata, Congo, and Kalahari Cratons Kaokoan orogenesis occurred earliest and evolved from collision and obduction at ∼590 Ma, involving E–W directed shortening, progressing through different transpressional states with ∼45° rotation of the stress field to strike-slip shear under NW–SE shortening at ∼550–530 Ma Damaran orogenesis evolved from collision at ∼555–550 Ma with NW–SE directed shortening in common with the Kaoko Belt, and subsequently evolved through ∼90° rotation of the stress field to NE–SW shortening at ∼512–508 Ma Both Kaoko and Damara orogenic fronts were operating at the same time, with all three cratons being coaxially convergent during the 550–530 Ma period; Rio De La Plata directed SE against the Congo Craton margin, and both together over-riding the Kalahari Craton margin also towards the SE Progressive stress field rotation was punctuated by rapid and significant switches at ∼530–525 Ma, ∼508 Ma and ∼505 Ma These three events included: (1) Culmination of main phase orogenesis in the Damara Belt, coinciding with maximum burial and peak metamorphism at 530–525 Ma This occurred at the same time as termination of transpression and initiation of transtensional reactivation of shear zones in the Kaoko Belt Principle compressive stress switched from NW–SE to NNW–SSE shortening in both Kaoko and Damara Belts at this time This marks the start of Congo-Kalahari stress field overwhelming the waning Rio De La Plata-Congo stress field, and from this time forward contraction across the Damara Belt generated the stress field governing subsequent low-strain events in the Kaoko Belt (2) A sudden switch to E–W directed shortening at ∼508 Ma is interpreted as a far-field effect imposed on the Damara Orogenic System, most plausibly from arc obduction along the orogenic margin of Gondwana (Ross-Delamerian Orogen) (3) This imposed stress field established a N–S extension direction exploited by decompression melts, switch to vertical shortening, and triggered gravitational collapse and extension of the thermally weakened hot orogen core at ∼505 Ma, producing an extensional metamorphic core complex across the Central Zone