Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. & Geomech. Abstr. Vol. 29, No. 3, pp.

225-236, 1992 0148-9062/92 $5.00 + 0.00

Printed in Great Britain 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd

Gravitational Stresses in Anisotropic

Rock Masses with Inclined Strata
B. AMADED
E. PAN~"
This paper presents closed-form solutions for the stress field induced by gravity
in generally anisotropic, orthotropic and transversely isotropic rock masses.
These rocks are assumed to be homogeneous and linearly elastic continua with
strata inclined with respect to a horizontal ground surface. It is found that the
stress field is multiaxial. The vertical stress is always a principal stress and is
equal to the weight of the overlying material. The horizontal stresses are
strongly correlated to the rock mass fabric. The expressions for the gravity-
induced horizontal stresses are different for rock masses deforming under
conditions of no lateral strain and no lateral displacement (uniaxial strain). The
gravity-induced horizontal stresses depend on several parameters such as the
type, degree and orientation of the rock anisotropy with respect to the ground
surface. It is found that depending on the value of those parameters, and
constrained by the thermodynamic requirement that the strain energy of the
rock must always be positive-definite, the gravity induced horizontal stresses
can be larger, equal or less than the vertical stress. Furthermore, for a certain
range of elastic properties of a transversely isotropic rock mass with inclined
strata only, it is thermodynamically admissible for the horizontal stress parallel
to the dip direction of the strata to be tensile.

INTRODUCTION in rock masses. In fact, for some range of anisotropic

rock properties, it was found that it is thermodynami-
In two recent papers [1,2], closed-form solutions cally admissible for gravity-induced horizontal stresses
were presented for the components of the stress field to exceed the vertical stress component which is not
induced by gravitational loading of laterally restrained possible with the isotropic solution.
anisotropic rock masses with a horizontal ground sur- The purpose of this paper is to consider the nature of
face. The rock masses were modelled as orthotropic or the gravity-induced stress field in homogeneous or-
transversely isotropic linearly elastic materials that were thotropic and transversely isotropic rock masses with
either homogeneous or stratified with homogeneous strata which are now inclined with respect to a horizon-
layers. The solutions were limited to orthotropic and tal ground surface. At the outset, new closed-form
transversely isotropic rock masses with horizontal or solutions for the stresses derived by the second author
vertical planes of symmetry. are presented for gravitational loading of generally
The analytical solutions of Amadei et al. [1, 2] showed anisotropic, orthotropic and transversely isotropic rock
that for anisotropic rock masses under gravity and a masses under no lateral strain and no lateral displace-
condition of no lateral displacements, the horizontal ment conditions. This is followed by a parametric study
stresses could not be predicted by the classical isotropic on the effect of rock anisotropic properties and rock
solution of Terzaghi and Richart [3]. Recall that in the
strata inclination on gravity-induced stresses. Finally, it
isotropic solution, the horizontal stresses are equal to is shown how the domains of variation of gravity-in-
v / ( 1 - v) times the vertical stress where v is the rock duced horizontal stresses in anisotropic rocks are con-
Poisson's ratio. It was found that the magnitude of
trolled by thermodynamic constraints on their elastic
gravity-induced horizontal stresses greatly depends on
properties.
the type, degree and orientation of rock anisotropy with
respect to the ground surface. Also, it appeared that
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
inclusion of anisotropy could broaden the range of
permissible values of gravity-induced horizontal stresses General solution
Consider the equilibrium of a fiat lying horizontal
tDepartment of Civil Ensineering, Universityof Colorado, Boulder, elastic half-space representing a rock mass of uniform
CO 80309, U.S.A. density p under gravity alone. Let x, y, z be an arbitrary
225
226 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES

rock mass are independent of the x- and y-coordinates,

all the components of stress, strain and displacement
induced by gravity can be assumed to be independent of
x and y and to depend on z only. For this assumption,
the horizontal strain components ¢~, ~y and ~ vanish,
that is, the rock mass deforms under a condition of
no lateral strain. The three non-vanishing strain
components are equal to:

Ou,

Fig. 1. Three-dimensional problem geometry showing the orientation

of one of the planes of symmetry P in the x, y, z coordinate system. ~Y~= ~z '

~u x
coordinate system attached to the half-space such that ?x" = - c3--~-" (4)
the x- and y-axes are in the horizontal plane and the
z-axis is positive downward (Fig. 1). The constitutive
Since the stress components are independent of x and
model for the rock mass is assumed to be described
y, the equations of equilibrium [equation (3)] reduce
by Hooke's law which can be written in the x, y, z
to:
coordinate system as follows:
~Txz
(Q = (A)(o') (1) = 0;
Oz
or
C3Zy== 0;
(o) = (C)(e), (2) c~z

where (o) and (~) are, respectively, (6 x 1) column ~0"z

o-7 = s,z. (5)
matrix representations of the stress and strain tensors in
the x , y , z-coordinate system. (A) is a (6 x 6) symmetric
compliance matrix with 21 independent components a# Using the stress-free boundary condition at the ground
( i , j = 1-,6) and (C) is the corresponding matrix of
surface, integration of equation (5) gives that the shear
stresses T~ and Ty~always vanish at any depth z and that
elastic parameters with components c a (i, j = 1 ~ 6) and
~r~is always equal to the weight p g z of the material above
is such that (C) = (A)- ~. The components a# and c# are
z. The other three stress components o~, oy and ~y can
assumed to be independent of x and y but are allowed
be obtained by substituting the conditions %~ =Ty: = 0
to vary with the z-coordinate.
and o: = p g z into equation (2). This results in the
Since the upper surface of the rock mass is free of any
following system of three equations:
loads, the three stress components oz, ¢~ and zy, must
vanish at z = 0. In addition, under gravitational loading
c33~z + c347j,~ + c3s~z = pgz,
in the z-direction, at any point in the rock mass, the six
stress components must satisfy the following three c ~ z + c.~yz + c45~'x~ = O,
equations of equilibrium:
c35~z+ c4s~y,+ Css~'== 0, (6)
aOx C3"Cxy C~¢x:
o-;- =o, that can be solved for the three unknown strains ~:, ~yz
and ~=, e . g .
~'rxy Ooy c~'ryz =0, pgz .
~" = " - K " tc.cs5 - c ~ ) ,

01:x: ¢~'Cy: 00"z pgz

0x -°s =°" (3) 7yz = -- A " ( c ~ c . -- c3sc, s),

In this paper, compressive stresses and contractile strains pgz .

~,,~ --~-" ~c3,c,s
= - c35c~), (7)
are taken as positive and the negative direction of the
gravitational body force p g is in the positive z direction where
(e.g. downward) where g is the acceleration due to
gravity. A = c33 ( c . cs5 - c~s) - c ~ ( c ~ c . - c3~c,5 )
Because the body force of gravity, the ground surface
boundary conditions and the elastic properties of the + c35 ( c ~ c4s - c35 c . ) .
 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONALSTRESSES 227

Substituting those three strain components into equation or in a more compact matrix form:
(2), gives the expression for the stress components ox, o~
(E)., = (H)(o)., (11)
and %y:
Nine independent elastic parameters are needed to de-
pgz 2 scribe the deformability of the rock in the n, s, t coordi-
o~ = - T ' [ c , ~ ( c . c . - c.~)
nate system. E,, E, and E, are the Young's moduli in
- c,(c~cs~ - c ~ c ~ ) + c , ( c ~ c ~ - c3~c,)], the n, s and t directions, respectively. G=, G,, and Gs, are
the shear moduli in planes parallel to the ns, nt and st
pgz planes, respectively. Finally, vu (i, j = n, s, t) are the
o~ = -Z-'[c~(c"c" - c2,,)
Poisson's ratios that characterize the normal strains in
the symmetry directions j when a stress is applied in the
- c~ (c~ c . - c . c45) + c2s ( c ~ c,s - c3s c . ) ] ,
symmetry directions i. Became of symmetry of the
compliance matrix (H), Poisson's ratios vu and vii are
~ = E_~. [c~,(c,,c, - c~) such that v¢lEi = v ~ l ~ .
Using the coordinate transformation rules for
- c~(c~,c55 - c35c45)+ c~(c~c45 - c3sc~)]. (8) Cartesian tensors, the components a o and cu of matrices
(A) and (C) in equations (l) and (2) can be expressed in
In addition,
terms of the nine elastic parameters of the rock in the
o,=pgz, ~=0, x~=0. (9) n,s, t, coordinate system and the dip angle ~ (see
Appendix). For the geometry of Fig. I, it is shown in the
Equations (8) and (9) show that for a general anisotropic Appendix that several components of matrices (A) and
rock mass with 21 elastic parameters under gravity and (C) vanish, e.g. a4s , a~, c45, c~ and a~, a~, c,, c~ for
a no lateral strain condition, the vertical stress is always i ffi 1, 2, 3. Substituting these conditions into equation
a principal stress and its magnitude is independent of the (8), the shear stress %y vanishes and o-x and oy have the
rock mass elastic properties. The two horizontal princi- following expressions:
pal stresses are not equal and their magnitude and
orientation in the x, y plane depend on the type and c~3c55 - c~5c35
ax = pgz
degree of rock mass anisotropy. C33 C55 - - C ~5
Consider now the special case when the rock mass is o~ = pgz cz3c55-- c25c35 (12)
orthotropic in a local n, s, t coordinate system attached to ¢33 C55 - - C~5
three orthogonal planes of symmetry. The orientation of
that coordinate system with respect to the global x, y, z Equations (9) and (12) show that if one plane of
coordinate system is shown in Fig. 1. It is such that the symmetry of the orthotropic rock mass strikes parallel to
t- and y-axes are parallel. Therefore, one of the three the y-axis, the three stress components in the x, y, z
planes of symmetry (defined as P in Fig. 1) strikes coordinate system o-~, oy and o, are always principal
parallel to the y-axis. Let ~ be the dip angle of that stresses. Because of the linear relations existing between
plane. The constitutive equation for the orthotropic rock coeffidents a u and h u of matrices and (A) and (H) in
mass in the n, s, t coordinate system is given by the equations (1) and (11), respectively, it can be shown that
following equation: the stress ratios o~/pgz and oy/pgz defined in equation
. °
(12) depend on the dip angle ~ and eight dimensionless
1 v= vm 0 0 0 quantities:
E. E. E, E,. E, E,. e,. E, (13)
v= __1 vu 0 0 0 V.' ~,; v~; ,.; ,.; G.,' G.,' G="
E, E, E,
Equations (10-13) still apply if the rock mass is trans-
v,t v:~ 1
Et 0 0 0 versely isotropic in one of the three ns-, nt- or st-planes.
E. E. E, In that case, only five independent elastic parameters are
1 needed to describe the deformability of the medium in
0 0 0 0 0
%
- -

the n, s, t coordinate system. In this paper, these par-

1 ameters are called E, E', v, v' and G' with the following
0 0 0 0 0
Gm definitions:
- -

1 (i) E and E' are Young's moduli in the plane of

7= 0 0 0 0 0
transverse isotropy and in direction normal to it,

II
respectively;
(ii) v and v' are Poisson's ratios characterizing the
lateral strain response in the plane of transverse
x o',
T~ ' (10) isotropy to a stress acting parallel or normal to
it, respectively; and
(iii) G" is the shear modulus in planes normal to the
Jl# plane of transverse isotropy.
228 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES

Relations exist between E, E', v, v', G and G' and the uniaxial strain condition. An example of rock mass
coefficients of matrix (H) in equation (1 1). For instance, anisotropy for which the two conditions coincide is
for transverse isotropy in the st-plane: presented below.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
S p e c i a l c a s e w h e n ~ -- 0 o r 9 0 °
E, -~; E, E, E' C~ ~, ~"
When the dip angle ~ in Fig. 1 is equal to 0 or 90 °,
rns Vnt Y" the orthotropic or transversely isotropic rock mass has
E , E ~ E " planes of symmetry normal to the x-, y- and z-axes. For
Vs: Vzs V
these anisotropy orientations, the rock mass has nine or
five independent elastic properties in the x, y, z coordi-
F.~F.,E' nate system and many components of matrices (A) and
1 1 2(1 + v) (C) vanish, e.g. a45, a~, as~, c45, c4~, c56 and a~,, ais, a~,
(14)
G,, G E c~, c~5, c~ for i = 1, 2, 3. In particular, since c34 and c35
vanish and c3~ also vanishes, equation (16) gives the
The stress ratios o x / p g z and O y / p g z defined in equation following expressions for the principal horizontal
(12) now depend on the dip angle ~ and the following stresses ox and oy:
four dimensionless quantities:
E G C13
0 x = pgZ "--,
E" v; v, G' (15) C33

No lateral displacement solution C23

oy ffi p g z . - - . (17)
Equations (8), (9) and (1 2) were derived assuming that ¢33
the components of stress, strain and displacement Substituting the relations existing between the c u and a,j
induced by gravity are independent of the x- and components of matrices (C) and (A) and the nine or five
y-coordinates. This assumption results in a no lateral elastic properties of the rock mass into equation (17),
strain condition G = Ey= ~xy= 0. Since y . and T= and ~ gives the expressions for the gravity-induced stresses
do not vanish, this no lateral strain condition is not as proposed by Amadei e t al. [l] for orthotropic and
restrictive as the classical uniaxial strain condition where transversely isotropic rock masses. For an orthotropic
all strain components except ¢~ vanish. Furthermore, rock mass, the stress ratios O x / p g z and o ~ / p g z are
combining equations (4) and (7), the displacement com- equal to:
ponents ux, uy and u~ are quadratic functions of the depth
z whereas u~ and uy vanish for the uniaxial strain Ox _~ a12a23 - - a22a13 ..~ Vx: ..[- VyzVxy
condition. pgz at2a22-- a~2 1 -- Vxy Vyx '
Consider now the case where, in addition to the
assumptions associated with the no lateral strain con- oy ffi al2at3 - - alia23 = vyz + VyxVxz (18)
dition, the anisotropic rock mass is not allowed to pgz a l 2 a ~ - - a~2 1 - - vxy vyx
deform in the horizontal plane under gravitational load-
ing, i.e. u~ ffi uy = 0. Then, the strain components Ty~and For a horizontally transversely isotropic rock mass,
T~: vanish along with G, ey and )'xyand the vertical strain equation (17) gives:
E~ is the only non-vanishing strain component (uniaxial
strain condition). Substituting the condition T, = ~x~= 0 o~ = oy = v ' E 1 (19)
pgz pgz E" 1- v "
into equation (6) results in E~ = p g z / c 3 3 and c~ and Ca5
vanishing. Then, substituting c~ = c35 = 0 into equation If the transverse isotropy is vertical and parallel to
(8), the stress components a x , % and %ycan be expressed the y-axis of Fig. l, equation (19) is replaced by the
as follows: following:
C13
a,, = p g z " - - , V d-V '2--E
¢33
ox -- v'(l + v) ," o, _ E' (20)
c23
ay = p g z ' - - , pgz 1 - v "2 E___. pgz 1 - v "2 E "
¢33 E' E"

Xxy = p g x " c~
--. (16) Finally, for isotropic rock masses, equation (l 7) reduces
C33 to:
Unlike the stress components in equation (8), the stress 0x Oy -- V
components in equation (16) cannot be used for all rock (21)
flgz pgz 1 -- v
mass anisotropy types and orientations. They can only
be used for rock masses with planes of symmetry Note that in equations (18--21), the stress components
oriented such that c34 and c35 vanish. For such rock are all independent of the shear moduli of the rock. This
masses, the no lateral strain condition reduces to the is because the planes of symmetry of the rock coincide
 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONALSTRESSES 229

with the x, y, z coordinate system when ~ is equal to 0 GIG'

or 90 °.
o.so =-

PARAMETRIC STUDY 0.70

In order to illustrate the analytical solution presented

above, a parametric study was carried out to assess the 0.60
effect of the elastic properties of rock strata and their N 1
orientation on gravitational stresses induced in trans- ~ 0.50
versely isotropic rock masses. In the parametric study,
the geometry of Fig. 1 was adopted with planes of
transverse isotropy parallel to the st-plane. The domains o.4o
of variation selected for E/E', G/G', v and v' were based
on literature surveys on elastic properties of intact 0.30
i (a)
anisotropic rocks conducted by Gerrard [4] and Amadei
et al. [1].
As a numerical example, Figs 2a--c show, respectively, 0.20 I l l l i i i i h l l l l l l l I h l l l l l l l l l I i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i I
0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50
the variations of Ox/pgz, o,/pgz and o~/% computed E/E'
from equation (12) for several degrees of rock anisotropy
with E/E" and G/G" ranging between 1 and 3,
v = v ' = 0 . 2 5 and for a dip angle 0 equal to 30°.
1.00 G/G'
Compared to the isotropic solution, e.g. ¢x/plrz ffi 3
oy/pgz ffi 0.333 which is represented by point I in Figs 2
2a--c, both Ox and oy increase with E/E" and G/G'. For I
0.80
a fixed value of G/G', the stresses increase as E/E"
increases, that is as the rock mass becomes more deform-
able in directions normal to the planes of transverse
0.60
isotropy. Note that for a fixed value of E/E', the stress N
w
o, parallel to the dip direction of the planes of transverse
isotropy depends strongly on the value of G/G'. On the °>'0.40
other hand, the stress oy parallel to the strike of the
planes of transverse isotropy is not much affected by the
value of G/G'. An increase of G/G" indicates that the
0.20 (b)
rock mass becomes more deformable in shear in planes
normal to the planes of transverse isotropy. For a fixed
value of G/G', the stress ratio o~/oy decreases as E/E"
0 liilllilhll ii lilt |Ill i liliiliilliliil iiiiilill liilill i i ill
increases. 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.60
Figures 3a-c show, respectively, the variations of E/E'
o~/pgz, o,/pgz and o~/oy with E/E" for v'ffi 0.15, 0.25
and 0.35, G/G" ffi 1, v = 0.25 and for a dip angle ~# equal
to 30 °. Compared to the isotropic solution represented
by point I in Figs 3a-c, the horizontal stresses depend 1.$0
strongly on the value of the Poisson's ratio v'. For a
fixed value of EIE', the stresses and the stress ratio 1.S0
o~/0, increase with v'. Recall that Poisson's ratio v'
controls the lateral straining in the planes of transverse 1.40
isotropy resulting from a stress acting normal to those
planes. >, 1.20
Figures 4a--c show, respectively, the variations of
o~/pgz, %/pgz and Crx/Oy with the dip angle t# for ~X1.00
E/E'= 1, 2 and 3, v = v'ffi 0.25 and G/G'ffi 1. These ~ ~ , ~ !/G'
figures indicate that values of o~ and o, larger than those 0.80
predicted with the isotropic solution can be induced in
rock masses with shallow dipping strata. As the dip
angle of the strata increases, the difference between the
0.6o (c)
stresses calculated with the isotropic and anisotropic
0.40
solutions decreases. A similar trend can be seen in 0.S0 1.00 1.$0 2.00 2.$0 3.00 3.50
Figs 5a--c for which G/G' is now equal to 3. Note that E/E'
the values of the stress ratio o~/% in Figs 4c and and 5c FiS.2. variafio,,., of: (-) o.A~r':; ,Co)_o , / , ~ ; and (c) a.l~. with E/E"
strongly depend on the dip angle of the rock strata. for diffemat values of GIG, v - v - 0.25 and ¢~ - 30°.
230 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES

1.40 1.20

(a) v , . 0.35
1.20 1.00
E/E'-3
1.00
0.60

N 0.60 N
o
O. 0.60
x x
0.60
v'. 0.25 E/E'
0.40 3
0.40 2
1

0.20
0.20
(a)
~',linl,onlaoaoiJHJhNiliH , I H H i , n H l a H i , , I o a l J H I , n n H I 0
0
0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 0 20 40 60 80 100
E/E' ¥(degrees)

1.20
1.60

v'. 0.35 1.00

1.20
0.60

N
O~ v' 0.25 ,~0.60 E/E'
Q" 0.60

0.40 2
1
v' 0.15
0.20
Z 0.20 (b)

0 IIIIIll|lllllllllllllllllllJlllllilllJlllllll|iJ
0 illillll|lliiillllhllilllliliiliiilllilllllilllJllllllllll
o 20 40 6o 8o lOO
O.SO 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 ¥(degrees)
E/E'

1.20
1.20
(c) 1.00
E/E'
I
1.00 I

v'. 0.35 0.60

0.60 : O
ox 0.60
>, v ' . 0.25
~ 0.60
0.40
0.40

0.20
v ' . 0.15
0.201 (c)
0 IIIIIlllJllllll III J tlllllll I Jlltllll ill lllllllll J

0 IIIIIIIIJlllllllllllllllllll|llllll Illl IIIlllllllll IIIIIIll 0 20 40 60 so 100

0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.S0 3.00 3.50 ¥(degrees)
E/E' FiB. 4. Variations of: (a) a=/pSz; (b) oy/pt, z; and (c) o=/ay with Ik for
FiB. 3. Variations of.. (a) o~/pgz; (b) cr,/p&z; and (c) ox/a~ with E/E' E/E' = I, 2 a n d 3, v = v' = 0.25 a n d G/G : I. T h e isotropic solution
for v = 0 . 1 5 , 0.25 a n d 0.35, G/G'= I, v = 0 . 2 5 a n d ~k = 3 0 °. is s h o w n as a dashed line.
 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES 231

TYPES OF GRAvrrY-INDUCED STRESS

1.20 FIELDS IN ANISOTROPIC ROCK MASSES
_.=
1.00 Domains o f variation for the stresses
Figures 2-5 show that for transversely isotropic rock
0.80 masses, the ratios ~x/pgz, ~,/pgz and ~x/% can be less

~
than, equal or greater than unity depending on the
values o f E / E ' , G/G', v and v' and the dip angle ~ o f

"•x 0"60

~ 1 ~ E/E'
the rock strata. In other words, the type of gravity-
induced stress field and the ordering of the principal
0.40 stresses /n situ depend greatly on the fabric o f rock
masses and their anisotropic character.
1
The five and nine elastic properties o f transversely
0.20 isotropic and orthotropic rock masses, respectively, can-
(a)
not be randomly selected. Indeed, some inequalities
IIIfllll IIIIIIlllllllllllllllll IIIllll[lllllllll[ associated with the thermodynamic constraints that the
20 40 60 80 100 rock strain energy remains positive-definite, must be
¥ (degrees) satisfied [5, 6]. These inequalities, in turn, induce con-
straints on the possible domains of variation for the
gravitational stress components as shown by Amadei
1.20 et al. [1] for orthotropic and transversely isotropic rock
masses with horizontal or vertical planes of symmetry.
In this section, the constraints are further discussed for
1.00 transversely isotropic rock masses with inclined strata
and the geometry of Fig. 1.
0.80 Recall that if a rock mass were to be modelled as a
linearly elastic isotropic material, the combination o f
N
ClD equation (21) with the thermodynamic constraint

~~
Q- 0 . 6 0 - 1 < v < 0 . 5 implies that the possible domain o f
D .~..~.~...~ : E/E'
variation for the horizontal stress ¢x--o'y = ch induced
0.40 by gravitational loading is limited. Indeed, the ratio
¢h/pgz can only vary between 0 and 1 as the Poisson's
ratio varies between 0 and 0.5 (negative Poisson's
ooI : ratios although thermodynamically admissible have
not been measured in rocks). In other words, the hori-
0 IIIllfllillllllllilllltlllllilllllllll[|llllllll| zontal stress can never exceed the vertical stress at
0 20 40 60 60 100 any depth z unless v > 0.5 which is thermodynamically
¥ (degrees) inadmissible.

oh
1.80
pgz
0.!
1.60
6 0.95=~) 0 . ;
1.40

=,1.20 4
0
x E/E'
D 1.00

0.80 2 2
3
0.60
(c) "L . , ,

0.40 " 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 ~xz

0 20 40 60 80 1 O0
¥ (degrees) Fig. 6. Variations of the stress ratios ¢h/plz==¢x/p• with
v,=ffi v'E/E' and v for a horizontally transverse isotropic rock ma~
Fig. 5. Variations Of: (a) u,/pgz; Co)%/pgz; and (c) ~rx/o7 with ~ for The limitingcurvesbounding the thermodynamicallyadmimbk
E/E" = 1, 2 and 3, v = v" = 0.2.5and G/G' = 3. The isotropic solution domains are shown for E/E" ffi 1, 2 and 3. The isotropi¢ solution is
is shown as a dashed fine. indicated by the dnshcd line (after Amadei et a/. [ID.
RMMS 29/3---D
 232 A M A D E I and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES

If a rock mass is now modellext as transversely Figure 6 shows the variation of the horizontal stress
isotropic, its five elastic properties E, E', v, v' and G' ratio (Th/pgZ = (Tx/pgZ = ~y/pgZ with v'E/E" and v for a
must satisfy the following thermodynamic constraints horizontally transverse isotropic rock mass (~ ffi 0°). As
[11: shown by Amadei et al. [1], the horizontal stress can vary
over a large region compared to the isotropic solution
E, E', G' > 0, (22a)
since the domains of variation for v and v' in inequalities
- 1 < v < 1, (22b) (22) are not as restrictive as the domain of variation for
v in the isotropic model, The region is bounded by a
N/E'
V ) E-(1_- T- - - < v' < J ~ 'V )( 1E-2 (22c) curve that depends on the value of E/E" and whose
equation is obtained by combining the positive part of
Considering only the positive part of the domains of inequality (22c) with equation (19). Figure 6 shows that
variations for the Poisson's ratios v and v', the con- horizontal stresses larger than the vertical stress are
straints in inequalities (22) can be substituted into admissible for horizontally layerext rock masses.
• equation (12) to determine the types of stress fields that Figures 7 and 8 show the domain of variation of
are admissible in transversely isotropic rock masses. Gx/pgz and %/pgz with E/E" and v' for transversely

v ' = 0.3

// /
1.4 • 1.4 I / •
//
//
1.2 1.2
; V°= : v ' = 0.3 v'=0.4' //
1.0 :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "_'"'~_ .. ',". . . . . . . . .
-7-. . . . . . . . . . .~. . . . . . . /. ' ~N 0.81"0
N
0.8 .4' ,4'

~ 0.6 " - o 0.6 °2,0"//¢'J .i' (c)

- ~.~,/,~A/// (a)
0.4 - v ~ 0.4
v= 0 ~ I
0.2 : "~J~'* 0.2 //

Iil ilJiJ Iil il iniln i| I lli i,i I i ill il 0 * i In li~"/,= I i i i I i III n J n I i i | ==Jls~slJl
0
-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
ax/pgz Ox/Pgz

m
- I // •- //"
1.4 - ' / 1.4
" v'=0.3 ' / - //
-" .~p~_ • Ii / /
1.2 : / 7 " .V'=0.4/ ,, .- / E/E'=3 / / /
- ! /
- v'. 0.31 v'=0.4 /
1.0 ." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . / ~°!/ . . . . . . . . . 1.0
: ,T/-F,,T7
0.8 ,,..,,,, 4 g0.s -

:
-

,:,/" "= " "/A,VI',xY !

~0.6 " ,'- o.2,//IZ,I.,7 :

0.4
" .g:TY !

0.2 v',0 1 - - 7 0.2 _ / |

/- . / t

"il II i ~ i l i l i ill ,ills il[ lil iLiliJlllJ 0

-02 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 t .2 1.4
Ox/Pgz ax/pgz
Fig. 7. Variations of the stress ratios ox/pSz and %/ptz with E/E' and v' for G/G"= 1 and v = 0.25. Transversely isotropic
rock masses with inclined strata dipping at angles ,/i o f 30, 45, 60 and 90 ° in (a-d), respectively. The limiting curve corresponding
to the positive part o f inequality (22c) is indicated by the dotted dashed line.
 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES 233

--'-- ,~v'-0.3//, isotropic rock masses with inclined strata (0 < ~ ~< 90 °)
and for G/G" equal to 1 and 3, respectively. E / E ' varies
1.4
: ," between 1 and 4, v -- 0.25 and v" varies between 0.1 and
_ v' = 0.2 ,.i / 0.4. In Figs 7 and 8, the constraint associated with the
1.2
positive part o f inequality (22c) is indicated as dotted
dashed lines.
1.0 Figures 7a-d show the admissible stress fields when
:
N G/G" -- 1 and for strata dipping at angles ~ o f 30, 45, 60
~ 0.8
_- :7._4/f l / and 90 °, respectively. It appears that the stress com-
ponent ~y acting parallel to the strata is in general larger
0.6 - v'-O ~
than ¢x. However, as ~ increases, values of ¢x larger than
_ ~ . (a)
% becomes possible for values o f E/E" between 1 and 2
0.4
- / and for Poisson's ratios v' larger than 0.3. Compared to
_ / the isotropic solution respresented by point I, horizontal
0.2 . / stresses larger than the vertical stress pgz are thermody-
_ /

~I/i i I t t i I , i i I i , t I i a , , i I I i o i I I l
namically admissible. However, this becomes less admis-
) 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 sible as q/ increases, that is, as the rock strata become
~x/P0Z steeper. Note also that for low values of v' and large
values o f E/E', tensile stresses can develop in the
x-direction. This phenomenon will be discussed further
1.4 in the next section.
The trends observed in Figs 7a-c can also be found in
1.2 Figs 8a-c where G/G" is now equal to 3. Comparison o f
"

Figs 7 and 8 shows that the likelihood for having tensile

1.0
! ...... .,,'.. 0=2 ....... stresses in the x-direction when E/E" ranges between 1
and 4 vanishes as G/G" increases from 1 to 3. Another
N parametric study not presented here has shown that
0.8 _

: I/! for values ranging between 0.15 and 0.35, the Poisson's
~ 0.6 : A >/I Y :' ratio v has little effect on the stress variations shown in
_ (b) Figs 7 and 8.
0.4 - ~
Tensile stresses under gravitational loading
0.2 / o Figure 7 shows that for a transversely isotropic rock
/ 0
/ 0 mass, the x-component o f the stress field induced by
0 /t t l i t i l i l i | I t i l l i l i l l t l l ¢ lllll gravity could be tensile. This only takes place for rock
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 masses with inclined strata and for certain values o f the
~x/ Pgz rock elastic properties, in particular v" and E/E'.

1.4 I~ : //, 12

,.o
~-"

. . . . . . . . . . .
v' . 0.3
o
' lb /

. . . . . . . . .
/

il !i . V " 30 ° & 60 °
~N 0 . 8 v'-0.
~ . ,/' ' 6
o o,,iv '" (c, 4
0.4 / I/'/~'~''J<O ,
0.2 I / 2
o~'n t t I t I I I t a a I , = n I o o t t t t I n i t | n I
"",, '-., .,.
loo • •
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 0 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllll)lll
oX/pgz 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0
V
Fig. 8. Yariafions of the streu ratios cx/pCz and ¢rj,/pEzwith £/E" and
v" for G/G" = 3 and v = 0.25. T r a n s v e r ~ y isotropic rock r P - ~ with Fig. 9. Range of E/E"and v' for which the stress o. ia temile (shaded
inclined strata dipping at angles ~k of 30, 45, and 60° in (a-c), region)when G/G"= 1, v = 0.25 and ~ rangesbetween 15and 75°. The
respectively.The fimitingcurve correspondingto the positive part of curve corres~nding to the podtive part of inequality(22c)is indicated
inequality (22c) is indicated by the dotted dashed line. as a dotted fine.
234 A M A D E I and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES

12 E" ¥ = 15 ° & 75 ° character of the rock mass. In particular, for orthotropic

~ . ~ = 3Oo & 60 ° and transversely isotropic rock masses with dipping
strata, the horizontal stresses parallel to the strike and
10 i: i ¥ =45° dip direction of the strata are always principal stresses
and are not equal. They depend on the value of the dip
8 ~ " , angle and the nine or five elastic properties of
orthotropic or transversely isotropic rock masses,
respectively. These properties appear in the form of eight
or four dimensionless quantities.
The expressions for the gravity-induced horizontal
4 stresses differ if the horizontal displacements in an
>0 '.. anisotropic rock mass are allowed or not. Using the
assumption that the components of stress, strain and
2 • •
displacements, the ground surface boundary conditions
eeeol, e and the rock mass deformability properties do not vary
o in the horizontal plane results in general expressions for
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 gravity-induced stresses that can be used for all rock
V t
mass anisotropy types and orientations. This assumption
Fig. 10. Range of E/E" and v' for which the stress ox is t e n s e (shaded makes the rock mass deform under a condition of no
region) when G/G' ffi 3, v = 0.25 and ~ ranges between 15 and 75 °. The lateral strain but the horizontal displacements do not
curve corresponding to the positive part o f inequality (22c) is indicated
as a dotted line. vanish and vary with depth only. Using the additional
assumption that the two horizontal displacements must
also vanish results in a uniaxial strain condition and
Because of its importance, the potential for developing creates constraints on the type of rock mass anisotropy
tensile stresses under gravity alone was investigated for which gravity-induced stresses can be determined.
further for transversely isotropic rock masses with E/E" The no lateral strain condition presented in this paper is
ranging between 1 and 10 and v' ranging between 0 and not as restrictive as the uniaxial strain condition. For
1.0. Figure 9 shows in a v', E/E" space, the range of isotropic, transversely isotropic and orthotropic rock
elastic properties for which ax is tensile when G/G" ffi 1, masses, the no lateral strain condition reduces to the
v ffi 0.25 and for dip angles ranging between 15 and 75 °. uniaxial strain condition when the planes of anisotropy
The curve corresponding to the positive part of inequal- are either horizontal or vertical.
ity (22c) also appears in Fig. 9 as a dotted line. It appears For anisotropic rock masses, the gravity-induced
that the range of elastic properties for which ax is tensile stress field is three-dimensional. Depending on the rock
is maximum when the dip angle ¢, is equal to 45 °. Tensile mass anisotropic properties and the orientation of the
stresses can occur for values of E/E" as low as 2 and rock strata with respect to the ground surface, different
values of v" as large as 0.2. stress states are thermodynamically admissible for which
Figure 10 is similar to Fig. 9 but G/G" is now equal the strain energy of the rock always remains positive-
to 3. Comparison of Figs 9 and 10 indicates that as G/G" definite, The horizontal stress components can be larger,
increases, tensile stresses can only occur for anisotropic equal or less than the vertical stress. For transversely
rock masses with larger values of E/E' and smaller isotropic rock masses, it was found in this paper that
values of v'. Another parametric study not presented tensile horizontal stresses could develop in the dip
here has shown that for values ranging between 0.15 and direction of the rock strata for v' < 0.2, E/E" > 2, G/G'
0.35, the Poisson's ratio v has little effect on the extent close to 1 and strata that are neither horizontal nor
of the domains in Figs 9 and 10 where ax is tensile. vertical. Such domains of variations for the elastic
properties are not uncommon for intact anisotropic
rocks. For larger values of G/G', tensile stresses were
CONCLUSION
found to develop for larger values of E/E'. For instance,
The closed-form solutions proposed in this paper can when G/G'= 3, E/E" must be at least equal to 7 for
be used to predict the in situ stress field induced tensile stresses to appear. These conditions could
by gravitational loading of generally anisotropic, probably be found near the surface or regularly jointed
orthotropic and transversely isotropic homogeneous rock masses for which confinement is small and the
rock masses with strata that are inclined with respect to anisotropy created by systems of joint surfaces is high.
a horizontal ground surface. The stress field is multiaxial The possibility of generating tensile stresses under
and is strongly correlated to the rock mass structure. gravity alone opens new hypotheses for the formation of
For all anisotropic rock masses, the vertical stress is fractures in rock masses. This should be corroborated
always a principal stress and is equal to the weight of the with field observations.
overlying rock. Its magnitude is independent of For orthotropic rock masses, the induced stress field
anisotropy. The two horizontal principal stress com- is again multiaxial. However, the domains of variations
ponents are not equal and their magnitude and often- for the stress components have not been investigated
tation in the horizontal plane depend on the anisotropic in detail in this paper due to the complex nature of
 AMADEI and PAN: GRAVITATIONAL STRESSES 235

the t h e r m o d y n a m i c constraints on the rock elastic • 2 . fcos= ~ v__.sinZ

parameters [1].
Gravity-induced stress fields in anisotropic rock v,, . s i n =#~ sin22#
masses depend o n the type, degree and orientation o f the
rock anisotropy with respect to the g r o u n d surface. T h e y Vm V/8 ,
o,, = - ~, ~ ~ - ~ s,n~,
also depend on h o w the rock mass properties and the
degree o f anisotropy vary with depth. The effect o f such a . f c o s 2 . fcos2 # v.
E, sin2 ~ ) + sin2#
variations on gravity-induced stresses has already been
discussed by A m a d e i and Savage [7] and A m a d e i et al. x(_v,.cos2¢ sm2h\ sin220
[2] for horizontally regularly jointed and layered rock
masses. The solution presented in this paper can also be 2 {I v,,\
a | s = - - s i n 2 # sin # t ~ + - ~ . ) + sin2# COS2@
used to predict stresses in rock masses for which the
deformability properties vary with depth only. This can {I v.'~ sin 2# c o s 2 ~
take place if one or several o f the five or nine elastic
properties o f transversely isotropic and orthotropic rock a.-sin2 [I v,\ . • 2
#
masses a n d / o r the dip angle o f the rock strata vary with
depth. I f the rock mass density p also varies with depth,
x + + 2G, '
then 9 g z must be replaced by g .[ p dz in the expressions
for the gravity stresses p r o p o s e d in this paper. The effect sin2 # cos2~,
a44 ffi G,-~ "+ G., '
o f variations o f rock mass density and deformability
with depth on the in situ stress field is a subject o f current cos2# sin2#
research by the authors. ~=--~-.~ + G.~ '
1 1
a.:,n#
\a= a.,/
REFERENCES
2 [I 1 2v'\ cos 2 2 #
,
1. Amadei B., Savage W. Z. and Swolfs H. S. Gravitational stresses
in anisotropic rock masses. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. & • [v, v~\
Geomech. Abstr. 24, 5-14 (1987). a u ffi sm 2 # 1 - - - - - / ,
2. Amadei B., Swolfs H. S. and Savage W. Z. Gravity induced \E. E,/
stresses in stratified rock masses. Rock Mech. 21, 1-20 (1988). 1
3. Terzaghi K. and Richart F. E. Stresses in rocks about cavities. a22 zffi~ ,
Geotechnique 3, 57-90 (1952).
4. Gerrard C. M. Background to mathematical modelling in geome- a,4 ffi ale = a ~ = a ~ ffi a ~ ffi a ~ = a45 == a ~ ---- 0. (A2)
chanics: the role of fabric and stress history. Proc. Int. Syrup. on When # is equal to 0 or 90°, the following coefficientsalso vanish: al~,
Numerical Methods, Karlsruhe, pp. 33-120 (1975). a~, a3~ and a,~.
5• Lempriere B. M. Poisson's ratios in orthotropic materials. J. Am. For the geometry of Fig. 1, the components of matrices (A) and (C)
Inst. Aeronaut. Astronaut. 6, 2226-2227 (1968). are related as follows. Let D be equal to:
6. Picketing D. J. Anisotropic elastic parameters for soils. Geotech-
nique 20, 271-276 (1970). all a12 al 3 a15
7. Amadei B. and Savage W. Z. Gravitational stresses in regularly
a21 a. a7.3 a7.5
jointed rock masses. Proc. Int. Syrup. on Fundamentals of Rock D= (A3)
Joints, Bjorkliden, Sweden, pp. 463-473 (1985). a31 a32 a33 a3s
8. Amadei B. Rock Anisotropy and The Theory of Stress Measure- asl a52 a53 a55
ments, Lecture Notes in Engineering Series. Springer, New York
(1983). Then,
9. Goodman R. E. Introduction to Rock Mechanics• Wiley, New York I a22 a23 a25 l
(1980). ell ~ a23 a33 a3s ,
a2s a35 a55
Acknowledgement--The authors would like to thank Dr W. Z. Savage
for discussing ideas presented in this paper.
l al2 a ° als]
Accepted for publication 18 December 1991. Cl2 ~ - - ~ a23 a33 a35 ,
a~ a3~ as5

1 a~2 al3 als[

APPENDIX Cl3 ~ D a22 a23 a25
Matrices (A) and (H) in equations (1) and (I!), respectively, are a25 a35 o$$
related as follows [8]: 1 a12 a13 al$ I
(A ) = (T,)'(H)(T,), (AI)
where (T,) is a (6 x 6) coordinate transformation matrix for stress (see
Goodman [9], p. 404). Using equation (10) for matrix (H), the
components a u of (,4) are equal to: l all a13 a. I
C22 = -~ a31 a33 a35 ,
a,, = sm ~,~.~. ~, /
al$ a35 ass
{ v. 2- c°s2# \ sin ~ 2 #
x --:-sin q / + T | - t "
~, ~, ] 4(;. ' l all a13 a. I
a,~ = -- ~, sin~ # -- ~, cos ~ #,
aS1 a53
236 A M A D E I and PAN: G R A V I T A T I O N A L STRESSES

1 air at3 al51 and

C25=~ a2, a23 ;~ '
a~
a13 a33 c~= a2--a~a~ '
1 all a12 al~l
a44
asl a52 c~ = a2 _ a~ass,
I aH a12 a~51
a46
¢35----D a2,a13a32a22;~ ' c46 ~ a246 - a~la66"
(A5)

1 aH a12 a13[ Also,

css = ~ a2, a22 023. (A4)
a31 a32 a33 Ci4 ----"Ci6 ~ C24 "--- C26 ~ C34 ~ C36 ~ C45 ~ C~6 ~ O. (A6)