RESERVOIR GEOMECHANICS

CONTINUUM MECHANICS:
THE STATE OF STRESS
THE MOHR CIRCLE
THE TERZAGHI PRINCIPLE
GEOSTATIC STATE OF STRESS
Chiara Deangeli
a.y. 2015-2016
 Continuous medium

Continuous material: we disregard the discrete nature of matter and

we consider it as being without gaps or empty spaces.

The concept of a continuous medium permits us to define stress at a

point, a geometric point in space conceived as occupying no volume,
by a mathematical limit.
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 Surface forces Body forces
Surface forces result from physical contact between two bodies or they
may represent the force which an imaginary surface within a body
exerts on the adjacent surfaces.

Body forces are associated with the mass of the body and are
distributed throughout the volume of a body they do not result from
direct contact with other bodies. Gravitational, magnetic and inertial
forces are body forces.
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external surface forces and internal forces

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 Stresses
Stress at a) is the force over the area of the cross section:
F

A
Stress at b) is greater than stress at a): Weight
F

A1 F
Divide the cross section at a) into an infinite number of A
subsections A through which an infinitely small part F of
the total force F is acting. The force F can vary from one a)
subsection to another. Consider a subsection i which
contains a point P: the stress at the point P is:
Fi
lim
Ai 0 Ai
Orientation of the cross section direction of the force. In
c) the force is no longer normal to the cross section. F
Decompose the force into a normal Fn and a parallel Fs A1
component to the section: b)
Fn Fs
lim lim
Ai 0 A Ai 0 A
i i
c)
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Normal stress Shear stress

F A2
SI unit for stress: Pa (N/m2)
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 State of stress at a point P
Stress tensor z
matrix notation

xx xy xz
zz
ij yx yy yz zy
zx
yz
zx zy zz
xz yy
xx xy yx
engineering notation y

x xy xz

ij yx y yz x

zx zy z x xy xz

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ij y yz
9 components of stress
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6 independent stress components symm z

 Geomechanics convention for stress and strain

The reported convention has been the usual engineering

mechanics one. The stress is positive if directed in the positive
direction of coordinate axis, i.e. Tensile stress is positive.

However states of stress occurring naturally and generated and

sustained in a rock mass are pervasively compressive.

The following convention will be used for stress and strain

analysis:
Contractile normal strain are taken as positive
Compressive normal stress are taken as positive
The sense of positive shear stress on a surface is inward
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relative to the coordinate origin, if the inward normal to the

surface acts inwards relative to the coordinate origin, and
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conversely
 State of stress relative to Cartesian and
polar coordinate axes

y
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x
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 Rotation of the reference system

z
z
zx zy z
yz
xz
xy y
yx
x

y
y

x
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x
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 Rotation of the reference system
If we rotate the reference system from (x,y,z) to (l,m,n), for a tensor
of the second order (ex. ij) we have the following transformation law:

* A ij AT
ij

l lm ln lx ly lz x xy xz lx mx nx

ij lm m mn mx
*
my mz yx y yz l y my n y
nl mn n nx ny nz xz yz z lz mz nz

x y z
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l lx ly lz
m mx my mz Direction cosines
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n nx ny nz
 Analysis of stresses in two dimensions

x xy
ij
yx y

Discussion of stresses are algebraically simpler in two dimensions than

in three. In most instances no generality is lost by considering the two
dimensional case, as the extension to three dimensions is usually
straightforward. Many problems in geomechanics are essentially two
dimensional. Hence it is worthwhile to study the properties of the two
dimensional stress tensors.
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 Analysis of stresses in two dimensions
y

yx

xy
x x
xy

yx

y
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y
x
Positive sign convention
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 Analysis of stresses in two dimensions
State of stress on a general plane
y

yx
y

xy
x x
x
xy

yx
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y
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Reservoir Geomechanics
C. Deangeli Mohr Circles 2D
 Principal stresses 2D

OP

3 1
3

y
1 0
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ij
x
0 3
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 Principal stresses 3D

1 0 0
ij 2 0
symm 3

3 2 1

3
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2
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y
x
1
 Exercise
Given:

1 0 0 0
ij
ij
0 0 0 1

1 0 0 1
ij ij
0 1 1 0

Represent the stress states with the Mohr circles

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 Stress invariants

p is the mean normal stress

I1 x y z 3 p
I 2 x y x z y z xy
2
xz2 yz2
I 3 x y z z xy
2
y xz2 x yz2 2 xy xz yz

Or in terms of principal stresses:

I1 1 2 3 3 p

I 2 1 2 1 3 2 3
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I 3 1 2 3
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 Axial-symmetry problems
We address these problems for several common laboratory tests:

2 3
1
1 0 0
3 ij 3 0
3 symm 3
z 0 0
In terms of polar coordinates: ij r 0
symm

Assuming uniform state of stress

z 0 0
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=r ij r 0
symm r
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 Plane stress problems

Plane stress condition refers to those circumstances in which all stresses

associated to one coordinate direction are zero. An example is given by a thin
plate with the face of the plate being free from stress
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z xz yz 0
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 Deviatoric stress
In the analysis of some types of rock and soil behavior, it is usual
to split the stress tensor into two components: a spherical or
hydrostatic component, and a deviatoric component.

ij ij p ijd ij Kronecker delta

p mean normal stress=I1/3
dij deviatoric stress (stress deviator)

x xy xz p 0 0 x p xy xz

ij yx y yz 0 p 0 yx y p yz
xz yz z 0 0 p xz yz z p

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 Principal deviator stress
Stress deviator invariants

Principal deviator stresses can be defined as:

s1 1 p s2 2 p s3 3 p

The principal directions of the deviator stress tensor are the same as those of
the stress tensor
Stress deviator invariants are:

J1 s1 s2 s3 0
1 1
J 2 s1 s2 s3 1 p 2 p 3 p

2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2
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2 3 I1 I 2
J3 I1 I3
27 3
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 Differential Equations of equilibrium
Problems in solid mechanics frequently involve description of the stress
distribution in a body in static equilibrium under the combined action of surface
and body forces.
Determination of the stress distribution must take account of the requirement
that the stress field maintains static equilibrium throughout the body. This
condition requires satisfaction of the equations of static equilibrium for all
differential elements of the body.

x xz xy
X 0
x z y
y yz yx
Y 0
y z x
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z zx zy
Z 0
z x y
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 Principle of effective stress in soils Terzaghi (1936)
A basic postulate in soil mechanics

Saturated soil

ij ij u ij
ij total stress tensor
ij effective stress tensor
u pore water pressure
ij Kronecker delta
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 Principle of effective stress in soils Terzaghi (1936)

Saturated soil

ij ij u ij
Since in the context of soil mechanics the ability of
water to carry shear stress is negligible, all shearing
stress components are only supported by the solid
phase. It is always:

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.All measurable effects of a change of stress, such as compression,

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distortion, and a change of shearing resistance, are due exclusively to changes

of effective stress.. Terzaghi, 1936
 Principle of effective stress for rocks

ij ij u ij
Biot coefficient
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 Effective stresses - Total stresses
Mohr circles
x u xy xz u 0 0 x xy xz

ij yx y u yz 0 u 0 yx y yz
xz yz z u 0 0 u xz yz z

3 1 3 1
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u
 Geostatic stresses
The standard convention in rock and soil mechanics is to consider
compressive stresses as positive. Accordingly, if we assume the vertical axis
positive downward, the equilibrium equation in the vertical direction writes:

z
v

z zx zy z
0 0
z x y z
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v z
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 Geostatic stresses

The assessment of the horizontal stress is a complex task, because its actual
value depends on the (geologic) stress history of the deposits. The reason is
immediately apparent if we consider the equilibrium equation in the horizontal
direction:

x xz xy x
00 0
x z y x
The horizontal stress cannot be determined univocally from this equation. The
horizontal stress expression is:

ho F z uo
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 Geostatic stresses

Assuming the groundwater table at the

ground level and hydrostatic conditions,
the pore water pressure is given by:

uo w z z vo
ho
so that the effective vertical stress
(effective overburden stress) can be
computed as:

vo
vo uo
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 Geostatic stresses
The function F(z) remains arbitrary. As a matter of practical convenience
we can assign to the function F(z) a structure of this kind:

F z K o vo
ho

The total horizontal stress is:

ho Ko vo uo
where the unknown coefficient Ko, which may depend on the z coordinate,
is known as coefficient of earth pressure at rest (or coefficient of lateral
stress at rest).
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The most direct method of obtaining the horizontal stress

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is to measure it.
 Geostatic stresses

When defining the initial stress state, the stress components should be
computed in the following order:

vo z
uo w z
vo
vo uo z
vo vo
K o vo
ho ho ho

ho ho
uo
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 Exercise
A 1,5 kg sample of dry sand is poured into an Eureka can (fig 1 (a)) and
displaces 560 cm3 of water (fig 1 (b)).

fig 1 fig 2

1) A second 1,5 kg sample of the same dry sand is poured into an empty measuring
cylinder 55 mm in diameter and occupies 950 cm3 (fig 2 (a))
2) The cylinder is carefully filled with water up to the top level of the sand (fig.2 (b)).
3) The side of the measuring cylinder is tapped several times, causing the level of the
sand to settle to a volume 870 cm3 (denser state) (fig 2 (c)) .

Find:
1) e, d, z (depth of the sand);
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2)
3) e, , z (depth of the sand);
The total vertical stress, the pore pressure and the effective vertical
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stress at the base of the cylinder in fig.2 (a), (b),(c)