Influence of subsurface fractures on surface deformation of an elastic half-space

✍ Scribed by G. Wang; M. B. Dusseault; J. T. Pindera; L. Rothenburg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 957 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0363-9061
• DOI: 10.1002/nag.1610180502

✦ Synopsis

The paper presents a solution for calculation of the surface uplift field of a semi-infinite elastic solid embedded with a pressurized elliptical crack oriented at any angle, and at any depth. The results presented are those for a uniform pressure loading on the crack face, simulating a static pressurized hydraulic fracture, but the mathematical technique developed can be extended directly to non-uniform normal loads or general shear loads in the form of a polynomial up to the third order. The result of a special case of the new solution, where the crack is penny shaped and parallel to the free surface, is compared with results from Sun's solution and from experiments which were designed and performed by the authors. The experiments involved pressurization of a penny-shaped crack in a polyurethane material which is linear elastic under low stresses, and measurement of surface deformation by holographic interferometry and Fizeau interferometry. The correspondence between theory and experiment is excellent.