Stresses and Strains: Total & Deviatoric Stresses / Stress Ellipsoid

Stresses and Strains:
Total & Deviatoric Stresses / Stress Ellipsoid
Rock mechanics, being an interdisciplinary field,

borrows many concepts from the field of
continuum mechanics and mechanics of materials,
and in particular, the concepts of stress and strain.
Stresses in rock can be divided into in situ stresses and
induced stresses.
In situ stresses, also called natural, primitive or virgin
stresses, are the stresses that exist in the rock prior to any
disturbance.
On the other hand, induced stresses are associated with
man-made disturbance (excavation, drilling, pumping,
loading, etc..) or are induced by changes in natural conditions
(drying, swelling, consolidation, etc..).
Induced stresses depend on many parameters such as the in
situ stresses, the type of disturbance (excavation shape,
borehole diameter, etc..), and the rock mass properties.
Why study stress in rock mechanics and
rock engineering?
There are three basic reasons for an engineer to understand
stress in the context of rock mechanics. These are:
1. There is a pre-existing stress state in the ground and we need
to understand it, both directly and as the stress state applies to
analysis and design.
2. When engineering occurs, the stress state can be changed
dramatically.
3. Stress is not familiar: it is a tensor quantity and tensors are
not encountered in everyday life.
The difference between a scalar, a vector
and a tensor
A scalar is a quantity with magnitude only. Examples of scalars are temperature, time, mass and
pure colour-they are described completely by one value, e.g. degrees, seconds, kilograms and
frequency.
A vector is a quantity with magnitude and direction. Examples of vectors are force, velocity,
acceleration and the frequency of fractures encountered along a line in a rock mass-they are
described completely by three values, for example, x, y, z components which together specify
both direction and magnitude.
Normal stress
components and shear
stress components
On a real or imaginary plane through a
material, there can be normal forces and
shear forces. These are illustrated directly
in Fig. 3.l(a).
The normal and shear stress components

are the normal and shear forces per unit
area as shown in Fig. 3.l(b).
We are now in a position to obtain an
initial idea of the crucial difference
between forces and stresses. As shown in
Fig. 3.2(a), when the force component, Fn
is found in a direction Ɵ from F, the value
is F cosƟ.
However, and as shown in Fig. 3.2(b),
when the component of the normal
stress is found in the same direction, the
value is σcos2Ɵ.
Stress as a point
property
Stress ellipsoid&sign conventions
Stress is a tensor quantity, specifying the magnitude and direction of the
tensional , compressional and shear forces per unit area in a point of
particular material plane.
Stress: force applied to an area (i.e. p.s.i. in tiren inflation specifications).
Stress Ellipsoid: the magnitude of stress in any direction relative to a point
in a rock mass can be conceptualized as a stress ellipsoid. The larger the
size of the ellipsoid, the higher the stress on the rock.
Stress ellipsoid&sign conventions
In three dimensions, stress can be graphically and mathematically represented by a stress
ellipsoid, using three principal stresses as shown in Figure 4.1.a.
The equation for the stress ellipsoid, with the

Total and
deviatoric stress
IThere are two types of principal
stress: total stresses and deviatoric
stress: Total stress are denoted by σ
and deviatoric streses by Ꞇ.
Normal and shear stresses will be

distinguished by either single
subscripts, e.g., σN and σS
respectivel, or double subscripts when
using tenson notations. e.g. σxx and
σxz .
Pressure and stress
Pressure and stress are related as follows. The pressure induced by a total stress
in any point is equal to the mean of the total principal stresses in that point
Or in two dimensions
Principal deviatric stresses, Ꞇ1,2,3 resulting when any of the principal total
stresses differ from P, can be directly calculated from:
Normal and Shear
Stress
The stress components on a small
cube within the rock
It is more convenient to consider the normal and
shear components with reference to a given set
of axes, usually a rectangular Cartesian x-y-z
system. In this case, the body can be considered
to be cut at three orientations corresponding to
the visible faces of the cube shown in Fig. 3.4.
Two components of shear stress are
then defined on each of the planes in
Fig. 3.4, as the diagrams shown in Fig.
3.5 demonstrate. Thus, we arrive at
nine stress components comprised of
three normal components and six shear
components.
Hence, it is convenient to collate the stress
components in a matrix with the rows representing
the components on any plane, and the columns
representing the components acting in any given
direction. This is Illustrated as:
The symmetry of the stress matrix
In Fig. 3.6, we show the four stress components acting on the

edges of a small square (which is a cross-section through a cube
of edge length ∆l)
at any given location and in any plane of given orientation in the
body,
We now define a local Cartesian system of axes, perpendicular
and parallel
to the edges of the square.
If we consider the stress matrix again, we find that it is symmetrical
about the leading diagonal, i.e. the diagonal from top left to bottom
right. The matrix below shows this symmetry after the equality of the
respective shear components has been taken into account:
The state of stress
at a point has six
independent
components
From our final listing of the

stress components in the
matrix at the end of
Section 3.6, it is clear that the
state of stress at a point is
defined completely by six
independent components.
These are the three normal
stress components and three
shear stress components, i.e.
σxx, σyy, σzz, Ꞇxy, Ꞇyz and Ꞇxz.
The stress state can be specified with
reference to a given set of x-, y- and
z-axes via the components we have
expfained, or via the magnitudes and
directions of the principal stresses.
Principal Stresses
The stress components in the stress matrix are

the three normal stresses and the three shear
stresses. The actual values of these components
in a given body subjected to given loading will
depend on the orientation of the cube in the
body itself.
All unsupported excavation surfaces are
principal stress planes
Not only are the principal stresses and their directions of

fundamental significance in stress analysis, the concept of a
principal stress also has particular significance for rock
engineering. This is because all unsupported excavation
suvfaces, whether at the ground surface or underground,
have no shear stresses acting on them and are therefore
principal stress planes.

Stresses and Strains: Total & Deviatoric Stresses / Stress Ellipsoid

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Stresses and Strains: Total & Deviatoric Stresses / Stress Ellipsoid

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Stresses and Strains:

Total & Deviatoric Stresses / Stress Ellipsoid

Rock mechanics, being an interdisciplinary field,

The normal and shear stress components

The equation for the stress ellipsoid, with the

Normal and shear stresses will be

In Fig. 3.6, we show the four stress components acting on the

From our final listing of the

The stress components in the stress matrix are

Not only are the principal stresses and their directions of

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