In situ stress measurement at the 250m Niche off the West Shaft No.1 in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

Aoyagi, Kazuhei  ; Sakurai, Akitaka; Niunoya, Sumio*

The objective of this report is to investigate the three dimensional stress state in the 250 m Niche off the West Shaft No.1 at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory. For the measurement, three 20.0m long boreholes were drilled. Hydraulic fracturing was applied as a stress measurement method. For the analysis, shut-in pressure of a transverse fractures, reopening pressure of longitudinal fractures and stress condition causing borehole breakouts were integrated into the equation; then stress state was calculated by inversion technique. As a result of the in situ stress state measurement around the experimental area, the orientation of the maximum principal stress was estimated to be ESE-WNW, dipping 70 from the vertical axis. The orientation of the minimum principal stress was NEN-SWS, dipping 60 from vertical axis. The orientation of the principal stresses is almost coincided with the direction of borehole breakouts and longitudinal crack induced in the boreholes. The values of the maximum and minimum principal stresses were 2.6 MPa and 2.1 MPa, respectively.