STRESSES IN ANISOTROPIC ROCK MASS WITH IRREGULAR TOPOGRAPHY

This paper presents a new analytical method for determining the state of stress in a homogeneous, general anisotropic, and elastic half-spac e limited by an irregular and smooth outer boundary. The half-space re presents a rock mass with an irregular and continuous topography. The rock mass is subject to gravity and surface tractions. The stresses ar e determined assuming a condition of generalized plane strain, and are expressed in terms of three analytical functions following Lekhnitski i's complex function method. These analytical functions are determined using a numerical conformal mapping method and an integral equation m ethod. As an illustrative example, it is shown how the proposed method can be used to determine the state of stress in long isolated and sym metric ridges and valleys in orthotropic or transversely isotropic roc k masses. It is found that the magnitude of the stresses is of the ord er of the characteristic stress rhog\b\, where rho is the rock density , g is the gravitational acceleration, and \b\ is the height of the ri dge or depth of the valley.