Method of preparing data for solution of three-dimensional geomechanical problems

Conclusion A nontraditional monitoring procedure, which is based on the use of three-dimensional geomechanical models constructed in accordance with the hierarchical principal, ensures quantitative estimates of the stress-strain state of a mass, which assume practical significance. The algorithm that we have developed reflects the sequence of data preparation for the construction of a model and numerical analysis of stress fields using an original software package developed at the Mining Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A different kind (geological, geophysical, and seismological) of data, which directly or indirectly characterize the field of stresses acting in a mass, and the adequate scale of the model is considered in formulating boundary conditions in models. A method is proposed for adapting a geomechanical model to actual conditions of the state of the mass, the essence of which is included in a correction to the model stress field by consideration of field stress measurements with subsequent solution of the inverse problem and the formulation of new boundary conditions. In addition to the solution of geomechanical problems in mining, the approach that we have developed to the construction of models may be used in organizing studies on the observation and prediction of extreme natural and man-made situations on the territorial and regional levels. Mining Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk. Translated from Fiziko-Tekhnicheskie Problemy Razrabotki Poleznykh Iskopaemykh, No. 3, pp. 12–21, May–June, 1997. The study was performed with financial support from the Russian Fund for Fundamental Research (Grant No. 05-95-15604).