Hydraulic fracturing pressure of concentric double-layered cylinder in cohesive soil

This study aims to investigate hydrofracturing in double-layered soil through theoretical and experimental analysis, as multilayered soils where the difference in mechanical properties exists are generally encountered in practical engineering. First, an analytical solution for fracturing pressure in two different concentric regions of soil was presented based on the cavity expansion theory. Then, several triaxial hydraulic fracturing tests were carried out to validate the analytical solution. The comparison between the experimental and analytical results indicates the remarkable accuracy of the derived formula, and the following conclusions were also obtained. First, there is a linear relationship between the fracturing pressure and confining pressure in concentric double-layered cohesive soil. Second, when the internal-layer soil is softer than the external-layer soil, the presence of internal soil on the fracturing pressure approximately brings the weakening effect, and the greater strength distinction between the two layers, the greater the weakening effect. Third, when the internal-layer soil is harder than the external-layer soil, the existence of the internal-layer soil has a strengthening effect on the fracturing pressure regardless of the proportion of internal-layer soil. Moreover, the influence of strength distinction between the two layers on the fracturing pressure is significant when the proportion of internal-layer soil is less than half, while it’s limited when the proportion is more than half. The proposed solution is potentially useful for geotechnical problems involving aspects of cohesive soil layering in a composite formation.