Influence of mountain-valley morphology on in-situ stress distribution

The in-situ stress field is a key factor controlling the successful construction of a large number of underground structures in mountainous areas,and is intensively affected by the mountainvalley topography.The effects of mountain-valley morphology(the width of the mountain top platform,mountain height,slope angle,and width of the valley bottom)on the distribution of the in-situ stress field were analyzed and interpreted using numerical modeling techniques,where the spatial distribution and maximum values of the horizontal and vertical stresses were analyzed.The results showed that there existed a critical value of the topographic influence depth,where the in-situ stress distribution varied significantly as mountain-valley morphology,after which the influence diminishes.Tectonic action has a more remarkable influence on the in-situ stress distribution than gravitational action under the same mountain-valley morphology.Moreover,the relationships between the magnitudes of these stress components and the morphology variables are described using empirical formulas,which can be directly applied to different topographies to rapidly achieve a rational estimation.The findings of this study can be very useful for quickly understanding the in-situ stress distribution and as stress measurement guidelines.