Rock mechanics (Geomechanics) is the theoretical and applied science of the mechanical behavior of rock. For practical purposes, rock mechanics is mostly concerned with rock masses on the scale that appears in engineering and mining work.
Some of the applications of rock mechanics are in the following fields:
-
Structural Geology
-
Mining Engineering
-
Petroleum Engineering
-
Civil Engineering
The main topics in geomechanics are as follows:
-
Analysis of stress and strain
-
Friction on rock surfaces
-
Deformation and failure of rocks
-
Linear elasticity
-
Laboratory testing of rocks
-
Poroelasticity and thermoelasticity
-
Stresses around cavities and excavations
-
Inelastic behavior
-
Micromechanical models
-
Wave propagation in rocks
-
Hydromechanical behavior of fractures
-
State of stress underground
-
Applications
APG’s professionals are proud to offer the following services to the clients:
-
Oil/Gas industry (Wellbore stability, depletion, well placement, pore pressure and fracture gradient prediction, hydraulic fracturing)
-
Mining applications (Stability analysis of open and underground mines)
-
Civil engineering applications (Stability analysis of cavities,excavations, tunnels, dams, high-floor buildings,etc.)
-
In-situ geomechanical tests (triaxial/uniaxial, Brinell hardness, Brazilian tensile strength, fracture toughness, dilatometery, thick wall cylinder(TWC) strength, ultrasonic velocities, proppant embedment, plate-load, shear test)
-
Finite element modeling (simulate stress, strain, displacement, and fracture for all applications)