A Review of Research on the Criteria of High Geostress and Its Influencing Factors

Accurate evaluation of the geostress state and magnitude of engineering rock mass is an important prerequisite for underground engineering design, stability analysis and risk control. In order to clarify current situation of the theoretical study and engineering practice application of high geostress criteria, the direct or indirect influences of temperature, groundwater, tectonic movement, unfavorable geological condition, buried depth as well as the topography and geomorphology on the magnitude of geostress are detailed summarized. Several existing high geostress criteria are analyzed, combined with the latest research results, 18 kinds of geological markers of high geostress areas are summarized. The corresponding engineering phenomena and typical pictures of 13 geological indicators are further analyzed based on engineering phenomena, occurrence conditions and failure mechanisms. A reasonable evaluation of the universality of various criteria has been made, and it is pointed out that the strength-to-stress ratio criterion is a relatively authoritative criterion. Then, combined with engineering examples, the existing 6 calculation and classification methods of the strength-to-stress ratio method are compared. The most accurate strength-to-stress ratio criterion is dry uniaxial compressive strength ratio to maximum principal stress (UCS_drying/σ₁). Study results can provide references for the theoretical research and engineering practice of high geostress classification.