Effect of discontinuity stress shadows on hydraulic fracture re-orientation

Hydraulic fracturing has been applied to the cave mining industry as a pre-conditioning method to improve rock mass caveability and fragmentation sizes. In theory, the hydraulic fracture orientation is dictated by and is perpendicular to the minimum in-situ stress orientation. Such orientations will not always result in the creation of a blocky rock mass to aid caveability. The understanding of hydraulic fracture re-orientation induced by the...