Stress state around cylindrical cavities in transversally isotropic rock mass

The present paper is dealing with the investigation of the stress field around the infinitely long cylindrical cavity, of a circular cross section, contained in the transversally isotropic elastic continuum. Investigation is based upon the determination of the stress function that satisfies the biharmonic equation, for the given boundary conditions and for rotationaly symmetric loading. The solution of the partial differential equation of the problem is given in the form of infinite series of Bessel's functions. Determination of the stress-strain field around cavities is a common requirement for estimation of safety of underground rock excavations.