The development of residual stress in cooling rock bodies

Two elastic models for the development of residual stresses due to cooling in rock bodies are presented. The first describes the "locking in" of stresses on grain‐to‐grain (microstructural) scale and the second describes the locking in of stresses on a macrostructural scale. Application of the microstructural model to uniform cooling of solid granite from 300°C to 0°C leads to a self‐equilibrating stress field and an average volumetric residual strain of −7050×10 −6 . Application of the macrostfuctural model to the cooling from 300°C to 0°C of an idealized granite pluton surrounded by metasedimentary country rock leads to residual radial and hoop stresses of −232×10 5 Pa in the granite and residual radial and hoop stresses of −232 and 116×10 5 Pa in the metasediment at its contact with the granite.