Thermal stress evolution in cooling pluton environments of different geometries

Thermoelastic displacement potentials and fast Fourier transforms can be combined to rapidly calculate the thermal stresses in 2‐D for plutons that cool by conduction. First, temperature distributions over time are computed by solving the diffusion equation. Thermal stresses are then obtained using thermoelastic stress potentials. This method can be applied to a broad range of pluton geometries and initial conditions, and requires far less computation time than finite difference or finite element analyses. Results of 2‐D analyses show that pluton geometry strongly influences the thermal stresses that occur in a cooling pluton. Thermal stresses of several tens of MPa arise during cooling and are highest at the corners or where the intrusion is thin. The most tensile stress is greater inside a pluton than in the host rock. Moreover, the orientation of the most tensile stress in a cooling pluton generally changes over time. This could result in multiple fracture sets, which would significantly affect the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of a pluton.