抄録
The theoretical analysis of propagation and closure of two-dimensional hydraulicfractures subject to the compressive tectonic stress of a linear gradient has been made by Secor and Pollard. They have found the existence of a length limit for these hydraulic fractures. In their model, however, the rock in the earth's crust is assumed to be in an isothermal state. By developing Secor and Pollard's work, the present paper is concerned with the discussion of the length limit of an artificial geothermal crack in a hot dry rock with a linear temperature gradient. The rock is assumed to be homegeneous and isotropic with respect to thermal and elastic constants. By use of the singular point method, a set of nonlinear singular integral equations is derived. The results suggest that a very large artificial geotherma crack could be created in a hot dry rock with a large temperature gradient.
