Paper contribution

Estimation of boundary stresses of high-pressure lined rock caverns using superposition of Inglis solutions

Lauri Uotinen; Mert Ali Aydoğmuş; Mateusz Janiszewski

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
781-786
Submitted
28 January 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

Lined rock caverns (LRCs) are a promising solution for high-pressure hydrogen storage in crystalline bedrock, where early-stage design requires rapid assessment of geometry-dependent boundary stresses. Existing approaches are either analytically rigorous but impractical for scoping, or flexible but computationally expensive. This study presents a linear-elastic approximation for estimating boundary stresses in ellipsoidal caverns by superimposing classical Inglis solutions and applying a geometric reprojection to approximate three-dimensional effects. Internal pressure is incorporated through FEM calibrated stress intensity factors. The method is evaluated against three-dimensional finite element models over a wide range of aspect ratios and stress conditions representative of Finnish bedrock. For far-field loading, the approach reproduces numerical results with typical errors of 2-5 MPa. For pressurised cases, the inclusion of stress intensity factors improves agreement, reducing errors to below 1 MPa for roof stresses and 0.5-1 MPa for wall stresses. The results indicate that far-field stress redistribution can be approximated reasonably using reprojected two-dimensional solutions, whereas pressure-induced stresses require curvature-dependent correction. The proposed method provides a fast tool for early-stage design and parametric screening, while identifying conditions where full numerical modelling remains necessary.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Lauri Uotinen Aalto University, Finland ORCID 0000-0001-9646-5029
  2. Mert Ali Aydoğmuş Aalto University, Finland
  3. Mateusz Janiszewski Aalto University, Finland ORCID 0000-0002-7365-2777

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References

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