Rock Failure Criteria
Rock Failure Criteria
Rock Failure Criteria
Jyoti Anischit
MSc in engineering geology
Tribhuvan University
introduction
• The strength of the intact rock is influenced by its origin, structure,
composition, texture, grain size and porosity. It is also affected by the
surrounding pressure, pore pressure, temperature and moisture content.
Laboratory testing methods for determination of strength of intact rock are
generally well established and testing techniques have been recommended
by the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM).
• The most important factors affecting the strength of intact rock are
anisotropy, specimen geometry, confining stress, moisture content and
creep and rate of loading. Rock by nature is anisotropic, consisting of
mineral grains, cracks and pores of random orientation, and hence should
be tested under different orientations and direction of applied load.
• Rocks in the earth’s crust generally exist in a confined state; i.e., surrounded
by other rock, which exerts a stress from all sides on the element under
consideration. Hence, to obtain a more realistic idea of the rock behaviour,
it is tested under various confining stresses. The practical significance of the
presence of water in the rock is the danger that normally stable structure
might become unstable under elevated pore pressures. Hence, it is always
advisable to test the rock under the different moisture and pore pressure
conditions expected to be encountered in the field.
Failure criteria for rocks
• Mohr-coulomb criterion
• Hoek and Brown criterion
• Empirical Rock failure criterion
• Griffith failure criterion
• Bieniawski-Yudhbir criterion
• Ramamurthy’s criterion
Mohr-Coulomb Criterion
• The simplest and best-known failure criterion is given
Where, σ’1f and σ’3f are the major and minor effective principal stresses at failure.
σc is the uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock material, and m and s are
material constants, where s = 1 for intact rock.
Later, Hoek and Brown (2002) have modified the equation to give a generalized
criterion in which the shape of the principal stress plot or the Mohr envelope could be
adjusted by means of a variable coefficient ‘a’ in place of the square root term, which is
as given below.
Comparison of Hoek- Brown and Mohr-Coulomb criteria
Griffith Failure criterion
• For a thin elastic strip of unit thickness containing a elliptical hole oriented
with its long axis perpendicular to an applied tensile stress σo, the
maximum stress σmax at the apex of the ellipse depends on radius of
curvature of the apex (ρ) and the length of the crack 2c
Griffith failure criterion
• If the two dimensional case, randomly distributed and
oriented cracks occur through the body, the criteria for
fracture is as follows.
• If, 𝜎𝜎1> 𝜎𝜎3 and 3𝜎𝜎1+ 𝜎𝜎3 < 0
fracture will occur when,
• (𝜎𝜎1- 𝜎𝜎3)2 = -8To (𝜎𝜎1+ 𝜎𝜎3) [when compressive stress
field is predominant]
• at an angle given by