• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.15-27
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• 2016

In this study, a series of triaxial compressive strength tests were conducted for basaltic intact rocks sampled in the northeastern onshore and offshore, southeastern offshore and northwestern offshore of Jeju Island. Hoek-Brown constants $m_i$ were estimated from the results of the triaxial compression tests, and the properties of the Hoek-Brown constants $m_i$ were investigated. In addition, the cohesion and internal friction angle, strength parameters of Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, obtained from the results of the triaxial compression tests were compared and analyzed with those estimated from Hoek-Brown failure criterion, respectively. As results, it was found that the Hoek-Brown constant $m_i$ is deeply related to the internal friction angle. As the internal friction grows, the Hoek-Brown constant $m_i$ increases exponentially. The cohesions estimated from the Hoek-Brown failure criterion, on average, are approximately 24% higher than those obtained from the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The internal friction angles estimated from the Hoek-Brown failure criterion are similar to those obtained from the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-91
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• 2003

The Hoek-Brown failure criterion for rock masses developed first in 1980 is widely accepted and has been applied in a variety of rock engineering problems including slope analyses. The failure criterion was modified over the years because rock mass strength by the original failure criterion in 1980 was overestimated. The modified failure criterion, named Generalized Hoek-Brown Failure Criterion, was proposed with a new classification called the Geological Strength Index(GSI) in 1994. Generally, Hoek-Brown failure criterion is applied in numerical analyses of rock mass behaviors using equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters estimated by linear regression method. But these parameters estimated by this method have some inaccuracies to be applied and to be incorporated into numerical models and limit equilibrium programs. The most important issue is that this method cannot take account of non-linear characteristics of Hoek-Brown criterion, therefore, equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters is used as constant values regardless of field stress distribution in rock masses. In this study, the numerical analysis on rock slope stability considering non-linear characteristics of Hoek-Brown failure criterion was carried out. Futhermore, by the latest Hoek-Brown failure criterion in 2002, the revised estimating method of equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters was applied and rock mass damage criterion is introduced to account for the strength reduction due to stress relaxation and blast damge in slope stability.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.73-85
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• 2014

The strength parameters used in rock mass design are mainly estimated by equations using Hoek-Brown failure criterion because the tests to obtain the values are limited and expensive. To estimate the strength parameters, the Hoek-Brown failure criterion should be transformed to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. But the processes are more or less cumbersome due to the several stages including the computation and the analyzing steps. In this study, several rock states of various conditions were modeled and then the strength parameters were estimated using the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Thereafter by analyzing the results, some charts and equations estimating the strength parameters through only one step or easily in the field using the values of RMC, the uniaxial compressive strength and the rock constant ($m_i$), were suggested. And then the suggested method was compared and discussed with the existing method.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.289-296
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• 2014

A simple analytical approach for stability assessment of underground storage caverns against ground uplift of overburden rock above the rock caverns for high pressurized fluid such as compressed air energy storage (CAES) and compressed natural gas (CNG) was developed. In the developed approach, we assumed that failure plane of the overburden is straight upward to ground surface, and factor of safety can be calculated from a limit equilibrium analysis in terms of this cylindrical shape failure model. The frictional resisting force on the failure plane was estimated by Hoek-Brown strength criterion which replaces with Mohr-Coulomb criterion such that both intact rock strength and rock mass conditions can be considered in the current approach. We carried out a parametric sensitivity analysis of strength parameters under various rock mass conditions and demonstrated that the factor of safety againt ground uplift was more sensitive to Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion rather than Hoek-Brown criterion.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.61-81
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• 2011

In this paper, a complement to the Hoek-Brown criterion is proposed in order to derive the strength of anisotropic rock from strength of the corresponding truly intact rock. The complement is a decay function, which unlike other modifications or suggestions made in the past, is multiplied to the function of the original Hoek-Brown failure criterion for intact rock. This results in a combined and extended form of the criterion which describes the strength of anisotropic rock as a varying fraction of the corresponding truly intact rock strength. Statistical procedures and in particular regression analyses were conducted into data obtained in experiments conducted in the current research program and those collected from the literature in order to define the Hoek-Brown's criterion complement. The complement function was best described by a simple polynomial including only three constants to be empirically evaluated. Further investigations also showed that these constants can be related to the other readily available parameters of rock material which further facilitate determining the constants. A great and prime advantage of the proposed complement is that it is mathematically simple including the least possible number of empirical constants which are easily estimated with minimum experimental effort. Moreover, proposed concept does not suggests any change to the original Hoek-Brown criterion itself or its constants and serves whenever anisotropy does exist in the rock. This further implies on the possibility of using any other failure criterion for intact rock in conjunction with the compliment to reach the strength of anisotropic rock.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2009

In this study, a series of triaxial tests on Jeju basalt were carried out and then rock strength parameters were estimated by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and the Hoek-Brown failure criterion using the test results. The characteristics of both failure criterions were investigated through comparing the estimated rock strength parameters. As the result of the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the cohesions and the internal friction angles are determined as 5.35 MPa and $50.25^{\circ}$ of Pyoseonri basalt, 16.99 MPa and $60.66^{\circ}$ of Trachy-basalt, and 2.33 MPa and $37.05^{\circ}$ of Scoria, respectively. The cohesions and internal friction angles were estimated by the Hoek-Brown failure criterion in the basis of the results of regression analysis. The cohesions and the internal friction angles are determined as 4.77 MPa and $52.47^{\circ}$ of Pyoseonri basalt, 14.69 MPa and $60.70^{\circ}$ of Trachy-basalt, and 2.22 MPa and $47.60^{\circ}$ of Scoria, respectively. As the result of comparison between the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and the failure envelope predicted by the Hoek-Brown criterion, the cohesion estimated by the Hoek-Brown criterion is usually lower than that obtained from the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, whereas the friction angle estimated by the Hoek-Brown criterion is higher than that obtained from the Mohr-Coulomb criterion.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2013

Although Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion has limitations in that it is a linear criterion and the effect of the intermediate principal stress on failure is ignored, this criterion has been widely accepted in rock mechanics design. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the Hoek-Brown failure criterion was introduced and recently a number of 3-D failure criteria incorporating the effect of the intermediate principal stress on failure have been proposed. However, in many rock mechanics designs, the possible failure of rock mass is still evaluated based on Mohr-Coulomb criterion and most of practitioners are accustomed to understanding the strength of rock mass in terms of the internal friction angle and cohesion. Therefore, if the equivalent Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters of the advanced failure criteria are calculated, it is possible to take advantage of the advanced failure criteria in the framework of the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. In this study, a method expressing the tangential Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters in terms of the stress invariant is proposed and it is applied to the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion and the HB-WW criterion. In addition, a new approach describing the geometric meaning of the ${\sigma}_2$-dependency of failure criteria in 3-D principal stress space is proposed. Implementation examples of the proposed method show that the influence of the intermediate principal stress on the tangential friction angle and cohesion of the HB-WW criterion is considerable, which is not the case for the 2-D failure criterion.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.2 s.67
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• pp.119-127
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• 2007

Based on the critical plane approach, a methodology far predicting the anisotropic strength ot transversely isotropic rock is Proposed. It is assumed that the rock failure is governed by Hoek-Brown failure criterion. In order to establish an anisotropic failure function, Mohr envelope equivalent to the original Hoek-Brown criterion is used and the strength parameters m, s are expressed as scalar functions of orientation. The conjugate gradient method, which is one of the robust optimization techniques, is applied to the failure function for searching the orientation giving the maximum value of the anisotropic function. While most of the existing anisotropic strength models can be applied only when the stress condition is the same as that of conventional triaxial compression test, the proposed model can be applied to the general 3-dimensional stress conditions. Through the simulation of triaxial compression tests for transversely isotropic rock sample, the validity of the proposed method is investigated by comparing the predicted triaxial strengths and inclinations of failure plane.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2012

Although the Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown failure criteria have been adopted widely in rock mechanics, they neglect the ${\sigma}_2$ effect. The result of true triaxial tests on rock samples, however, reveals that the ${\sigma}_2$ effect on strength of rocks is considerable, so that rock failure criteria taking into account the influence of ${\sigma}_2$ are necessary for the precise stability evaluation of rock structures. In this study, a new nonlinear 3-D failure criterion has been suggested by combining the Hoek-Brown criterion with the smooth octahedral shape function taken from Jiang & Pietruszczak (1988). The performance of the new criterion was assessed by comparing the strength predictions from both the suggested criterion and the corresponding linear 3-D criterion. The resulting fit of the new criterion to the true triaxial test data for six rock types taken from the literature shows that the criterion fits the experimental data very well. Furthermore, for the data sets having data taken in the low ${\sigma}_3$ range, the nonlinear failure criterion works better than the linear criterion.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.172-183
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• 2019

The generalized Hoek-Brown (GHB) failure criterion developed by Hoek et al. (2002) is a nonlinear function which defines a stress condition at failure of rock mass. The relevant strength parameter values are systematically determined using the GSI value. Since GSI index is a value quantifying the condition of in-situ rock mass, the GHB criterion is a practical failure condition which can take into the consideration of in-situ rock mass quality. Considering that most rock mechanics engineers are familiar with the linear Mohr-Coulomb criterion and that many rock engineering softwares incorporate Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the equations for the equivalent friction angle and cohesion were also proposed along with the release of the GHB criterion. The proposed equations, however, fix the lower limit of the minor principal stress range, where the linear best-fitting is performed, with the tensile strength of the rock mass. Therefore, if the tensile stress is not expected in the domain of analysis, the calculated equivalent friction angle and cohesion based on the equations in Hoek et al. (2002) could be less accurate. In order to overcome this disadvantage of the existing equations for equivalent friction angle and cohesion, this study proposes the analytical formula which can calculate optimal equivalent friction angle and cohesion in any minor principal stress interval, and verified the accuracy of the derived formula.