ASSIGNMENT 2

Name - Nikhil Kumar Singh

Subject - Rock Mechanics

Q1. Explain the various failure criteria of rocks ?

Ans. (i) Mohr Coulomb Failure Criterion:

Mohr- Coulomb shear failure criterion was first proposed by
Coulomb in 1773.It was suggested that shear stress developed in
rocks is related to cohesion, angle of friction of the material and
is also dependant on the applied normal stress. According to him, if
the applied stress exceeds the maximum shear stress the rocks will
fail.
- It is the simplest and best known failure criterion and is given
as

where, τ is shear strength,

c is cohesion;
σ is internal friction

Fig: M-C Failure criterion with tension cut-off

(ii) Hoek and Brown Criterion:

Hoek and Brown (1980b) arrived at an empirical failure criterion
capable of modelling the highly non-linear relationship between the
minor and major principal stresses and also predicting the influence of
rock mass quality on the strength, this criterion is given as
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.

(iii) Griffith Failure Criterion:

Griffith postulated that a crystalline material (like rock) contain a
large number of randomly oriented zones of potential failure in the
form of grain boundaries (microfractures). Griffith hypothesized
that stress concentrations develop at the end of these cracks
causing the crack to propagate and ultimately contribute to the
macroscopic failure. The assumptions are,
1) The flaw which is elliptical in shape can be treated as single
ellipse in a semi-infinite elastic medium,
2) Adjacent flaws don't interact,
3)The material is assumed to be homogeneous,
4) Ellipse and stress system are taken to be two dimensional
Q2. Explain the stress concentrations around a circular opening?
Ans. For mine opening, circular or semi circular openings are preferred due
to its symmetry, stability and possibility for faster excavation by
sophisticated tunnel boring machines. Circular shape is always preferred in
sqeezing or losing grounds.

An analytical relation for stress distribution along a long circular tunnel

was developed in an ideal rock mass by a German engineer Kirsch in 1898 and
is given as: