• Consider a cube with its

edges parallel to the axes

X, Y,Z of a rectangular co-
ordinate system.
• The stresses acting on the
faces of the cube are
described by the three
normal stress components
and six shear stress
components.
• To satisfy the requirements
of rotational equilibrium, all
forces on the sides of the
cube must be balanced.
 PRINCIPAL PLANES AND
PRINCIPAL STRESSES
• At a point in a stressed material, every
plane will be subjected to a normal or direct
stress and a shearing stress.
• At any point within a stressed body, no
matter how complex the state of stress may
be, there always exist three mutually
perpendicular planes on each of which the
resultant stress is a normal stress. These
mutually perpendicular planes are called
principal planes, and the resultant normal
stresses acting on them are called principal
stresses.
• The extreme values of the normal stresses
possible in the material are principal stresses.
Principal plane may be defined as the plane
on which normal stress attains its maximum
and minimum value
• A principal plane is defined as a plane on which the
stress is fully normal or one which does not carry
shearing stress. The normal stress acting on this
principal planes are known as principal stresses.
• In the order of decreasing magnitude the principal
planes are designated as major principal plane,
minor principal plane and intermediate principal
plane and the corresponding principal stresses are
designated in the same manner.
• consider a square block of material subjected to two
normal stress components in x and y directions and two
shear stress components parallel to x and y directions.

• The normal stresses will be considered positive if they

are tensile in nature and shear stresses will be
considered positive if they produce an anticlockwise
moment about a point inside a material.

• Angle of a plane will be considered positive in

anticlockwise direction from x plane.
Eq. (2.16) gives two principal stresses and Eq. (2.15) gives
their orientation. For shear stress to be maximum or
minimum,
In terms of principal stresses, the maximum
shear stresses is given as

the planes of maximum and minimum shear are

inclined to the principal plane at 450.
Transformation of stresses in two dimensions, showing the planes of
action of principal stresses, and maximum and minimum shear stresses.
• Important Observations:
1. Principal stresses occur on mutually
perpendicular planes.
2. Shear stresses are zero on principal
planes.
3. Planes of maximum shear stress occur at
45° to the principal planes.
4. The maximum shear stress is equal to
one half the difference of the principal
stresses.
Que.
• Calculate the magnitude
of principal stresses and
the orientation of
principal planes for the
figure. What would be
the effect on these
results if owing to a
change of loading the
stresses on x-plane
becomes compressive
while other stresses
remain unchanged.
• The principle stresses are given by the
formula
• For finding out the planes on which the
principle stresses act us the equation

• The solution of this equation will yield two

values θ i.e they θ1 and θ2 giving θ1 = 31071'
& θ2 = 121071'
• In this case only the loading (a) is changed
i.e. its direction had been changed. While the
other stresses remains unchanged hence
now the block diagram becomes.
Again the principal stresses would be
given by the equation
A borehole is drilled and instrumented yielding the
following values of stress components in the plane
perpendicular to the borehole.
σx = 1.724 MPa, σy = 2.76 MPa
and τxy = -0.689 MPa

Find the magnitudes and direction of the major and

minor principal stresses on this plane. Also find the
magnitudes and directions of max. shear stress
and magnitude of the normal stress acting on the
planes of maximum shear.
0 0
(Ans. σ1 = 3.104 MPa and σ2 = 1.381 MPa θ1 =26 ' & θ2 = 116
PLOTTING OF MOHR’S CIRCLE
• Otto Mohr, a German scientist devised a graphical
method for the determination of stresses on a plane
inclined to the major principal planes. The graphical
construction is known as Mohr’s circle.
• Before we discuss the procedure for constructing
Mohr’s circle following assumptions( rules) are applied.
Stress Component Plot
Normal Stresses + For Tension on the right hand side
(Horizontal Axis) - For Compression on the left hand side
Shear Stresses - Clockwise Shear in the upward direction.
(Vertical Axis) + For Counterclockwise Shear in
downwards
Mohr’s Circle
• If we define
σ x +σ y
a=
2
σ x −σ y
b=
2
• In case of principal stresses, normal
and shear stresses along the failure
plane are
σ θ = a + b cos 2θ
τθ = −b sin 2θ
• To draw the Mohr’s circle, we must
establish the σ and τ axes.
• Center of circle C (σavg, 0) is plotted
from the known stress components
(σx, σy, τxy).
• We need to know at least one pt on
the circle to get the radius of circle.
• Establish coordinate axes; σ positive to the
right and τ positive downward, The
equation represents a circle having radius
R and center on the σ axis at pt C (σavg, 0).
This is called the Mohr’s Circle.
Case 1 (x’ axis coincident with x axis)
1. θ = 0°
2. σx’ = σx
3. τx’y’ = τxy.
• Consider this as reference pt A, and
plot its coordinates A (σx, τxy).
• Apply Pythagoras theorem to shaded triangle to determine
radius R.
• Using pts C and A,
the circle can now
be drawn.
Case 2 (x’ axis rotated 90° counterclockwise)
1. θ = 90°
2. σx’ = σy
3. τx’y’ = −τxy.
• Its coordinates are G (σy, −τxy).
• Hence radial line CG
is 180°
counterclockwise
from “reference
line” CA.
Procedure for Analysis
Construction of the circle
1. Establish coordinate
system where abscissa
represents the normal
stress σ, (+ve to the
right), and the ordinate
represents shear
stress τ, (+ve downward).
2. Use positive sign convention for σx, σy, τxy,

plot the center of the circle C, located on

the σ axis at a distance σavg = (σx + σy)/2
from the origin.
Procedure for Analysis
Construction of the circle
3. Plot reference pt A (σx, τxy). This pt
represents the normal and shear stress
components on the element’s right-hand
vertical face. Since x’ axis coincides with x
axis, θ = 0.
Procedure for Analysis
Construction of the circle
4. Connect pt A with center C of the circle and
determine CA by trigonometry. The
distance represents the radius R of the
circle.
5. Once R has been
determined, sketch
the circle.
Procedure for Analysis
Principal stress
• Principal stresses σ1 and σ2 (σ1 ≥ σ2) are

represented by two pts B and D where the

circle intersects the σ-axis.
Procedure for Analysis
Principal stress
• These stresses act on planes
defined by angles θp1 and θp2.
They are represented on the
circle by angles 2θp1 and 2θp2
and measured from radial
reference line CA to lines CB and CD
respectively.
Procedure for Analysis
Maximum in-plane shear stress
• The average normal stress
and maximum in-plane shear
stress components are
determined from the circle as
the coordinates of either pt E
or F.
• State of plane stress at a pt is shown on the
element. Represent this state of stress on an
element oriented 30° counterclockwise from
position shown.
 Construction of circle
σ x = −8 MPa σ y = 12 MPa τ xy = −6 MPa

• Establish the σ, τ
axes
as shown.
Center of circle C
located on the
σ-axis, at the pt:

− 8 + 12
σ avg = = 2 MPa
2
• Initial pt for θ = 0°
has coordinates A
(−8, −6) are
plotted. Apply
Pythagoras
theorem
to shaded triangle
to get circle’s
radius CA,
2 2
R= (10) + (6)
R = 11.66 MPa
Stresses on 30° element
• Since element is
rotated 30°
counterclockwise, we
must construct a radial
line CP, 2(30°) = 60°
counterclockwise, −1 6
measured φ = tan = 30.96°
from CA (θ = 0°). 10
• Coordinates of pt P ψ = 60° − 30.96° = 29.04°
(σx’, τx’y’)
must be obtained.
From
geometry of circle,
Stresses on 30° element
• The two stress components act on face BD of
element shown, since the x’ axis for this face
if oriented 30° counterclockwise from the x-
axis.
• Stress components acting on adjacent face
DE of element, which is 60° clockwise from
+x-axis, are represented by the coordinates
of pt Q on the circle.
• This pt lies on the radial line CQ, which is
180° from CP.
 Problem based on Mohr’s circle
Principal stresses
• Using Mohr’s circle,
center of circle C
at the pt is
0 + 716.2
σ avg = = 358.1 kPa
2

• Plotting C (358.1, 0) and

reference pt A (0, 198.9),
the radius found was
R = 409.7 kPA. Principal
stresses represented by
pts B and D.
Principal stresses
σ1 = 358.1 + 409.7 = 767.8 kPa
σ 2 = 358.1 − 409.7 = −51.6 kPa
• Clockwise angle 2θp2 can
be
determined from the
circle.
It is 2θp2 = 29.1°. The
element
is oriented such that the
x’ axis
or σ2 is directed
clockwise
θp1 = 14.5° with the x
axis
as shown.
During a triaxial loading test, a core specimen
failed along a plane at 50 degree from normal
at an axial load of 120 MPa and confining
pressure of 25 MPa. Using Mohr's circle derive
the expression for normal and shear stresses
on the failure plane in terms of principal
stresses. Calculate the cohesion and angle of
internal friction from this experimental data.
(Ans. normal stress- 64.25 MPa, shear stress-
46.77 MPa, cohesion- 35.44 Mpa and friction
angle-10)
For the given state of stress, determine the principal stresses, the orientation
of the of the planes of maximum in-plane stress, the maximum shearing
stress and the corresponding normal stress by plotting Mohr’s Circle.
 To plot Mohr's Circle, first determine its
center and radius:

• This is the position of the center of the circle. I

plot a tentative circle using this and the two
normal stresses, remembering that point Y is
plotted with the shearing stress of 30 MPa. I
don't know yet where the shearing stress axis
is to be placed.
From right triangle trigonometry,
• From right triangle
trigonometry,
Since we know that the maximum normal stress is the -60 MPa + R, or
-26.46 MPa, the shearing stress axis can be inserted:
• a) The principal stresses are -26.46 and -93.54 MPa (-60 +R),
which correspond to a shearing stress of zero.
• b) The orientation of the planes of maximum in-plane stress
(those found in part a) corresponds to a clockwise rotation on
Mohr's circle of 63.43o, or a counterclockwise rotation of 180 -
63.43 = 116.57o. Since the Mohr's circle angle is twice that for
the element, considering elements rotated by 31.7 clockwise or
58.3 counterclockwise will produce zero shearing stress and
maximum values of the normal stress.
• c) The maximum shearing stress is the radius itself, 33.5 MPa.
The normal stresses corresponding to this shearing stress are
equal and are -60 MPa.
Numericals
• At a point in a piece of material the
intensity of resultant stress on a
certain plane is 50 MPa inclined at
30° to the normal to that plane. The
plane normal to this has a resultant
stress whose normal component is 30
MPa. Find (a) the principal planes
and principal stresses, and (b) the
plane of maximum shear and its
intensity.
• The principal stresses at a point
in a material are 120 MPa and
60 MPa. Find the magnitude and
direction of stress on a plane
inclined at 30° to the direction
of 60 MPa stress. Find also the
plane on which the resultant
stress is most oblique and its
value.
• A bar of 20 mm diameter is
subjected to a pull of 20 kN. The
measured extension over a
gauge length of 200 mm is 0.1
mm and the change in diameter
is 0.0035 mm. Calculate the
value of modulus of elasticity,
bulk modulus, and Poisson’s
ratio.
A circular bar of 15 mm diameter is subjected to an axial
tensile load of 3 kN Calculate the tehsile stress developed
in the bar
Mohr’s representation of Plane stress
Failure theories of rock
• Failure theory is the science of predicting the conditions under
which solid materials fail under the action of external loads.

• The failure of material is usually classified in to brittle (fracture)

or ductile failure (yield).

• failure theory is expressed in the form of various failure criteria

which are valid for specific materials. Failure criteria are
functions in stress or strain space which separate failed states
from unfailed states.

• Material failure is the loss of carrying capacity and it can be

examined in different scales from microscopic to macroscopic.
Failure theories of rock
• Microscopic failure is defined in terms of crack propogation
and initiation.

• Macroscopic failure is defined in terms of load carrying

capacity or energy storage capacity.
Failure theories of rock
Rock fails when stresses exceeds their
stress bearing capacity. Failure in rock
occurs by development of fracture or slip
surfaces. The type of fractures and their
orientation depends upon the distribution
of stresses across a specimen, the type of
material and nature of stresses (either
tension or compression or shear).
Failure of specimen can occur along a
single fracture or a network of fractures.
Coulomb Failure Criterion
• In the late 18th century a French scientist,
Coulomb, postulates that failure will occur in
a material when the maximum shear stress
at a point in a material reaches a specific
value S0, which is referred to as the shear
strength of the material. For rocks that shear
stress |t| necessary to cause brittle failure
across a plane is resisted by the cohesion of
the material C and by a constant *µ times
the normal stress sn across that plane:
Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion
• This theory states that a material fails because of a
critical combination of normal stress and shear
stress, and not from their either maximum normal
or shear stress alone.
• The Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion represents the
linear envelope that is obtained from a plot of the
shear strength of a material versus the applied
normal stress. This relation is expressed as

• where is the shear strength, is the normal stress,

is the intercept of the failure envelope with the
axis, and is the slope of the failure envelope. The
quantity is often called the cohesion and the angle
is called the angle of internal friction .
a pure shear test (circle 1), pure tensile test (circle 2), pure compression test (3), a hydrostatic
tension test (4),

a hydrostatic compression tests (5)

• The general equation is
 Effect of water on strength of rocks
• Some rocks are weakened by the addition of water, the effect
being a chemical deterioration of the cement or clay binder.
• However in most cases, it is effect of pore and fissure water
pressure that exerts the greatest influence on rock strength.
If drainage is impeded during loading, the pores or fissures
will compress the contained water, raising its pressure.
• Many investigators have confirmed the validity of Terzaghi's
effective stress law for rocks, which states that a pressure of
pw in the pore water of a rock will cause the same reduction
in peak normal stress as caused by reduction of confining
pressure by an amount equal to pw.
• We can make use of this result by introducing
the term effective stress defined by:

σ' = σ - pw

• Differential stress is unaffected by water pressure. The

effect of water pressure can be input in the failure criterion
simply by restating the conditions for failure in terms of
effective stresses. For a saturated rock:
 ' ' φ
2
σ 1. p = σ c + σ 3 . tan (45 + )
2
' ' φ2
σ 1. p − σ 3 = σ c + σ 3 tan (45 + ) −1
2

Since the differential stress is unaffected by water pressure. The above

equation may be written as:

' 2 φ
σ 1. p − σ 3 = σ c + (σ 3 − pw ) tan (45 + ) −1
2
 Questions

The initial state of stress at a point in the ground in

sandstone is σ3= 8.96 MPa, σ1= 34.48 MPa. The pore pressure will be
raised by construction of a reservoir. What value of Pore pressure will cause
fracture of the sandstone in situ.
Empirical criterion of failure of rocks

• A number of empirical criterion have been

introduced for practical use to apply to
rock over a wide range of applied
compressive stress conditions.
• These criterion usually take the form of a
power law in recognition of the fact that
peak of σ1 Vs σ3 and τθ vs σθ envelopes for
rock material are generally concave
downwards.
 HOEK-BROWN FAILURE CRITERION

• Hoek and Brown introduced their failure criterion in

an attempt to provide input data for the analyses
required for the design of underground excavations in
hard rock.
• The criterion was derived from the results of research
into the brittle failure of intact rock by Hoek and on
model studies of jointed rock mass behaviour by
Brown.

• The criterion started from the properties of intact rock

and then introduced factors to reduce these
properties on the basis of the characteristics of joints
in a rock mass.
• The Generalised Hoek-Brown failure criterion for jointed rock
masses is defined by:

• where σ1’ and σ3 ‘ are the maximum and minimum effective

stresses at failure respectively,
• mb is the value of the Hoek-Brown constant m for the rock
mass,
• s and a are constants which depend upon the characteristics
of the rock mass, and
• σc is the uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock
pieces.
• The uniaxial compressive strength of the rock
mass is given by substituting σ3 ‘ = 0 into
equation

• Similarly, substituting σ1’ = 0 into equation and

solving the resulting quadratic equation gives
the uniaxial tensile strength of the rock or
rock mass as:
• Hoek and Brown suggested a set of relations
between the rock mass rating (RMR) from
Bieniawski's rock mass classification and the
constants m and s.
• where m is the value of m for the intact rock,
determined from the results of triaxial tests.
When no laboratory test data are available,
the value of m~ can be estimated from Table
• D is a factor which
depends upon the degree
of disturbance to which
the rock mass has been
subjected by blast
damage and stress
relaxation. It varies from 0
for undisturbed in situ rock
masses to 1 for very
disturbed rock masses.
Que.
• Assume a sandstone rock mass in which the uniaxial
compressive strength of the intact rock material is 60
MPa. From Table, the value of the material constant
mi is 15. A classification of the rock mass using the
Tunnelling Quality Index by Barton et al. gives a
value of Q = 0.8. A slope has been excavated into
this sandstone rock mass and additional excavations
are to be created in the rock mass close to the slope.
Determine the uniaxial compressive and tensile
strength of the rock mass.
Ans.
• Under these circumstances it can be assumed that
the stress levels in the rock mass have been reduced
by excavation of the slope and that some movement
along discontinuities in the rock mass will have
occurred. Consequently, equations for a disturbed
rock mass will be used to calculate the constants m
and s.
• m = 0.238, s = 0.000063
• UCS = 0.476 MPa
• Tensile strength = - 0.0 ! 59 M Pa.
 Bieniwski’s failure criteria
• Bieniwski found that the peak triaxial strength of a
range of rock types are represented by the criterion:
K
σ1 σ3
=1+ A or
σc σc
C
τm σm
= 0.1 + B
σc σc
1 1
τm = (σ 1 − σ 3 ) andσ m = (σ 1 + σ 3 )
2 2

• ‘Bieniwski found that for the range of rock types

tested K= 0.75 and C =0.90.
Griffith Theory
• Fracture (or flow) must involve the
breaking of atomic bonds
Griffith energy balance
• Total energy of the system = u
u = ue +us
When crack extends by δC:
ue decreases
us increases
For equilibrium:
du/dC = 0
ue = elastic strain energy
us = energy in creating new
crack surface area
γ = specific surface energy
(energy per unit area required
to break the bonds)
σF = failure stress
E = Young’s modulus
c = crack half-length