LAUSR

Abstract A simple strength criterion J 2 = α + β σ 3 is investigated to describe the ultimate stress capacity of rocks. This criterion takes the intermediate principal stress σ 2 into consideration. The nonlinear parabolic form on the meridian plane makes the present criterion is more suitable in rock mechanics than the linear Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. The present criterion has only 3 corners on the π plane, resulting in higher efficiency and reliability in solving the corner problems in numerical analysis than Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown criteria. Comparison by the experimental results indicates that the proposed strength criterion gives a better agreement with experimental data than Mohr-Coulomb, Hoek-Brown, Drucker-Prager and modified Lade-Duncan criteria.