Tishk International University

Engineering Faculty
Petroleum & Mining Eng. Department

Rock Mechanics PTR 339

Lecture 4
3rd. Grade- Fall Semester 2021-2022

Instructor: Professor, Dr. Hamed M. Jassim

Mohr–Coulomb theory:
Mohr–Coulomb theory is a mathematical model describing the
response of brittle materials such as concrete, or rubble piles, to shear
stress as well as normal stress.
Most of the classical engineering materials somehow follow this rule in
at least a portion of their shear failure envelope.
Generally, the theory applies to materials for which the compressive
strength far exceeds the tensile strength.

In geotechnical engineering it is used to define shear strength of soils

and rocks at different effective stresses.

In structural engineering it is used to determine failure load as well as

the angle of fracture of a displacement fracture in concrete and similar
materials.
Coulomb's friction hypothesis is used to determine the combination of
shear and normal stress that will cause a fracture of the material.
Mohr's circle is used to determine which principal stresses will
produce this combination of shear and normal stress, and the
angle of the plane in which this will occur.

According to the principle of normality the stress introduced at

failure will be perpendicular to the line describing the fracture
condition.
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:

τ = C + ơ tanØ
where τ is the shear strength,
σ is the normal stress,
c is the intercept of the failure envelope with the τ axis, and
tan ϕ is the slope of the failure envelope.
The quantity C is often called the cohesion and the
angle Ø is called the angle of internal friction .
Compression is assumed to be positive.
If compression is assumed to be negative then
ơ should be replaced with ‒ ơ .

If Ø = 0 , the Mohr–Coulomb criterion reduces to the Tresca

criterion.

On the other hand,

if Ø = 90 the Mohr–Coulomb model is equivalent to the
Rankine model.

Higher values of Ø are not allowed.

Tresca Criterion (Yielding Theory)
Yielding is considered as the beginning of a process which will
eventually lead to fracture, characterized by the breaking of
the bonds between atoms and separation of the material.

However, ductile materials fail with stress values far smaller

than this estimate.

For example, aluminium has a theoretical strength of 22GPa,

but the stress required for material failure is approximately
100MPa. This inconsistency is justified by the split mechanism
of ductile materials.
Rankine's Theory assumes that failure will occur when the
maximum principal stress at any point reaches a value equal to
the tensile stress in a simple tension specimen at failure.

This theory does not take into account the effect of the other
two principal stresses.

Rankine's theory is satisfactory for brittle materials, and not

applicable to ductile materials. This theory is also called the
Maximum Stress Theory.
From Mohr's circle we have

ơ = ơ m ‒ τ m sin Ø,
τ = τ m cos Ø
where:
τ m = (ơ1 ‒ ơ3)/2 , ơ m = (ơ1+ ơ3)/2

and ơ1 is the maximum principal stress and

ơ3 is the minimum principal stress.
Therefore, the Mohr–Coulomb criterion may also be
expressed as:

τ m = ơ m sin Ø + C cos Ø

This form of the Mohr–Coulomb criterion is applicable to

failure on a plane that is parallel to the ơ 2 direction.
Young's modulus (Modulus of Elasticity)
is a mechanical property that measures the stiffness of a solid
material.
It defines the relationship between stress and strain in a
material in the linear elasticity regime of a uniaxial
deformation.

Formula of Young Modulus : E= ơ / έ

E is Young's modulus, in Pa
ơ is the uniaxial stress, or uniaxial force per unit surface, in
Pa
έ is the strain
The unit of E is MPa or N/mm2
and GPa or kN/mm2.
And in more details, the following equation can be written:

E is Young's modulus, in Pa.

F is the force exerted on an object under tension;

A is the actual cross-sectional area, which equals the area of

the cross-section perpendicular to the applied force;

ΔL is the amount by which the length of the object changes;

L0 is the original length of the object.

The Young's modulus of a material can be used to calculate
the force it exerts under specific strain.

E is Young's modulus, in Pa
F is the force exerted on an object under tension;
A is the actual cross-sectional area, which equals the area of
the cross-section perpendicular to the applied force;
ΔL is the amount by which the length of the object changes;
L0 is the original length of the object.
To summarize, we have dealt in this lecture with the
introduction of Mohr-Coulumb theory or Failure Criterion
and its application in Geotechnical, Stractural and other
engineering fields.
We have also introduced the Mohr’s Circle and explained
how to construct it and illustrated the graphical
representation of M-C Criterion.
An introduction of Tresca Criterion and Rankines Theory
was given, after which we touched upon Young’s Modulus,
its equation and uses and its governing parameters.