A smooth hyperbolic failure criterion for cohesive-frictional materials

Herein, the construction of a three-parameter smooth hyperbolic failure criterion for cohesive-frictional materials is presented. The criterion has the form of a hyperbola on the Rendulic plane and of an elliptic hyperboloid with a threefold symmetry in the Haigh–Westergaard principal stress space. The effect of the intermediate principal stress on the strength of the material is taken into account. Also, by adjusting appropriately the three parameters of the criterion, well-known failure criteria such as Rankine and von Mises may be derived as special cases. Finally, the proposed criterion is numerically calibrated and validated against standard and true triaxial data sets.

► A three-parameter hyperbolic failure criterion for cohesive frictional materials.
► The model is developed on the Rendulic and the meridian planes.
► The failure criterion is smooth and convex on the principal stress space.
► The effect of the intermediate principal stress is taken into account.
► The model fits very well on the standard and true triaxial experimental data.