Analytical solution for a circular opening in an elastic–brittle–plastic rock

This paper deals with the analytical solutions for the prediction of displacements around a circular opening in an elastic–brittle–plastic rock mass compatible with a linear Mohr–Coulomb or a nonlinear Hoek–Brown yield criterion. Three different cases of definitions for elastic strains in the plastic region, used in the existing solutions, are mentioned. The closed-form analytical solutions for the displacement in the plastic region are derived on a theoretically consistent way for all the cases by employing a non-associated flow rule. The results of the dimensionless displacements are compared using the data of the soft and hard rocks to investigate the effect of different definitions for elastic strains with the dilation angle.