Three independent parameters to describe conventional triaxial compressive strength of intact rocks

The strengths of 12 rocks cited from literatures increase in a nonlinear way with increasing confining pressure against the Coulomb criterion. The criteria with power forms like the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion are not available for describing the strength properties in the whole test range for Indiana limestone, Yamaguchi marble and Vosges sandstone, of which the differential stresses are approximately constant at high confining pressures. The exponential criterion with three parameters fits the test data of those 12 rocks well with a low misfit. The three parameters are independent of the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), the initial increasing rate of strength with confining pressure, and the limitation of differential stress.