Techno Press
You logged in as. Techno Press

Geomechanics and Engineering
  Volume 10, Number 3, March 2016 , pages 257-267
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2016.10.3.257
 


Charts for estimating rock mass shear strength parameters
Ling Wan, Zuoan Wei and Jiayi Shen

 
Abstract
    Charts are used extensively in slope practical application to meet the need of quick assessment of rock slope design. However, Charts for estimating the shear strength of the rock mass of a slope are considerably limited. In this paper, based on the Hoek-Brown (HB) criterion which is widely used in rock slope engineering, we present charts which can be used to estimate the Mohr-Coulomb (MC) parameters angle of friction φ and cohesion c for given slopes. In order to present the proposed charts, we firstly present the derivation of the theoretical relationships between the MC parameters and σci/(γH) which is termed the strength ratio (SR). It is found that the values of c/σci and φ of a slope depend only on the magnitude of SR, regardless of the magnitude of the individual parameters σci (uniaxial compressive strength), γ (unit weight) and H (slope height). Based on the relationships between the MC parameters and SR, charts are plotted to show the relations between the MC parameters and HB parameters. Using the proposed charts can make a rapid estimation of shear strength of rock masses directly from the HB parameters, slope geometry and rock mass properties for a given slope.
 
Key Words
    shear strength parameters; strength ratio; Hoek-Brown; charts assessment
 
Address
(1) Ling Wan, Zuoan Wei:
State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China;

(2) Ling Wan:
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Heterogeneous Material Mechanics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China;

(3) Jiayi Shen:
Institute of Port, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
 

Techno-Press: Publishers of international journals and conference proceedings.       Copyright © 2026 Techno Press
P.O. Box 33, Yuseong, Daejeon 305-600 Korea, Tel: +82-42-828-7996, Fax : +82-42-828-7997, Email: admin@techno-press.com