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Hoek-Brown Criterion

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Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Definition

The Hoek-Brown criterion is an empirical, rock mass failure prediction criterion based on the relationship between principal stresses. The Hoek-Brown criterion was developed in the late 1970s and first published in 1980 (Hoek and Brown 1980a, b) to provide input for the design of underground excavations (Eq. 1 and Fig. 1). A fundamental assumption of the original Hoek-Brown criterion is that the rock mass to which it is being applied is homogeneous and isotropic. The criterion has been updated with time to accommodate more applications. The major updates include (1) the 1988 extension for applicability to slope stability and surface excavation problems (Hoek and Brown 1988), (2) the modified 1992 Hoek-Brown criterion for jointed rock masses (Hoek et al. 1992), and (3) the 2002 update to include improvements in the correlation between the model parameters and the Geological Strength Index (GSI) . Subsequently this index was extended for weak rock...

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References

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  • Hoek E, Brown ET (1980b) Underground excavations in rock. Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London

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  • Hoek E, Brown ET (1988) The Hoek-Brown failure criterion – a 1988 update. In: Curran JH (ed) Proceedings of 15th Canadian rock mechanical symposium, Civil Engineering Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, pp 31–38

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  • Hoek E, Marinos P (2007) A brief history of the development of the Hoek–Brown failure criterion. Soils and Rocks, No 2, Nov, pp 1–11

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Correspondence to Wendy Zhou .

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Zhou, W. (2016). Hoek-Brown Criterion. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_156-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_156-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7

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