• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.37-43
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• 2005

Hoek-Brown model, which was developed in order to predict the behavior of rock mass, has widely been utilized and revised by many researchers to solve various problems encountered in tunnelling and slope stability analysis. However, there is no schematic investigation on the application of the Hoek-Brown model to numerical analysis including finite element simulations. In this paper the Hoek-Brown model was formulated as a constitutive model according to the procedure of generalized plasticity theory, and a Rounded Hoek-Brown model, which could overcome the numerical difficulties by modifying the edge part of the yield surface as a curve shape, was newly proposed. The new model could satisfy the requirements as an elasto-plastic constitutive soil model and follow the yield surface of the original Hoek-Brown model in the compression mode. The constitutive equation for the proposed model herein was established and presented to be applicable to the generalized nonlinear finite element analysis.