Abstract:

Usually, shear failure is a central form of geomaterial failure. The point safety factor which considers this form of strength safety allows us to inspect the safety condition of every part in the structure. It is also an essential reference for analyzing structure safety, especially for structures controlled by key points. The definition of the point safety factor applicable to different shear failure criteria was concluded by the way of extending the point safety factor definition of Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criteria into the three-dimensional generalized Mohr space; and it is known that the Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criterion is widely applied to geomaterials engineering. Furthermore, we have also obtained the solving method of the minimum point safety factor of shear failure geomaterials, the relationship between the minimum point safety factor’s corresponding deviatoric stress and shear stress on the most dangerous section and even the failure conditions for an integral safety degree. By applying this definition and approach, the structure safety conditions of different shear failure geomaterials could be inspected and estimated. Thereby, the quality of engineering construction could be improved.

Key words: shear failure, geomaterials, point safety factor, generalized Mohr space