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USING MATHEMATICA APPLETS MADE FOR THE EDUCATION ON FAILURE

CRITERIA FOR METALLIC AND GEOLOGICAL GEOTECHNICAL MATERIALS

Conference Paper · July 2012

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 USING MATHEMATICA APPLETS MADE FOR THE EDUCATION ON
FAILURE CRITERIA FOR METALLIC AND GEOLOGICAL
GEOTECHNICAL MATERIALS
V. Brotons, S. Ivorra, R. Irles
Construction Engineering Department. Universidad de Alicante (SPAIN)
vicente.brotons@ua.es, sivorra@ua.es, ramon.irles@ua.es

Abstract
In matters of engineering degrees where the mechanical behaviour of material is studied, the
constitutive equations of these materials are analyzed for the elastic range as for situations in which
the strains generated by the acting actions begin to be permanent.
To study the combination of stresses that causes the onset of yielding at a particular point of a
deformable solid, in recent decades different failure criteria had been developed. For metals the main
parameter to be defined is their yield strength. In this case the mathematical criterion that fits the
actual behaviour in the onset of yielding gives a series of surfaces configured to form cylinders and /
or hexagonal prisms with a certain orientation in the space defined by the principal stresses. Likewise
for geotechnical materials of geological origin, such as soil, rock or concrete, these criteria are based
on the cohesion and the angle of internal friction of the material. In this case the yielding surface that
defines the failure criteria in the space of principal stresses tends to come represented by a hexagonal
base pyramid and / or a cone with a given orientation in the space defined by the principal stresses, so
verifying that the behaviour of these materials is much higher in compression than in tension.
In this paper a set of Mathematica applets are presented focused to understanding learning these
concepts. Graphical representations of the surfaces corresponding to these elemental yielding criteria
with the possibility of parameter variations, is a considerable aid to the students of this matter who
often find difficulties in understanding mechanical operating of these criteria. These conclusions are
confirmed by recent experiences carried out in Alicante University (Spain).
Keywords: Mathematica, yielding criteria, computers and engineering, applets for education, yielding
surfaces.

1 INTRODUCTION
The explanation of yield criteria for ductile/fragile metal materials, and these criteria for geological /
geotechnical materials is usual in an advanced course in mechanics of deformable solids [1]. These
criteria try to analyze the combination of stresses that produces the yielding of deformable solids at
the analyzed point, usually based on perfect elasto-plastic behaviour of the material. These
expressions, obtained by analytical considerations based on solid mechanics have been selected
depending on the degree of fit with the experimentally observed behaviour in actual materials under
different loading conditions, hence there are two distinct blocks of yield criteria: one for ductile
materials and other for geological/geotechnical materials.
Traditionally, these criteria are presented analytically to the students and operated in this way
depending on the actual stress state: plane stress, plane strain, ..., in order to discern whether the
three-dimensional stress state that occurs in a point of a deformable causes the solid material yielding
or not. The adjustment of these analytical functions results in a series of geometric representations in
the space of principal stresses (Haig-Westergaard representation) in which these yielding surfaces are
represented as cylinders, hexagonal prisms, pyramids, cones, etc., whose axis is the straight line with
direction (1,1,1) for the simplest yield criteria (Fig. 1). The fact of working graphically on these
surfaces allows seeing their intersection with the surfaces generated with the boundary conditions of
the problem. This visual analysis allows analyzing the security range in a determinate point of a
deformable solid under different levels of stresses. This procedure is applied for teaching different
subjects at the University of Alicante [2, 3].

Proceedings of EDULEARN12 Conference. ISBN: 978-84-695-3491-5

2nd-4th July 2012, Barcelona, Spain. 2975
A number of applets in Mathematica [4] have been developed for the purpose of taking a visual
snapshot in a dynamic form of the influence of different material properties: yield strength, cohesion
and internal friction angle on the geometry of these yielding surfaces, These applets allow the use of
scroll bars to instantly visualize the geometric change of these surfaces by varying these parameters.
Similarly through these Mathematica applets, the student can instantly visualize and analyze the
intersection of these yielding surfaces with the boundary condition of the problem and to analyze the
influence of several parameters involved in it, as for example the case of the Poisson ratio in a case
of plane strain.

Fig. 1. Haig-Westergaard representation. Yielding criteria for ductile materials. [5]

2 DEVELOPED WORK
It is well known that each yielding criterion can be determined by a mathematical function for a given
material whose independent variables are principal stresses. In the principal stresses space the above
function represents a yielding surface or boundary that separates the elastic and the plastic behaviour.
The stress state of a point on a deformable material will be represented in the stress space by a point
whose coordinates are the principal stresses. If this point is within the yielding surface it is in elastic
range, and if it is on the surface it is in plastic range.
In ductile materials, the yielding criteria have as common parameter associated with each material: the
yield strength. These criteria are that of Tresca [6] (maximum shear stress) and that of von Mises
(maximum deviatoric strain energy) [7].
Equation (1) presents a possible expression of the Tresca criterion with principal stresses:

(1)

Whit σe is the yield strength of material obtained through a monotonic tensile test.
Each of the three above expressions represents two planes, and together the six planes whose
intersection in space [σ1,σ2,σ3] form a hexagonal prism. The region of space enclosed by this prism
contains all possible combinations of principal stresses that satisfy the elastic stress state, all
combinations of principal stresses that are on the yielding surface will be in a plastic zone, assuming
that the analyzed material has no hardening.

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Equation (2) presents a possible expression for the von Mises yielding surface:

(2)

In this case the geometry of the resulting surface is a cylinder circumscribing the Tresca prism. The
axes of the two previous figures, prism and cylinder match with the trisectrix of the first octant. The von
Mises criterion, represented by a function that creates a closed and continuous surface, establishes
that if the yielding function at the point considered is less than zero this point is in elastic range.
The applied criteria for geotechnical materials are associated with other parameters for these
materials: cohesion and internal friction angle. Some of the criteria commonly used to analyze the
stress state of these materials are the Mohr-Coulomb criteria [8] and the Drucker-Prager criteria [9].
Equation (3) represents a possible expression of the Mohr-Coulomb criteria for cohesive materials.

(3)

Each of the six above brackets matched to zero represents a plane, and the intersection of the six
planes form a hexagonal pyramid. The region of space enclosed by this pyramid contains all
combinations of principal stresses -according to this criterion- that are in elastic range. The
parameters C and K will depend on the characteristics of the material; they are functions of the
cohesion and the internal friction angle.
Equation (4) represents a possible expression of the yielding function for the Drucker-Prager criteria:

(4)

The resulting surface is a cone that circumscribes the Mohr-Coulomb pyramid on three edges. The
axes of these figures, pyramid and cone match with the trisectrix of the first octant. Its vertices are also
coincident. The parameters A and B depend on the material again through the cohesion and the
friction angle. I1 is the first invariant of the stress tensor, given by the value σ1+σ2+σ3. (Fig. 2).
For the representation of the latter two criteria, it is assumed that normal compressive stresses are
positive and tension stresses are negative, just the opposite that the usual criteria adopted for ductile
materials, as considered in all the literature on soil mechanics.
The two criteria for geotechnical materials are interrelated. In turn, if we take the elastic limit as the
maximum uniaxial compressive strength, we can also relate both sets of criteria. In Application1 (Fig.
2) these claims can be seen.
Figure 1 shows superimposed the Mohr-Coulomb (pyramid), the Drucker-Prager (cone) and von Mises
(cylinder) surfaces. By this applet, for clarity of the figure, the last two controls can vary the visibility
(transparency) for any criteria, using "Mises" and "Drucker" scroll bars. Controls "Range ±" determine
the stresses values of the represented range. The surfaces are cut in coordinate σ3=0, showing the
behavior in plane stress.

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 Fig. 2-Applet 1 (initial values)

It´s possible to vary the data using all controls: using a slider bar, manually by entering a numeric
data directly on the box or making an animation that runs the range of variation for that variable set in
ascending or descending at a manually variable speed.
Controls "c" and "φ" introduce the cohesion and the internal friction angle of the material. As stated,
matching the yielding strength of the ductile material with a maximum monotonic compressive strength
of geotechnical materials, can bind the four criteria.
In Fig.3 is displayed only Mohr-Coulomb criteria, showing the difference between the maximum
compressive stress (positive) and tensile (negative) for geotechnical materials.

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 Fig. 3-Applet 1 (only represented Mohr-Coulomb)

On this applet, the influence of the cohesion is limited to modify the scale of the maximum stresses
supported. On the other hand, when the friction angle falls, then the parallelism of the faces of the
pyramid increases (or decreases the angle of the cone opening), with this changes it´s possible to
approach the behavior for tension and compression for geotechnical materials. In the limit, when the
friction angle tends to zero, the Mohr-Coulomb surface tends to Tresca. Fig. 4 represents these
surfaces with Mises in transparency. An animation of the variable "φ" makes this transition very visible.

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 Fig. 4. Applet 1 (Tresca-Mises)

An important part of the study is the case of the plane stress, where yielding surfaces become lines
defined by cutting the anterior surfaces with the plane σ3 = 0. Applet.2, in Fig.5, presents the Mohr-
Coulomb criterion in plane stresses. Varying the material parameters it´s possible to observe a
representation of the yielding line, and limit values in compression (C) and tension (- C / K). With an
internal angle close to zero –as it´s represented- the behaviour in tension and compression is equal
and this criterion is close to that of Tresca.

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 Fig. 5. Applet-2

Applet3, in Figs.6 and 7, show the Mohr-Coulomb (hexagon) and Drucker-Prager (ellipse) criteria in
plane stress. These figures represent the projection of the vertex of the corresponding pyramid and
cone on the horizontal plane. The coincidence points of the two tests are observed: monotonic
compressive and biaxial symmetry tension. There is a slight divergence in monotonic tension and a
wide divergence in biaxial symmetric compression. The differences decrease with the friction angle
tending to zero. In this case Mohr-Coulomb tends to Tresca and Drucker-Prager tends to von Mises,
the vertex moves away from the origin (provided on the first octant trisectrix).

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 Fig. 6- Applet 3

Fig. 7. Applet 3
The plane strain is one of other studied cases. The plane containing the points in plane strain is not
the same that the used for the plane stress. The new plane has an inclination that depends on the
material Poisson ratio. The Applet 4 (Figure 8) allows viewing the 3D effects of plane stress and plane
strains, while maintaining the ability to vary the cohesion and the friction angle the material. The
controls available are: "c"-cohesion, "φ"-angle of friction, "z"-maximum vertical strain represented,
"Range H"-range of the horizontal stresses, "P stress"-visibility plane stresses, "Q strain"-visibility
plane strains, "ν"-Poisson ratio, "σi"-a point principal stresses, shown in green.

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 Fig. 8. Applet 4
The use of bar controls allows seeing the influence of the Poisson ratio on the inclination of the plane
for plane strain. It´s possible to change the material properties, adjust the viewing window, to
represent a point by its principal stresses and view their tensional range (elastic or plastic).
Finally, with controls fixed to any value, each figure from those presented can be rotated about any
axis to obtain the most convenient point of view to the problem.

3 CONCLUSIONS
A dynamic graphical representation of the yield criteria for ductile and geologic materials has been
presented. The student can analyze the influence of one or the other parameters in the geometry of
the yielding surface and its intersection with different boundary conditions of the problem. The use of
these tools -available to students through the Virtual Campus at the University of Alicante- has proven
to be an effective tool for students to assimilate the concept presented by these yield criteria in a much
more educational form than traditional analytic representations, they certainly have a fundamental
value in engineering education and which are those that allow finally take a decision or other on the
security level of the stress state reached.
In this article we have shown some of the developed applets to help understanding of these yield
criteria, showing the great advantages of integration in the teaching of such materials and the tools
made available to students of these tools.

REFERENCES
[1] Popov E. (2000) Mecánica de sólidos. México Pearson Educación, 864 p.
[2] Irles Más, R. (2004). Mecánica de medios continuos. Para ingenieros geólogos. Textos
docentes de la Universidad de Alicante. 276
[3] Irles Más, R., Ivorra Chorro, S. (2011). Mecánica de medios continuos. 100 supuestos para
examen. Textos docentes de la Universidad de Alicante. 386.

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 [4] Wolfram Mathematica, v.8. Wolfram Research Europe Ltd. The Wolfram Centre Lower Road,
Long Hanborough Oxfordshire OX29 8FD. UNITED KINGDOM
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Mises_yield_criterion [consultado 15/05/2012]
[6] Tresca, H. (1864). Mémoire sur l'écoulement des corps solides soumis à de fortes pressions.
C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 59, p. 754.
[7] Von Mises, R. (1913). Mechanik der festen Körper im plastisch deformablen Zustand. Göttin.
Nachr. Math. Phys., vol. 1, pp. 582–592.
[8] Coulomb, C. A. (1776). Essai sur une application des regles des maximis et minimis a
quelquels problemes de statique relatifs, a la architecture. Mem. Acad. Roy. Div. Sav., vol. 7,
pp. 343–387.
[9] Drucker, D.C., Prager, W., 1952. Soil mechanics and plastic analysis or limit design. Quaterly of
Applied Mathematics 10, 157-165

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