Rock Dynamics: From Research to Engineering – Li et al.

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© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-02953-8

Integrating structural and numerical solutions for road cut slope

stability analysis—A case study, India

J. Kundu, K. Sarkar & A.K. Singh

Department of Applied Geology, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India

ABSTRACT: The present work demonstrates the stability analysis of a cut slope in Jhakri
area, Himachal Pradesh, India. The recent developments along the left bank of Sutlej valley
have witnessed various activities such as widening of road, human settlement and hydro-
power projects. These actions have left the National Highway 22 very unfavorable from rock
slope instability problem. In this paper, an attempt has been made through kinematic analysis
and finite element simulation to understand the failure mechanism of vulnerable slope with
highly jointed rock mass. The study provides an illustration that the slope is unstable because
of intersecting joints with unfavorable attitude and stress accumulation at the toe region.

1 INTRODUCTION

Himalayan region comprises one of the largest active mountain chain on the earth with
young, immature and undulating topography with diverse monsoonal season. The fragile and
highly deformed nature of rocks has turned this region to be most vulnerable towards differ-
ent types of slope failures (Sarkar et al. 1995, Chauhan et al. 2010, Pal et al. 2012, Singh et al.
2014). The current advances along the left bank of Sutlej valley around Jhakri area, Shimla
in Himachal Pradesh, India has led to various activities such as widening of road, human
settlement and expansion of hydropower projects. Lack of geological and geotechnical inves-
tigation prior to engineering constructions has created stability problem along the road. Due
to these unscientific design methods, stress disequilibrium has set up resulting in slope failure
in study area. The collapse of slope puts human life in grave danger as well as spawns huge
economic loss. The failed rock masses possess serious disruption in communication in the
Rampur-Jhakri region especially in the monsoonal season (Sarkar & Singh, 2008a, b, Singh
et al. 2013). The present study deals with a road cut slope in Jhakri area, Himachal Pradesh,
India, along Tibet Border Road, National Highway (NH) 22. An integrated approach of
structural analysis and numerical simulation through Finite Element Method (FEM) has
been implemented to identify potentially vulnerable slopes and to get an insight about defor-
mational mechanism of the area.

1.1 Regional geology of the area

The rocks of the studied area come under Juthogh group of rocks in higher Himalaya which
falls in the Main Central Thrust Zone (MCTZ). The rock types in the area are augen migma-
tite, biotite gneiss, quartz mica schist, garnet bearing quartz mica schist, muscovite biotite
schist, and amphibolite, which are truncated by faults and other discontinuities (Singh 1979).
The geological map of the area has been given in Figure 1. Regional strike of lithogical
units is ENE-WSW with local variations in the trend. The rocks of juthogh group are of
higher grade which tectonically overly low grade Rampur group of rocks. So the area shows
an inverted metamorphism. Jutogh thrust separates Rampur group from Jutogh group of
rocks. Tectonically detachment of Jutogh group has been occurred through a ductile shearing
(Mukhopadhaya et al. 1997) which is named as Jeori dislocation (Singh 1979).

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 Figure 1. Geological map of Sarahan Bushair area, district Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. (After
Singh 1979).

1.2 Geotechnical details

The studied location in this paper is near to Jeori dislocation and consists of fine grained
gneissic rocks with evidences of migmatisation. The rock mass in this location is blocky in
nature, intersected by three sets of joints and intruded by thin quartz veins. Out of these
joint sets, two are steeply dipping and daylight on slope face while the other dips inward.
The cliff has a height of about 55 meters and an angle 80°–85°. Vegetation is negligible up to
20 meters from the base but noticeable in the higher region. The geotechnical properties for
rock material are determined in saturated condition as per ISRM (1981) specifications.

2 STRUCTURAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

2.1 Kinematic analysis

Stereographic projection has always been a major tool for solving complex problems. Deter-
mination of kinematically admissible failure modes for jointed rock slopes using stereonet is
an easy practice and extremely useful technique which remains unreplaceable by modern tech-
niques till date (Goodman 1976, Hoek & Bray 1981, Matherson 1988). The method is purely
geometric which takes angular relationships between discontinuities and slope face(s) as input
parameters for the analysis of possible planner, wedge and topple failure with potential failure
direction (Kliche 1999). Another factor, angle of friction of joint planes has been introduced
to satisfy both frictional and kinematic conditions for all type of slides. A computer program
DIPS 6.0 (2015) of Rocscience has been used to perform the analysis. The input parameters for
joint and slope orientations are given in Table 1, which are obtained from field investigation.

2.2 Finite element-shear strength reduction (FE-SSR) analysis

Characterizing complex rock mass especially fractured rock slope deformation and failure
using numerical codes has become a major challenge in the field of engineering geology and
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 rock mechanics in present day. Various approaches in continuum methods such as Finite
Difference Method (FDM), Finite Element Method (FEM) and Boundary Element Method
(BEM), in discontinum methods visibly Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Discrete Frac-
ture Network (DFN), finally several hybrid methods for instance hybrid FEM/BEM, hybrid
FEM/DEM have been evolved which serve in rock engineering field (Jing 2003). Though
many hybrid models for example hybrid FEM/DEM best define the problem for fractured
rockmass, FEM has gained its maximum popularity in engineering geology because of its
flexibility in handling material complexity, user-friendliness with the availability of many well
developed and verified commercial codes (Jing 2003). The technique addresses complexi-
ties regarding geometry, non-linear deformability, material heterogeneity, complex boundary
conditions, in situ stresses and gravity in addition to several coupled processes such as pore
pressure, seismic loading. The FEM as a part of continuum analysis program, is based on the
principle of dividing whole domain into finite elements, where each element shares its nodes
with neighbor elements. This technique allows only small displacements forbidding large dis-
location and complete detachment of elements. One more advantage is that joints can be
incorporated into the model by the implementation of fracture elements (Jing & Hudson
2002). In case of blocky rock masses the displacement is very small until its failure. Due to
this reason, FE-SSR method works effectively for jointed rock mass even proves equivalent
to discrete modelling tools such as DEM (Hammah et al. 2007). Finite element method in
conjunction with SSR technique, calculates equivalent factor of safety for the rock slopes
(Matsui & San 1992, Singh et al. 2013). This approach is best explained for slope materials
characterized by Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters (Hammah et al. 2007). SSR technique
involves reducing strength of Mohr-Coulomb material, by a Strength Reduction Factor
(SRF) until non-convergence occurs within a specified number of iterations and tolerance
(Griffiths & Lane 1999). Shear strength reduction parameters are given by the equation,

C
Cr =
F (1)

tan Φ
tan(Φr) =
F (2)
where C is the cohesion, Φ is the angle of internal friction, Cr and Φr are the reduced shear
strength parameters and F is the shear strength reduction factor.

Table 1. Orientation data of the cut slope used for kinematic analysis.

Discontinuity Dip (°) Dip Direction (°)

Joint Set (J1) 62 293

Joint Set (J2) 60 079
Joint Set (J3) 70 021
Slope Face (SL) 85 080

Table 2. Material parameters used in FE model obtained for saturated condition.

Rock Parameters Value Joint Parameters Value

3
Unit Weight 0.028 MN/m Peak cohesion 0.25 MPa
Peak cohesion 3.2 MPa Peak friction angle 23°
Peak friction angle 28°
Residual cohesion 2.85 MPa
Residual friction angle 24°
Dilation angle (Degree) 0°
Young’s modulus (GPa) 39 GPa
Poisson’s ratio 0.27

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 In this paper, a cut slope of jointed rock mass has been analyzed using a geotechnical soft-
ware RS2 (2015) of Rocscience, which uses finite element code for the solution of rock and soil
problems. The geometry for the model was prepared in a close approximation to field inspec-
tion with overall slope angle 83° and height of 55 m from the road level. A total of 3000 Uni-
form triangular mesh with 6 nodded elements are employed to make the geometry suitable in
respect of complexity and computation time. Mohr-coulomb criterion with gravity loading has
been assigned for the material strength as well as fracture element. Both field stress and body
force was applied as initial element loading. Two daylighting joint sets are incorporated into
the model while the third set installed dipping opposite to the slope face. The input parameters
obtained in saturated condition for material and joint sets are given in Table 2.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Kinematic analysis

The analysis has been carried out for all type of kinematically determinable failure and it
is found that the cut slope is vulnerable to planner, wedge as well as toppling failure. It has
a potential for wedge failure in two directions towards 070° and 006° respectively (Fig. 2a).
Also the slope shows possibility of direct toppling failure and planner failure, both towards
079° (Figs. 2b, c). In Figure 2d, a field photo illustrates joints with both the wedges.

Figure 2. Kinematic analysis (a) showing wedge failure in two directions. One towards 70 and another
towards 6. (b) Direct toppling towards 79. (c) Planner failure towards 79. (d) Represents joint alignment
and two wedges, wedge 1 at higher inclination and wedge 2 at lower inclination.

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 Figure 3. (a) Deformation contour from Finite Element Analysis with maximum total displacement of
6.20e−4 m at toe region. (b) Field photo showing deformation at toe region of the slope.

Figure 4. (a) Distance from top to toe along the slope surface vs. Differential Stress graph, represent-
ing an increasing trend of Differential Stress towards the toe of the slope. (b) Distance from top to toe
along the slope surface vs. Total Displacement, showing maximum displacement at the toe portion
where deformation contour is protruding (Fig. 3a).

3.2 Finite element-shear strength reduction (FE-SSR) analysis

The results for maximum total displacement are 6.20e−4 m while it shows a minimum strength
factor of −1. Figure-3a illustrates deformation contours where it displays maximum distor-
tion at the foot region. Here displacement exaggeration in the picture has been made for
visual purpose. The disturbances in that region of the slope have been well documented in
the field (Fig. 3b). The analysis resulted for a maximum joint shear stress of 0.607 MPa at the
maximum deformed section of the slope. Also the graphs in (Figs. 4a, b) represent maximum
differential stress, maximum total displacement in the vulnerable foot region. It also shows
minimum strength factor −1 in the region. A factor of safety of 1.22 attained through FE-
SSR analysis which convince the slope as unstable. Again visual observation of failed rock
mass deposits at the base of slope confirms the result.

4 CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, road-cut slope along National Highway (NH) 22 in Jhakri region has
been investigated for stability analysis using kinematic method and numerical FEM tech-
niques. The rockmass shows high concentration of stress providing some signal for yielding,
if present pace of excavation is continued. The factor of safety obtained using FEM method
is 1.22, which indicates that the road cut slope is unstable. It is also observed that the failure
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 surface and location estimated by the numerical method match with the kinematic analysis,
field observation and records. In the study area, the rock mass of the existing slope is highly
jointed, so fully grouted rock bolting with wire mesh may be necessary to prevent failure.

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