x 400 Chapter 13: Slope Stability LTE | Example 13.3 | in a soil = 17kNim’, c’ = 40 KN/m?, ang is .de in a soil that has y 17K) s ea eae ee of the cut slope will make an angle of 30° with the hor. al What depth of the cut slope will have a factor of safety, FS, of 3 | Solution : We are given $’ = 15° and c’ = 40 kN/m®. If FS; = 3, then FS. and F5, | should both be equal to 3. We have i FS, or | dpe Se OS 333 eN { 1 FS. ES, . 3. Similarly, or Substituting the preceding values of c! and 6 into Eq. (13.31) gives 4ej [_sinBeosdj | _ 4% 13.33 sin30cos5.1_ | 16g ¥ L1—cosB — 64). 17 1 — cos(30 — 5.1) 13.5 Analysis of Finite Slope with Cylindrical Failure Surface— General In general, slope failure occurs in one of the following modes (Figure 13.6): 1 ‘When the failure occurs in such a way that the surface of sliding intersects the slope at or above its toe, itis called a slope failure (Figure 13.6a). The failure circle is referred to as a toe cirele if it passes through the toe of the slope, and asa slope cirele if it passes above the toe of the slope. Under certain circumstances, itis possible to have a shallow slope failure, as shown in Figure 13.60, ‘When the failure occurs in such a way that the surface of sliding passes at some distance below the toe of the slope, itis called a base failure.13.5 “Analysis of Finite Slope with Cylindrical Failure Surface—General 401 ) @ FIG. 13.6 Modes of failure of finite slope: (a) slope failure; (b) shallow slope failure; (©) base failure (Figure 13.6c). The failure circle in the case of base failure is called a ‘midpoint circle. Here, the center of the circle lies above the midpoint of the slope, ‘Various procedures of stability analysis may, in general, be divided into two major classes: 1. Mass procedure. In this case, the mass of the soil above the surface of sliding is taken as a unit. This procedure is useful when the soil that forms the slope is assumed to be homogeneous, although this is hardly the case in most natural slopes. 2. Method of slices. In this procedure, the soil above the surface of slid- ing is divided into a number of vertical parallel slices. The stability of each of the slices is calculated separately. This is a versatile technique in which the nonhomogeneity of the soils and pore water pressure can be taken into consideration, It also accounts for the variation of the normal stress along the potential failure surface, ‘The fundamentals of the analysis of slope stability by mass procedure and method of slices are presented in the following sections,402 Chapter 13: Slope Stability 13.6 Mass Procedure of Stability Analysis (Circularly Cylindrical Failure Surface) A. Slopes in Homogeneous Clay Soil with = 0 (Undrained Condition and c, Constant with Depth) Figure 13.7 shows a slope in a homogeneous soil. The undrained shear strength of the soil is assumed to be constant with depth and may be given by 7 = ¢,. To make the stability analysis, we choose a trial potential curve of sliding 4zp, Which is an arc of a circle that has a radius r. The center of the citcle is located at ©. Consider-ing the unit length perpendicular to the section of the slope, we can ive the total weight of the soil above the curve AED as W = W, + Ws, where W, = (area of FCDEF)(y) and W, = (area of ABFEA)(y) Note that y = saturated unit weight of the soil. : Failure of the slope may occur by the sliding of the soil mass. The moment of the driving force about O to cause slope instability is My = Wih - Wal, (13.33) where /, and J; are the moment arms, The resistance to sliding is derived from the cohesion that acts along the po- tential surface of sliding. If c, is the cohesion that needs to be developed, then the moment of the resisting forces about O is M, = eg AEDY(A) = cr°6 (13.34) For equilibrium, M, = M,; thus, ca"8 = Wily — Wl, Unit weight of soil = 7 N, (normal reaction) = &w FIG. 13.7 Stability analysis of slope in homogeneous clay soil (f = 0)13.6 Mass - Procedure of Stability Analysis (Circularly Cylindrical Failure surface) or as Hi = Wi (3. The factor of safety against sliding may now be found: ee oe a3. Gate AED, was chosen arbitrarily. Note that the potential curve of sliding, ‘a minimum. In o' critical surface isthe one for which the ratio of 6410 & is ‘words, ¢yis maximum. To find the critical surface for sliding, 720 are made for different trial circles. The minimum thus obtained is the factor of safety against sliding 403 .35) 36) The ther ber of trials value of the factor of safety for the slope, and the core sponding circle is the critical circle. by Fetlenius (1927) Stability problems of this type were solved analytically and Taylor (1937). For the case of critical circles, expressed by the relationship y= ym or (3. ‘mm on the right-hand to as the stal ted by substituting H= Hand ca = Cx ‘Note that the ter mensional and is referred the developed cohesion can be 37) of the preceding equation is nondi- ‘number. The critical height (that is, (full IFS, ~ 1) of the slope can be evalua FS zaton of the undained shear strength) into Bq, (13.37). Thus, Nez 1338 oo (13.38) Reciprocal value ofthe stability mumbe m Or vanity slope angles B are given ‘ied the term yH/¢y the reciprocal of ™, in Figure 13.8. Terzaghi and Peck (1967) Figure 13.8 should be used carefully. ‘Note that it ‘and called it the stability factor. ald for slopes of saturated lay and is applicable to only undrained condit @=9- In reference to Figure 13.8, consider these issues: ater than 53°, the critical circle is always a toe jions 1. For slope angle B gre a he center of the eritcal toe circle may be found circle. The location o} ith the aid of Figure 13.9- 2, For B < 5%, the critical depending on the depth of the Firm’ base under the slope. ePeopth function, which is defined as (see Figure 13.8a) vertical distance height of the slope circle may be a toe, slope, or midpoint circle, This is called from the top of the slope to the firm base ce from the top of the slope t0 TS ——— (13.39)4 404 Chapter 13: Slope Stability DH a @) For B > 537 All itces ae toe circles, 10 For B< sy ‘Toe circle Midpoint circle ems Slope circle seem vm 10 20 30 40 30 0 ma ee ‘Slope angle, B (deg) 0) FIG. 13.8 (a) Definition of parameters for midpoint circle-type failure; (b) plot of the reciprocal of stability number against slope angle (Based on Soil Mechanics it Engineering Practice, Terzaghi and Peck. (c) 1967, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) i13.6 Mass Procedure of Stability Analysis (Circularly Gyunurwes + = 80 70) axand 0 (deg) 055 60 70 30 90 B (deg) FIG. 13.9 Location of the center of critical circles for B > 53° 3. When the critical circle is a midpoint circle (that is, the failure surface is tangent to the firm base), its position can be determined with the aid of Figure 13.10. 4. The maximum possible value of the stability number for failure at the midpoint circle is 0.181, Fellenius (1927) also investigated the case of critical toe circles for slope with B < 53°. The location of these can be determined with the use of Figure 13.11 | and Table 13.1. Note that these critical toe circles are not necessarily the most critical circles that exist.406 Chapter 13: Siope Stability 3 D3 i = oi 30 40 3033 Slope angle. (deg) FIG. 18.10 Location of midpoint circle (Based on Fellenius, 1927; and Terzegh ng Peck, 1967) FIG. 13.11 Location of the center of critical toe circles for B < 53° (Based on Fellenius, 1927; and Terzaghi and Peck, 1967) 28 37 15 33.68, 26 35 20 26.57 25 35 3.0 18.43 25 35 5.0 11,32 25 31 44, and ay see Figure Tb13.7 Method of Slices 423 13.7 Method of Slices Stability analysis using the method of ices can be explained by referring to Fis- These agit hich 4Cis an ae ofa cree representing the til failure surface. ! Fe $0 above the trial failure surface is divided into several vertical slices. The width of each slice need not be the same. Considering unit length perpendicular to the cross-section shown, the forces that act on a typical slice (nth slice) are shown in Figure 13.24b. W, is the effective weight of the slice. The forces N, and T, are the normal and tangential components of the reaction R, respectively. P, and P,.: are the normal forces that act on the sides of the slice. Similarly, the shearing forces that act on the sides of the slice are T, and T,,1- For simplicity, the pore water pressure is assumed to be 0. The forces Py, Preis Tn and Tres are difficult to determine, However, we can make an approximate assumption that the resultants of P, and 7, are equal in magnitude to the resultants of P,1 and T,..; and also that their lines of action coincide. For equilibrium consideration, we have N, = W,,008 a, The resisting shear force can be expressed as T= 14al) = OE A fe to! tn stb, — (13.50 The effective normal stress, o', in Eq. (13.50) is equal to N,_ W,cos a, ML,” AL, For equilibrium of the trial wedge ABC, the moment of the driving force ‘about O equals the moment of the resisting force about O, or = 4 My Mn z Wy sino, = S Ales ra tang" (as or (13.51) Note: AL, in Eq. (13.51) is approximately equal to (b,)/(cos a), where b, = width of the nth slice. ‘Note that the value of a, may be either positive or negative. The value of «a, is positive when the slope of the arc is in the same quadrant as the ground slope. To fing the: minimum factor of safety—that is, the factor of safety for the critical circle—several trials are made by changing the center of the trial circle, ‘This method is generally referred to as the ordinary method of slices. In developing Eq. (13.51), we assumed the pore water pressure to be zero, However, for steady-state seepage through slopes asis the situation in many practical424 Chapter 13: Slope Stability y2C40' tng! Oe FIG. 13.24 Stability analysis by ordinary method of slices: (a) trial failure surface (b) forces acting on nth slice13.7 Method of Slices 425 FIG. 13.25 Stability of slopes with steady-state seepage cases, the pore water pressure has to be taken into consideration when effective shear strength parameters are used. So we need to modify Eq. (13.51) slightly. Figure 13.25 shows a slope through which there is steady-state seepage. For the nth slice, the average pore water pressure at the bottom of the slice is equal {0 u, = hyyp. The total force caused by the pore water pressure at the bottom of the mth slice is equal to u, AL,. Thus, Eq. (13.51) for the ordinary method of slices will be modified to read (13.52) ee Example 13.10 For the slope shown in Figure 13.26, find the factor of safety against slid- ing for the trial slip surface AC. Use the ordinary method of slices. ‘Solution ‘The sliding wedge is divided into seven slices. Other calculations are shown, in the table. a