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Sensitivity Analysis
Finished Product:
The finished product of this tutorial can be found in the Tutorial 8 Water Pressure.swd7 file,
located in the Examples > Tutorials folder in your SWedge installation folder.
If you have not already done so, run the SWedge program by double-clicking the SWedge icon in
your installation folder or by selecting Programs > Rocscience > SWedge > SWedge in the
Windows Start menu.
When the program starts, a default model is automatically created. If you do NOT see a model on
your screen:
Whenever a new file is created, the default input data forms valid slope geometry, as shown in the
image below.
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If the SWedge application window is not already maximized, maximize it now so that the full
screen is available for viewing the model.
Notice the four-pane, split screen format of the display, which shows Top, Front, Side and
Perspective views of the model. This view is referred to as the Wedge View. The Top, Front and
Side views are orthogonal with respect to each other (i.e., viewing angles differ by 90 degrees.)
2.0 Model
Let’s start by defining the model's properties in the Input Data dialog. To open the dialog, select
Input Data on the toolbar or on the Analysis menu.
2. Select the Joints tab and set Joint 1 Dip (deg) = 35.
3. Click Apply.
Notice that the Factor of Safety changes from 0.9886 to 1.2683.
4. Select the Water tab and select the Joint Water Pressure check box.
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5. Keep the-default
SWedge valuewedge
3D surface for Unit Weight (MN/m3). Click here to see this page in full context
sta…
6. Select the Pressure Distribution Model drop-down and note the following models available
for modeling water pressure on the joints. We discuss these models in the next section.
Filled Fissures
% Filled Fissures
Custom Pressure
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3.0 Joint Water Pressure Distribution Models
There are six different Joint Water pressure Distribution Models in SWedge. The main
difference between the models is the location of the peak water pressure.
For the % Filled Fissures and Peak Pressure models, you have the option of specifying Percent
Filled or Percent Slope Height.
In general, the Percent Filled option should be used in cases where the joints are like two
fissures in the slope and there is no fluid in the soil matrix. In this case, the elevation of the water
table surface varies from 0% filled at the toe of the wedge on the slope surface to 100% filled at
the elevation of the upper face.
The Percent Slope Height option should be used in cases where you have a highly jointed slope
and there is a pore pressure distribution throughout the slope. The Percent Slope Height option
is useful for cases of scaled wedges. The joints do not fill with water until the Percent Slope
Height is high enough that the water reaches the wedge.
For the three Peak Pressure models, the peak water pressure is calculated at the specified
location and the values at all other locations are linearly interpolated between that maximum and
zero at all locations where the wedge is in contact with the slope or upper face.
When a Tension Crack is present, you can select the No Failure Plane Pressure option. When
this option is selected, water pressure is only applied to the Tension Crack. This assumes that the
joint planes are essentially impermeable surfaces.
The Filled Fissures option assumes that very heavy rainfall has occurred and that the fissures
(Joint 1, Joint 2, Tension Crack) are completely full of water. In the case of no Tension Crack,
the maximum pressure lies at a point midway along the line of intersection of the two joint planes.
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When a Tension Crack is present, the peak pressure exists at the base of the Tension Crack.
The % Filled Fissures model allows you to specify the average height of water in the fissures as
a percentage of the completely filled water state.
You can choose between Percent Filled TC and Percent Slope Height. The Percent Slope
Height option should be used in cases where you have a highly jointed slope and there is a pore
pressure distribution throughout the slope. The Percent Slope Height option is useful for cases of
scaled wedges. The joints do not fill with water until the Percent Slope Height is high enough that
the water reaches the wedge. Percent Filled TC means that the 0% filled location is at the bottom
of the Tension Crack.
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This model allows you to specify the actual average water pressure on Joint 1 and Joint 2.
When a Tension Crack and Basal Plane are present, you can also specify the average water
pressure on those surfaces.
In this case, the peak water pressure is located directly below the crest of the slope.
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In this case, the peak pressure is located at the toe of the wedge.
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Now we'll look at the application of Ponded Water Pressure and the different Slope Face Types.
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5. Select the Slope Face Type drop-down and note the different options for modeling ponded
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water pressure on the slopes. We discuss these types in the next sub-sections.
Impervious
Pervious
8. Keep Hu = 1.
9. Click OK.
Notice that the Factor of Safety increases to 1.1527. In this case, the ponded water is acting as a
stabilizing force on the wedge.
To view water contours on the display, select Display Options on the View menu, and
select the Water Contours check box under Forces.
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There are two Slope Face Types in SWedge that affect the way water pressure is computed in
the joints. The Slope Face Type has no impact on the way in which Ponded Water Pressure is
calculated on the slopes.
Let's see what happens when we change the Slope Face Type to Pervious.
1. Re-open the Input Data dialog and select the Water tab.
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Notice that the Factor of Safety decreases to 1.0592. The Joint Water Pressure below the
ponded water surface elevation is computed from the ponded water surface while the Joint Water
Pressure above the ponded water surface elevation is computed from the joint water free surface
(parallel to the Upper Slope).
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SWedge is capable of modelling ponded water at various extents, including dry, partially ponded
Slope and/or Upper Slope, and fully submerged.
You can view the Ponded Water Pressure and Joint Water Pressure input in the Info Viewer
under Ponded Water Pressure Data and Joint Water Pressure Data.
To open the Info Viewer, select Info Viewer on the toolbar or on the Analysis menu.
There are three options for viewing the water forces applied to a wedge. In the Display Options
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dialog under Forces, you can choose to display Water, Wetted Area, and Water Contours. You
can also choose the Water Force display colour.
1. Select the Water check box under Forces and click Apply.
The Water option draws arrows pointing to the joint and/or slope planes.
4. To turn off the water pressure contour legend, deselect the Legend check box and click OK
to close the dialog.
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A Sensitivity analysis is a very useful feature of SWedge that allows you to quickly determine the
effect of any input variable on the Factor of Safety.
There are three water pressure-related sensitivity analysis options: Ponded Water Depth, Water
Unit Weight, and Water Percent Filled. In this tutorial, we'll focus on Water Percent Filled.
2. Select the first check box in the Sensitivity Input dialog and select Water Percent Filled
from the drop-down of variables to plot.
4. Click OK.
You will see a Sensitivity plot of Factor of Safety vs. Water Percent Filled.
5. Right-click in the plot and select the Sampler option from the popup menu.
6. Drag the Sampler until you obtain a Factor of Safety of about 1.0. The corresponding Water
Percent Filled (78.83%) is displayed.
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This concludes the tutorial. You can now proceed to the next tutorial, Tutorial 09 - Basal Joint in
SWedge.
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