5/1/2013

ENCE 647

Stability of Slopes

Dr. Ahmet Aydilek

Built near the top of a marginally stable slope that had been steepened as part of an
earlier road construction project. The home
home--builders and owners also contributed to
the instability by adding to the groundwater through years of landscape irrigation and
poor surface drainage.

1
 5/1/2013

Terminology used to describe slopes.

The debris at the bottom of this slope is called talus

2
5/1/2013

3
5/1/2013

4
5/1/2013

5
5/1/2013

6
5/1/2013

7
 5/1/2013

Limit Equilibrium Analysis

• Assume a critical failure geometry
• Analyze free body equilibrium at failure condition
• Evaluate factor of safety
• Iterate over failure geometries to find minimum
factor of safety

FS = Shear Strength/Shear Stress

FS > ~1.3 to 1.5

8
 5/1/2013

INFINITE SLOPE ANALYSIS

• The analysis is useful when a thin layer of soil

overlies
li over a muchh harder
h d strata
t t or bedrock
b d k
• Equilibrium of forces on a slice of the sliding
mass along the failure surface is considered
• The ratio of depth to failure surface to length
of failure zone is relatively small (<10%)

9
 5/1/2013

INFINITE SLOPE

10
 5/1/2013

INFINITE SLOPE

hp

 W

 sat T
c

z N


INFINITE SLOPE ANALYSIS

• F = f(c’, ’, , , z, u)
• F = (c’/ z) seccosec + (tan’/tan)(1-ru sec2)
where ru = u/z; and u= /whp

• For Granular Soil: F = (tan’/tan)(1-ru sec2)

Dry Granular Soil (ru = 0): F = (tan’/tan)
• For Cohesive Soil: F decreases with increasing depth to
failure plane; if c is sufficiently large, d for F = 1 may be
large and infinite slope failure may not apply.

11
 5/1/2013

Dry Infinite Slope

FINITE SLOPES: PLANE FAILURE SURFACE

• Slopes with a planar failure surface

• Two
Two-dimensional
dimensional analysis
• The geometry often occurs in rocks where slippage
occur along fractures or bedding planes, plane of
weakness or geological interface.

12
 5/1/2013

Finite Slope--
Slope--Planar
Planar Failure Surface

Limit Equilibrium

Nr = Na = W cos 

Ta = W sin 

Tr = c (AC) + Nr tan 

1  sin      
c H   cos  sin  tan 
FS 
Tr  r
 
2  sin  sin  
Ta  a 1  sin       2
H  sin 
2  sin  sin  

13
 5/1/2013

What is ?
  FS   
 0   cr 
 2

c   H cos 2  tan  tan 

FS   for c  0
 H cos  sin  tan 

c sec 2 
H cr 
  tan   tan  

Other Potential Failure Geometries

14
 5/1/2013

Rotational Failures

(McCarthy, 1998)

Swedish Circle Method (c>0, =0)

15
 5/1/2013

Swedish Slip Circle Analysis-

Analysis-Example Problem

Swedish Slip Circle Analysis-

Analysis-Example Problem

16
 5/1/2013

Swedish
Slip Circle
A l i -
Analysis-
Analysis
Example
Problem

(c>0, >0)
Friction Circle Method (c>

Always a toe circle failure

17
 5/1/2013

Cousins’
Influence Chart

Planar vs. Circular Failure Surfaces

Planar Failure Surface

is UNCONSERVATIVE

18
 5/1/2013

Methods of Slices

Must search for critical

center and radius

(Coduto, 1999)

ORDINARY METHOD OF SLICES (OMS)

19
 5/1/2013

OMS—
OMS—Example Problem

20
 5/1/2013

Modified Bishop’s (MB) Method

• Assumes that resultant of side forces on each slice act in

horizontal direction and therefore vertical side force
components cancel each other

21
 5/1/2013

MB—
MB —Example Problem

MB Method
Method--
--Example
Example

22
5/1/2013

23