Journal Pre-proof

Evaluating the stability of anti-dip slate slope using an innovative

failure criterion for foliation

Meng-Chia Weng, Chien-Yu Chang, Fu-Shu Jeng, Hung-Hui Li

PII: S0013-7952(20)30194-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2020.105737
Reference: ENGEO 105737

To appear in: Engineering Geology

Received date: 1 February 2020

Revised date: 13 June 2020
Accepted date: 17 June 2020

Please cite this article as: M.-C. Weng, C.-Y. Chang, F.-S. Jeng, et al., Evaluating the
stability of anti-dip slate slope using an innovative failure criterion for foliation,
Engineering Geology (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2020.105737

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© 2020 Published by Elsevier.

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1 Evaluating the stability of anti-dip slate slope using an innovative failure

2 criterion for foliation

3 Meng-Chia Weng1 *, Chien-Yu Chang2, Fu-Shu Jeng2, Hung-Hui Li3

4
5 1 Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
6 2 Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
7 3 Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, National Defense University, Taiwan

8 * Corresponding author: mcweng@nctu.edu.tw

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10 Abstract
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Toppling failure is one main failure types of anti-dip slate slopes, and is strongly affected by the
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12 mechanical properties of foliation. This study conducted a series of pull-off tests and direct shear tests
13 on slate foliation to obtain its failure envelope, and an innovative failure criterion was accordingly
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14 proposed. The proposed failure criterion exhibits a nonlinear trend in the low normal stress range;
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15 considers both tensile and shear strengths, and has three material parameters - tensile strength 𝑇0, 𝛼,
16 and 𝛽. Parameters 𝛼 and 𝛽 are related to the slope variation of the failure criterion. To investigate
17 the effectiveness of the proposed failure criterion on the evaluation of slope stability, it is
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18 implemented in a discrete element code UDEC and a simulation was carried out to evaluate the
19 deformation and failure pattern of an anti-dip slate slope. The results of the UDEC analysis
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20 demonstrate that the simulated failure pattern and deformation characteristics agree with that of an
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21 actual anti-dip slate slope. The proposed failure criterion of foliation and the Mohr-Coulomb criterion
22 are further compared in slope stability analysis. The proposed failure envelope accurately reflects the
23 tensile strength and shear strength under low normal stress, but the Mohr-Coulomb criterion
24 apparently overestimates the strength in this stress range. Therefore, the proposed criterion is more
25 effective than the existing criteria in predicting the toppling failure of slate slopes.

26 Keywords: anti-dip slope, discrete element method, failure criterion, foliation, slate.

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27 1. Introduction
28 Slate is a fine-grained, foliated metamorphic rock, derived from an original shale-type rock that
29 is subjected to low-grade metamorphism. In Taiwan, most slate is found in the central mountain range
30 (Fig. 1) and was formed between the Eocene and Miocene epochs. Slate comprises a ubiquitous,
31 sheet-like planar structure called foliation. In geology, foliation is a feature that is used to quantify
32 the degree of metamorphism in rocks. However, in engineering, foliation causes rock to exhibit high
33 anisotropy and heterogeneity, which greatly affect its strength, deformation and failure patterns. Slate
34 easily splits along the direction of foliation under external loading; consequently, the existence of
35 foliation is an unfavorable intrinsic factor with respect to slope stability (Chigira, 1992; Weng et al.,
36 2015; Lo and Feng, 2014; Lo and Weng 2017; Weng et al., 2017; Shou et al., 2018; Lin et al., 2020).

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37 For instance, Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan in early August of 2009, bringing cumulative precipitation

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38 up to 2884 mm in five days. The high precipitation caused at least 22,705 landslides with a total area
39 of 288.77 km2. Of this area, 204.97 km2 involved slate (Fig. 1b) (Lin et al. 2011; Weng et al. 2011).
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40 Among the landslides, toppling failure is one main failure type of anti-dip slate slopes (Aydan et al.,
41 1992; Adhikary et al., 1997; Adhikary and Dyskin, 2007). Figure 2 shows two anti-dip slate slopes
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42 with high-angle foliation in Taiwan; owing to interlayer splitting along the foliation, flexural toppling
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43 deformation frequently occurs, forming bending folds in the upper slope and subsequent rock falls.
44 Therefore, determining the mechanical properties of foliation under various environmental conditions
45 is an important issue with respect to slate slope stability.
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46 The anisotropic behaviors of slate have been widely investigated through a series of Brazilian,
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47 uniaxial, and triaxial tests (Donath 1961; McLamore and Gray 1967; Attewell and Sandford 1974;
48 Goshtasbi et al. 2006; Debecker and Vervoort 2009; Alam et al. 2008; Gholami and Rasouli 2014;
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49 Tan et al. 2014; Vervoort et al. 2014; Stoeckhert et al. 2015; Chen et al., 2016). The test results
50 indicate that the strength and deformation of slate depend substantially on the inclination angle
51 between the foliation and the loading direction and confining pressure. Zhu et al. (2004) performed
52 mechanical tests to investigate the wetting deterioration of slate specimens. Their results reveal that
53 the uniaxial compressive strength and Young’s modulus of slate decrease substantially as water
54 content increases. The reduction in the strength of slate may be caused by the wetting deterioration
55 of foliation. However, in performing the aforementioned tests, collecting sufficient specimens with
56 different foliation angles is difficult. Besides, the strength and deformability of a single foliation are
57 still unclear. To overcome these difficulties, this work seeks to elucidate the mechanical properties
58 of a single foliation. Once the properties of a single foliation are determined, the overall behavior of
59 slate can be estimated by combining the geometric condition and foliation properties. With these
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60 objectives, a series of pull-off tests and direct shear tests are performed on a slate foliation to obtain
61 its tensile and shear strengths (Weng et al., 2017; Cacciari and Futai, 2018; Cacciari and Futai, 2019).
62 A failure criterion of foliation is accordingly proposed.

63 To apply the proposed failure criterion of foliation in engineering, the proposed criterion is
64 implemented using the discrete element method (DEM) in simulations of the deformation and failure
65 of slate slopes. In recent decades, DEM has been considerably developed and successfully employed
66 in geotechnical engineering, landslide, and mining engineering. Unlike the continuum analysis, DEM
67 allows for the separation and movement of elements, which makes DEC programs suitable for
68 simulating the deformation, sliding, and deposition of a slope (Lo et al., 2017; Lin et al., 2018; Chiu
69 and Weng, 2019; Weng et al., 2019). Among many developed DEM programs, this study adopted

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70 UDEC software (Itasca Consulting Group 2014), which is widely used in rock slope engineering
71 (Alzo’ubi et al., 2010; Lo and Feng, 2014; Zheng et al., 2017). A UDEC analysis using the proposed

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72 model was validated by comparing the simulated and actual toppling deformations of an anti-dip slate
73 slope. The development of the failure plane and potential failure mechanisms of anti-dip slopes were
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74 further explored. The results of the slope analysis using the proposed criterion were compared with
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75 those obtained using the widely used Mohr-Coulomb criterion and the advantages of the proposed
76 criterion are discussed.
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77 2. Study area and specimen preparation

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78 A typical anti-dip slate slope in the Tiangul Creek basin in Yilan county (Lin et al., 2018) was the
79 study case (Figs. 2a and 3a). Figure 3 shows details of flexural toppling deformation of the anti-dip
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80 slate slope. The slope is 9.4 m high in Fig. 3b. However, due to frequent landslides in the upper stream
81 of Tiangul Creek, the riverbed has been greatly raised by approximately 15 m. The estimated actual
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82 slope height is therefore about 24.4 m. The rocks in the study area belong to the Lushan formation of
83 the Miocene period. The Lushan formation comprises mostly slate and argillite with mature foliation.
84 The dip angle of the foliation of the studied slope is 75°. Figure 3 shows that the upper slope overturns
85 and the slate layers bend outward. The part with maximal bending curvature exhibits numerous
86 foliation openings and trans-layer fractures. The trans-layer fractures cut the rock layer into fragments,
87 which easily slide or fall (Figs. 3c and 3d). Slate slopes with steeply dipping ubiquitous foliation in
88 study area frequently exhibit such phenomena. Additionally, wetting commonly weakens the foliation
89 significantly.

90 To investigate the mechanical properties of the slate foliation, rock blocks with a thickness of at
91 least 70 mm were sampled from the slope toe area to be prepared as testing specimens (Figs. 4 and

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92 5). The porosity of the sampled slate was around 4.2% and its dry density was approximately 2.72
93 g/cm3. Its compressive strength was 36.4 MPa according to the results of a uniaxial compressive test
94 in the direction perpendicular to the foliation. Petrographic analysis demonstrates that the sampled
95 slate mainly consisted of quartz and mica with an average grain size of 0.02 mm. The foliation was
96 well developed.

97 For laboratory tests, the slate samples were used under both dry and wet condition at room
98 temperature. To establish the dry conditions, the specimens were air-dried for at least 24 hours. To
99 investigate the effect of wetting-softening on foliation strength, the specimens were soaked in water
100 for 48 hours.

101 3. Laboratory tests

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3.1 Pull-off test

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103 A pull-off testing machine DY-216 (Proceq Co.) was used to measure the tensile strength of
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104 foliation (Fig. 4). This machine had four parts, which were an automatic pulling motor, a supporting
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105 frame, metal jigs, and a digital indicator. The maximum loading capacity of the jack was 16 kN, and
106 the accuracy of the loading measurement was 0.1 kN. To prevent any bending moment effect, the
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107 allowable angle between the loading direction and the testing plane was 90° ± 2.5°. Throughout the
108 test, the machine automatically recorded the normal load that was applied to the specimen and
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109 displayed the results on the digital indicator. The details of the testing procedure are as follows. (1)
110 Pull-off tests were performed perpendicular to the foliation planes. An appropriate testing area was
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111 chosen and grooves perpendicular to the foliation were cut using a cutting machine. The size of each
112 specimen was 50 mm×50 mm and the depth of each groove was at least 30 mm. (2) Epoxy resin was
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113 used to glue the jig on the surface of the specimen. The epoxy resin had a bonding strength of over
114 10 MPa, which greatly exceeded the foliation tensile strength of metamorphic rock. (3) The testing
115 machine was set up on the specimen and the supporting frame was adjusted to stabilize the tester.
116 Tensile loading was applied and the stress was increased at a rate of 35±15 kPa/s (ASTM C1583 /
117 C1583M-13, 2013). (4) The peak strength was recorded after failure occurred.

118 3.2 Direct shear test

119 To investigate the shear strength of the slate foliation, direct shear tests were performed on a rock
120 servo-controlled direct shear testing machine (Fig. 5). The experimental setup was as follows.
121 Vertical (normal) and horizontal (shear) loads were provided by two hydraulic actuators with a
122 maximum capacity of 100 kN; the actuator displacement was 150 mm. Both normal and shear loads
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123 were servo-controlled by the MTS controller to enable tests that involved various stress paths (Fig.
124 5b). The loads in each actuated were measured by independent load-cells. To measure the
125 deformation of the specimen, two vertical linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) were set
126 up to obtain the normal displacement and two LVDTs were configured to obtain the shear (Fig. 5).
127 The measurement of accuracy of LVDT was ± 0.2 mm.
128 All specimens were square in the plane view and had a size of 50 mm×50 mm (Fig. 5c). The
129 foliation plane was placed in the middle of a 10 mm-thick shear zone (Fig. 5d). The shear zone was
130 kept horizontally oriented and placed in the shear box, and stiff gypsum was cast to fill the empty
131 space. The direct shear tests were designed with consideration of engineering applicability so the
132 normal stress ranged from 300 kPa to 4300 kPa, which are equivalent to the overburden from around
133 11 m to 158 m. Therefore, the experimental data should be applicable to a wide range of slope heights.

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134 More than five specimens under the specified normal stresses were tested to obtain the failure

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135 envelope. After the first sliding failure of the foliation occurred, multiple unloading-reloading
136 procedures were carried out to obtain the residual strength of the foliation.
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137 4. Results and failure criterion for slate foliation
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138 4.1 Test results

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139 Figure 6 presents the tensile load rate curve and displays the failure type of the foliation as
140 determined from the results of pull-off testing. A single horizontal failure surface can be identified
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141 (Fig. 6a); it is quite smooth on the foliation plane (Fig. 6c), indicating that the testing method can
142 accurately measure the tensile strength of foliation. Table 1 summarizes the test results for all
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143 specimens under dry and wet conditions. The foliation tensile strength of six specimens under the dry
144 condition ranged from 110.9 kPa to 201.8 kPa, with an average of 151.4 kPa. Under the wet condition,
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145 seven slate specimens were tested and their strength ranged from 103.5 kPa to 153.0 kPa, with an
146 average of 131.9 kPa. The results indicate that wet specimens were slightly weaker than dry ones,
147 exhibiting a strength reduction of 12.8% after being soaked in water for 48 hours.

148 Figure 7 plots the shear stress-displacement curves that were obtained in the direct shear tests
149 under various normal stresses. For the dry specimens (Fig. 7a), the initial stiffness and peak strength
150 increased with the applied normal stress. When the shear stress approached the failure state, the strains
151 exhibited significant brittleness. Saturated specimens exhibited similar behaviors (Fig. 7b), but they
152 had much lower peak strength.

153 The failure envelopes of foliation were further obtained from the peak strength: of the direct shear
154 tests (Fig. 8a). The failure envelopes of foliation under dry and wet conditions can be expressed by
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155 using the widely used Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The friction angle ϕ and cohesion c were 37.2°
156 and 500.0 kPa under the dry condition, and 34.4° and 132.4 kPa under the wet condition, respectively.
157 Figure 8b shows that the residual strength envelopes were based on the residual strength in the post-
158 peak stage and the residual friction angles under dry and wet conditions were 28.7° and 19.1°,
159 respectively.

160 The shear stiffness was determined from the tangential slope of the shear stress – displacement
161 curve at 50 % of peak strength. Figure 9 shows the variation of shear stiffness with normal stress. The
162 shear stiffness under the dry condition apparently exceeded that under the wet condition. The
163 relationship between shear stiffness and normal stress is obtained from the regression as

164 K𝑠,50,𝑑𝑟𝑦 = 211.96𝜎𝑛 +625912 (kPa/m) (1)

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165 K𝑠,50,𝑤𝑒𝑡 = 255.54𝜎𝑛 +246631 (kPa/m) (2)

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166 where K𝑠,50 and 𝜎𝑛 are shear stiffness at 50 % of peak strength and normal stress, respectively. The
167 normal stress ranged from 300 kPa to 4300 kPa.
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4.2 Proposed failure criterion of slate foliation
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168

169 Figure 10 shows the failure envelope that is obtained by combining the results of the pull-off and
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170 direct shear tests; it can be represented using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with a tension cutoff.
171 However, in the toppling failure of an anti-dip slope, the overburden stress is quite low (<600 kPa)
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172 and the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion apparently overestimates the actual strength of the foliation,
173 potentially causing the slope stability to be incorrectly and unsafely determined (Fig. 10a). Therefore,
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174 to reasonably describe the failure envelope of foliation in the low normal stress range, the following
175 an innovative failure criterion is proposed;
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176 𝜏𝑓 = [𝛼𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)]𝛽 (3)

177 where 𝑇0 is the tensile strength and 𝛼 and 𝛽 are two material parameters.
178 Unlike the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the proposed failure criterion exhibits a nonlinear trend in
179 the low normal stress range and considers both tensile and shear strengths (Fig. 10a). As the normal
180 stress increases, the shear strength obtained by applying the proposed criterion closely agrees with
181 that obtained by applying the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. Under dry and wet conditions, the proposed
182 criterion is determined as:
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183 𝜏𝑓 = [0.04𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)]0.8 (4)

184 and
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185 𝜏𝑓 = [0.023𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)]0.84 (5)

186 , respectively, and it reasonably predicts the strength of foliation (Fig. 10b).

187 The proposed criterion requires three material parameters - tensile strength 𝑇0, 𝛼, and 𝛽 - which
188 is the same number as in the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with a tension cutoff. Parameters 𝛼
189 and 𝛽 are related to the slope variation of the failure criterion. Figure 11 shows the influence of the
190 two parameters on the proposed failure criterion. As 𝛼 increases, the initial slope and ultimate slope
191 of the failure criterion increase linearly (Fig. 11a). 𝛽 affects the ultimate slope of failure criterion in
192 the high normal stress range. As 𝛽 increases, the ultimate slope of failure criterion increases
193 exponentially (Fig. 11b). To determine the parameters, 𝛼 and 𝛽, the test results on the σ-τ plane
194 were first converted to the ln [𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)]-ln (𝜏) plane. Then, the parameters can be determined

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195 through the regression analysis from the following relationship

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196 ln (𝜏𝑓) = 𝛽ln [𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)] + 𝛽ln𝛼 (6)

197
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According to the proposed criterion, the variations of friction angle under different normal stress
198 and cohesion can be determined by
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𝛽
199 { 𝛽
𝜙 = tan ―1 (𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0) × [𝛼𝑇0(𝜎𝑛 + 𝑇0)] } (7)
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𝛽
200 𝑐 = (𝛼𝑇02) (8)
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201 5. Numerical simulation of DEM

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202 5.1 Case study: Tiangul Creek case

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203 To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed failure criterion, it was implemented in a discrete
204 element code UDEC to simulate the deformation and failure pattern of a slate slope. The UDEC
205 analysis model was based on the profiles of the Tiangul Creek case in Fig. 3. The slope height was
206 24.4 m and the angle was 80° (Fig. 12). The dip direction of foliation was opposite to the slope and
207 the dip angle was 75°. The spacing of the foliation in the analyzed slope was 0.5 m. To enhance
208 computational efficiency, the spacing of the foliation was increased to 1 m near the boundary of the
209 model. A set of strike joints were observed in the field and incorporated into the model. The dip angle
210 was 15° and the spacing was 5 m (green lines in Fig. 12). With respect to the boundary conditions,
211 the sides and the bottom of the model were roller-supported and hinge-supported, respectively. To
212 eliminate any effect of the boundary conditions on the slope deformation, the model was larger than
213 the original slope in the horizontal direction. The mechanical properties of foliation and intact rock

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214 were as described above and are listed in Table 2. To simulate the lateral unloading of erosion on the
215 slope, the part of erosion gully was gradually removed and the deformation and stress of the slate
216 slope were recorded.

217 Figure 13 presents the development of tensile failure and shear slip in the slope due to erosion.
218 The tensile failure of foliation (red lines) initially occurred in the lower slope, accompanied by some
219 foliation shear slip (green lines), which generated a main failure plane close to the slope toe. Then,
220 the tensile failure and shear slip area enlarged, inducing block separation at the upper slope and
221 propagation of the failure plane. The simulated slope deformation was quite similar to the actual
222 deformation pattern of the anti-dip slope (Fig. 14). The simulated flexural toppling mainly occurred
223 in the top right part of the slope. Rock blocks split from the slope along the foliations, and trans-layer

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224 fractures developed across the bending blocks. However, the toppling involved only a local failure
225 while the overall slope remained stable. The rock behind the toppling zone was deformed, but no

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226 apparent failure plane developed.

227
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Figure 15 shows the distribution of displacement and shear stress in the slope. The main
228 displacements occurred in the toppling zone, indicating that the separated rock blocks bent down;
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229 (Fig. 15a) the other part of the slope exhibited less displacement. With respect to the shear stress
230 distribution, high shear stress (480-600 kPa) accumulated at the slope toe, revealing that the fixed end
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231 of the bending block underwent high shear stress after toppling occurred. Overall, the UDEC analysis
232 that applied the proposed failure criterion for foliation was effective in simulating the deformation
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233 characteristics of the anti-dip slate slope.

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234 5.2 Comparison with existing failure criterion

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235 To elucidate further the difference between the results of the analysis using the proposed failure
236 criterion for foliation and those obtained using the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, a DEM analysis on the
237 same anti-dip slope model was performed using the two criteria. Figure 16a shows the analyzed slope.
238 The slope was 50 m high and its angle was 80°. The dip direction of foliation was opposite to the
239 slope and the dip angle was 75°. Figure 16b shows the adopted failure criteria for the rock and
240 foliation. The failure criterion for rock was the Mohr-Coulomb criterion with a tension cutoff, which
241 was much greater than that for foliation. Table 3 presents the parameters of the failure criteria. As in
242 the model in Fig. 12, the dip angles of the foliation and the strike joints were 75° and 15°, respectively.
243 The spacing of the foliation and between the strike joints were 0.5 m and 5 m, respectively. The right
244 part of the model was gradually removed to simulate gully erosion on the slope.

245 Figure 17 shows the development of the slope failure pattern based on the two foliation failure
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246 criteria. The analyses that used the proposed foliation failure criterion and Mohr-Coulomb criterion
247 are denoted as Case FC, and Case MC, respectively. In the initial stage (Fig. 17a), in Case FC, the
248 tensile failure of foliation (red lines) occurred in the lower slope, accompanied by some foliation
249 shear slip (green lines), which initiated a failure plane near the slope toe; in Case MC, only shear slip
250 developed. Tensile failure was seldom observed owing to the high tensile strength in the Mohr-
251 Coulomb criterion. In the following stage (Fig. 17b), more tensile failure of foliation developed in
252 Case FC than in Case MC. The nearly parallel fractures separated the slope into several rock pillars,
253 inducing subsequent flexural toppling. In Case MC, more shear slips of foliation developed but no
254 significant tensile failure was observed. A main curved failure plane continued to propagate in the
255 slope. In the ultimate stage (Fig. 17c), in Case FC, the tensile failure zone continued to enlarge, and
256 the main failure plane in the lower slope connected to the failed steep foliations, which induced a

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257 series of flexural topplings of the rock pillars; however, in Case MC, the propagation of the main

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258 failure plane was halted. The slope remained stable and no significant toppling failure was observed.
259 Figure 18 plots the displacement distribution of the slope in the ultimate stage in the two cases. In
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260 Case FC (Fig. 18a), a significant tension crack at the upper slope was observed so the global
261 displacement distribution was discontinuous. The blocks in front of the tension crack were separated
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262 and overturned, and the largest displacements were concentrated in the toppling blocks. Downward
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263 displacement was greater at higher positions, as is characteristic of toppling failure. In contrast, the
264 displacement distribution in Case MC was continuous (Fig. 18b) because few tension cracks
265 developed in the slope, and the displacements were much less than in Case FC.
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266 To investigate the variations of stress inside the slope, the stress paths of a series of monitoring
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267 points are plotted in Fig. 19. Figure 19a presents the locations of the monitoring points. Four points
268 along a vertical profile were chosen, and point C was on the main failure plane. The stress paths of
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269 the monitoring points are plotted on the p′ ―q plane (Figs. 19b and 19c), where p′ = (𝜎1 + 𝜎3)/2
270 and q = (𝜎1 ― 𝜎3)/2; 𝜎1 is the maximum principal stress; and 𝜎3 is the minimum principal stress.
271 The red and black points (Figs. 19b and 19c) reflect the initial and final stress states, respectively, of
272 the monitoring points. In Case FC (Fig. 19b), the stress path of point A exhibited lateral unloading.
273 The stress state moved from the compression zone into the tension zone and finally reached the failure
274 envelope therein. For points B and C, the stress path was an initial lateral unloading, which became
275 vertical loading, before the failure envelope was reached. The stress variations of points B and C
276 differed from that of point A because when the tensile failure of foliation developed, the fractures
277 separated the slope into several rock blocks, and the weight of each separated block could not be
278 transmitted to the surrounding blocks due to the discontinuity. Therefore, the stress states of points B
279 and C changed from lateral unloading to vertical loading in the final failure stage. The stress path of
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280 point D was similar to that of point C, but it did not reach the failure state and remained safe. Unlike
281 in Case FC, in Case MC, none of the monitoring points reached the failure envelope and all remained
282 safe, although the stress paths in the two cases were similar (Fig. 19c). Figure 20 shows the
283 deformation pattern of rock blocks in Case FC. The anti-dip slope could be divided into three zones,
284 which were the toppling failure zone, the potential failure zone, and the stable zone. After gully
285 erosion had occurred on the slope, a significant tension crack developed at the top of the slope and it
286 became a boundary of the toppling failure zone. The rock blocks inside the failure zone overturned
287 and collided with each other. According to the stress paths of points B and C, the toppling blocks
288 were responsible for the vertical loading and resulted in the shear failure at the lower part of the slope.
289 After the failure blocks had slid, a potential failure zone formed behind the toppling failure zone.

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290 6. Discussion

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291 Numerous researches suggest that failure criteria of soils and rocks are not linear, particularly in
292 the range of low normal stresses. Several nonlinear criteria were proposed to fit the curved failure
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293 envelopes and used to analyze the slope stability (Penman 1953; Bishop et al. 1965; Ponce and Bell,
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294 1971; Charles and Soares, 1984; Day and Axten, 1989; Maksimovic, 1989; Baker, 2004; Zhao et al.,
295 2015; Zuo et al, 2020). Different from the previous criteria applied to the materials, the proposed
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296 criterion in this study focused on the foliation, a kind of existing weak planes in metamorphic rock.
297 Foliation is a ubiquitous cemented weak plane, and it could not be regarded as a cohesionless
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298 discontinuity. However, most failure criteria of the weak plane in rock mechanics are only suitable
299 for a cohesionless, rough weak plane. Few studies report the behaviour of a single foliation, and its
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300 strength and deformability are still unclear. This study clarified the strength and deformability of a
301 single foliation and proposed a nonlinear criterion accordingly.
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302 The results of the DEM analyses using the two criteria differed significantly despite the use of the
303 same models, geometric conditions, and analytic procedure, because the proposed failure envelope
304 (Case FC) could accurately reflect the tensile strength and shear strength under low normal stress,
305 without an abrupt turning point at the tension cutoff. In Fig. 10a, the proposed criterion accurately
306 captures the strength of foliation that was determined from the pull-off test and the direct shear tests,
307 but the widely used Mohr-Coulomb criterion overestimates the strength. However, the normal stress
308 range of the toppling failure of an anti-dip slope frequently falls in the tension and low normal stress
309 zones. In Figs. 19b and 19c, the normal stress range at toppling failure is less than 620 kPa, so the
310 overburden is shallower than 23 m and the stress states of most monitoring points in Case FC reached
311 the failure envelope. Case FC exhibited obvious characteristics of toppling failure, including tension
312 cracks at the top of the slope, propagation of the failure plane from the toe, and the overturning of
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313 rock blocks (Aydan et al., 1992; Adhikary et al., 1997; Adhikary and Dyskin, 2007). However, the
314 stress states of monitoring points in Case MC stayed beneath the failure envelope. In Case MC, the
315 slope remained fairly stable and few tension cracks developed. Therefore, the proposed criterion is
316 better than existing criteria in predicting the toppling failure of slate slopes.

317 In addition to the failure criterion, to determine the foliation spacing is another key issue in DEM
318 analysis. The spacing of slate foliation is quite small so it is difficult to adopt the actual spacing in
319 the numerical analysis. To determine a suitable foliation spacing for the analysis, this study selected
320 the Tiangul Creek case as the verification case. In the DEM analysis, the adopted spacing in the model
321 included 3.0, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 m, respectively. The model with the smaller foliation spacing led to a
322 more sophisticated deformation pattern of the slope, but it was more time-consuming. In addition, the

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323 smaller spacing induced a high aspect ratio of the element, which led to the instability of numerical
324 analysis. After compared with the actual deformation pattern of the anti-dip slope, the model with the

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325 spacing of 0.5 m provided reasonably simulation. Therefore, this study adopted 0.5 m as the spacing
326 of the foliation in the DEM analysis.
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327 7. Conclusions
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328 To reasonably assess the stability and deformation of anti-dip slate slopes, the mechanical
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329 properties of foliation, which causes rock to exhibit high anisotropy and heterogeneity, were studied.
330 A series of pull-off tests and direct shear tests were carried out on slate foliation to obtain its failure
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331 envelope. At the toppling failure of an anti-dip slope, the overburden stress is low and the widely
332 used Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with a tension cutoff overestimates the actual strength of
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333 foliation, potentially leading to incorrect and unsafe evaluations of slope stability. Therefore, to
334 describe the failure envelope of foliation in the low normal stress range, an innovative failure criterion
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335 was proposed. The proposed failure criterion exhibits a nonlinear trend in the low normal stress range
336 and considers both tensile and shear strengths; it has three material parameters - tensile strength 𝑇0,
337 𝛼, and 𝛽 - which is the same number as in the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with a tension cutoff.
338 Parameter 𝛼 reflects how rapidly initial shear strength increases with normal stress, and 𝛽
339 determines the ultimate slope of failure criterion in the high normal stress range.

340 To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed failure criterion, it is implemented into a discrete
341 element code UDEC to simulate the deformation and failure pattern of a slate slope. The results of
342 the UDEC analysis show the reasonable simulation of the failure pattern and deformation
343 characteristics of an actual anti-dip slate slope. This proposed failure criterion of foliation was
344 compared with the Mohr-Coulomb criterion in a slope stability analysis. The proposed criterion is

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345 better than existing criteria in predicting the toppling failure of slate slopes, including tension cracks
346 at the top of the slope, propagation of the failure plane from the toe, and the overturning of rock
347 blocks.

348 Landslides are generally triggered by rainfall and earthquakes. Precipitation increases the pore
349 pressure and material deterioration, resulting in the failure of slate slopes. This work considered only
350 material deterioration, neglecting pore pressure. The dynamic response of a slate slope under
351 earthquake attacks is another important issue (Lin et al., 2018; Li et al., 2019). Future studies will
352 investigate the effects of rainfall and earthquakes on slate slope stability to prepare a comprehensive
353 mitigation plan for potential landslide hazards. Moreover, this study didn’t consider the three-
354 dimensional terrain effect and time-dependent behavior of slope. To realize a more sophisticated

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355 deformation pattern of the anti-dip slope, a 3D simulation incorporated with the creep model should
356 be performed in the future.

357 Acknowledgements
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358 This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under
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359 Contract MOST 106-2625-M-390-001, MOST 107-2625-M-009-010, and MOST 108-2628-E-009 -
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360 004 -MY3.

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463 Table captions

Table 1 Tensile strength of slate foliation from pull-off test.

Table 2 Material parameters of DEM analysis of Tiangul Creek case.

Table 3 Material parameters of DEM analyses using two failure criteria for foliation.

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465 List of figure captions

Figure 1 Relationship between slate and landslides distributions in Taiwan. (a) Slate distribution in
Taiwan; (b) Distribution of landslides due to Typhoon Morakot, 2009. (Data from Central
Geological Survey of Taiwan, 2009)

Figure 2 Typical cases of flexural toppling of anti-dip slate slopes. (a) Tiangul Creek case in Yilan
county; (b) Yusui Creek case in Kaohsiung city.

Figure 3 Flexural toppling of anti-dip slate slope in Tiangul Creek case. (a) Location of anti-dip
slate slope; (b) Overall view of anti-dip slope; (c) Close view of flexural deformation; (d)
Flexural deformation-induced trans-layer fractures in upper slope.

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Figure 4 Pull-off testing machine used in this study.

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Figure 5 Direct shear test of slate foliation. (a) Direct shear testing machine (b) Controller of direct
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shear test; (c) Plane view of slate specimen; (d) Side view of slate specimen after casting
of gypsum.
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Figure 6 Results of pull-off test. (a) Position of failure plane in specimen; (b) Tensile load rate
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curve; (c) Failure surface in pull-off test.

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Figure 7 Shear stress-displacement curves from direct shear test.

Figure 8 Shear strength of slate foliation.

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Figure 9 Tangential shear stiffness at 50% strength of slate foliation.

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Figure 10 Proposed failure criterion for slate foliation.

Figure 11 Influence of parameters on the proposed failure criterion.

Figure 12 The analyzed DEM slope model of Tiangul Creek case.

Figure 13 Tensile and shear failure distributions in slope (red line: tensile failure; green line: shear
slip).

Figure 14 Comparison of simulation and in-situ deformation patterns.

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Figure 15 Distributions of displacement and shear stress in slope.

Figure 16 The analyzed DEM slope model by using different foliation failure criteria.

Figure 17 Comparison of slope failure patterns obtained using proposed foliation failure criterion
and Mohr-Coulomb criterion (red line: tensile failure; green line: shear slip).

Figure 18 Comparison of displacement distributions obtained using proposed criterion (Case FC)
and Mohr-Coulomb criterion (Case MC).

Figure 19 Comparison of paths of monitoring points obtained using proposed criterion (Case FC)
and Mohr-Coulomb criterion (Case MC).

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Figure 20 Failure zone obtained using proposed criterion (Case FC).

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