7-50 Geotechnical Engineering Handbook

The usual practice to determine the equivalent undrained shear strength of the embankment
soil is to calculate the average normal stress on the portion of the embankment that is enclosed
within the slip surface and then estimate the shear strength from the failure envelope. This
shear strength is assumed to be the undrained shear strength of the embankment soil and is
used in Equation 7.80.

7.6.5.3 Chart Procedures

The methodology for using slope stability charts is presented for the following four types of
slopes (adapted from Corps of Engineers 2003):
1. Slopes in soils with φ = 0 and uniform strength
2. Slopes in soils with φ > 0, c > 0 and uniform strength
3. Slopes in soils with φ = 0 and strength linearly increasing with depth
4. Infinite slopes in soils with φ > 0, c = 0 and φ > 0, c > 0

Procedure 1. Soils with ␾ = 0 and Uniform Strength

Slope stability charts for soils with φ = 0 are presented in Figure 7.30 (Janbu 1968). Adjustment
factors needed for surcharge loading, submergence and兾or seepage, and tension cracks are
provided in Figures 7.31–7.33, respectively. These charts can be used to determine the factor
of safety for a variety of slip circles extending to any depth, and multiple possibilities should
be examined to arrive at a conservative estimate. As shown in Figure 7.30, the critical circle
may be a slope circle, a toe circle, or a deep circle, and the following criteria can be used to
determine which possibilities exist:
1. If there is water outside the slope, a circle passing above the water may be critical.
2. If a weaker layer underlies a stronger layer, then the critical circle passes through the
weaker layer.
3. If a stronger layer underlies a weaker layer, then the critical circle may be tangent to the
base of either layer.
The following steps are performed for each potential critical circle:
Step 1. Calculate the depth factor d = D兾H, where D is the depth of the lowest point of
the slip circle from the toe of the slope and H is the height of the slope measured
from the toe. If the slip circle is entirely above the toe, then the intersection of the
circle and the slope is considered to be an adjusted toe, and all parameters (D, H,
and H w ) are adjusted accordingly in the calculations.
Step 2. Determine the center of the critical circle given by the coordinates X 0 , Y 0 from the
bottom charts in Figure 7.30, and draw the circle to scale on the slope cross section.
Step 3. Obtain an average undrained shear strength c u (avg) from Equation 7.80; this is
simply denoted by c in Figure 7.30.
Step 4. Calculate the parameter Pd in Figure 7.30 as follows:

γ H + q − γ w Hw
Pd = (7.81)
µq µ w µt

where γ = average unit weight of the soil, H = surcharge pressure on the soil, γ w
= unit weight of water, H w = height of external water level above the toe (Figure
7.32), µ q = surcharge adjustment factor (Figure 7.31), µ w = submergence adjust-

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