STABILITY OF SLOPES

The failure of an earth slope involves a „slide‟. Various causes of slope failure are-Gravitational forces and
forces due toseepage of water in the soil mass, progressive disintegration of the structure of the soil massand
excavation near the base are among the chief reasons for the failure of earth slopes. Slidesand consequent
failure of earth slopes can occur slowly or suddenly.
Determination of the potential failure surface and the forces tending to cause slip andthose tending to restore
or stabilise the mass of earth are the essential steps in the stabilityanalysis of earth slopes and the available
margin of safety.

Types of Slopes
1) Infinite slope
2) Finite slope
1) Infinite slope

An „infinite slope‟ is one which represents the boundary surface of a semi-infinite soil mass inclined to
the horizontal. In practice, if the height of the slope is very large, one may considerit as an infinite one. It
is assumed that the soil is homogeneous in its properties. If different strata are present the strata boundaries
are assumed to be parallel to the surface. Failuretends to occur only along a plane parallel to the surface.
The stability analysis for such slopesis relatively simple and it is dealt with for the cases of purely
cohesionless soil, purely cohesivesoil and cohesive-frictional soil; the cases in which seepage forces under
steady seepage andrapid drawdown occur are also considered for a purely cohesionless soil.
 2) Finite slope

A slope of a finite extent, bounded by a top surface is said to be finite. The inclined faces of earth
dams, embankments, excavations and the like are allfinite slopes. Thus, the stability analysis of
such slopes is of vital importance to the geotechnical engineering profession.
Investigation of the stability of finite slopes involves the following steps according to the
commonly adopted procedure:
(a) Assuming a possible slip surface,
(b) Studying the equilibrium of the forces acting on this surface, and
(c) Repeating the process until worst slip surface, that is, the one with minimum margin of safety, is
found.

Types of Failure of Finite Slope

i) Slope Failure
a) Face Failure
b) Toe Failure
ii) Base Failure

Face Failure Toe Failure

Slope Failure
i) Slope Failure
If the failure occurs along a surface of sliding that intersects the slope at or above its toe, the slide is
known as slope failure.
a) Face Failure
Slope failure is called as a face failure, if arc passes above the toe.
b) Toe Failure
Slope failure is called as a toe failure, if arc passes through the toe.

ii) Base Failure

If the soil beneath the toe of the slope is weak the failure occurs along a surface that passes at some
distance below the toe of the slope, such a type of failure is called base failure.

Base Failure

Factor of safety (FOS)

The factor of safety for slope stability analysis is usually defined as the ratioof the ultimate
shear strength divided by the mobilized shear stress at incipientfailure. There are several
ways in formulating the factor of safety F. Themost common formulation for F assumes the
factor of safety to be constantalong the slip surface, and it is defined with respect to the force
or momentequilibrium:

Moment equilibrium: generally used for the analysis of rotational landslides.Considering a

slip surface, the factor of safety Fm defined with respect to moment is given by:

where Mr is the sum of the resisting moments and Md is the sum of thedriving moment
Force equilibrium: generally applied to translational or rotational failurescomposed of
planar or polygonal slip surfaces. The factor of safetyF f defined with respect to force is given
by:

where Fr is the sum of the resisting forces and Fd is the sum of the drivingforces.

A slope is considered as unstable if F ≤ 1.0.

Slope stability analysis by Method of Slices

Friction Circle method
Slope analysis by stability charts (Taylors Stability Number)
Bishop’s method
Janbu’s method

Janbu‟s Method was developed by the Norwegian Professor N. Janbu. The method has similar features with
the Bishop Method of Slices regarding the assumptions made on the inter-slice forces. However, a major
difference between the two is that Janbu‟s Method satisfies force equilibrium as opposed to Bishop‟s Method
that satisfies moment equilibrium. Moreover, Janbu‟s Method can be used for both circular and non-circular
failure surfaces. Non-circular failure surfaces are more common in nature (due to the existence of soil layers
with different properties or due to geometrical restrictions). Examples of such surfaces are illustrated
in Figure 1a and 1b.
Figure 1. Examples of typical non-circular failure surfaces including: (a) a failure surface that passes through
a sheared zone, and (b) a failure surface that begins as circular but is then interrupted by a stronger
geological formation (bedrock)

Figure 2. Forces acting on a single slice: i) the weight of the soil above the failure surface W, ii) the interslice
reactions from the adjacent slices Xi-1, Xi+1, Vi-1, Vi+1, iii) the reaction of the stable ground which consists of a
normal effective N’ and a shear component T, respectively, and iv) the boundary water force U. Janbu‟s
method suggests that the normal interslice forces are equal and can be neglected.

The assumptions made by the Janbu‟s method are that the interslice forces acting at each slice are equal and
can be neglected (Figure 2).

Janbu‟s method satisfies horizontal force equilibrium for the entire failure mass, as well as vertical and
horizontal equilibrium for each slice. In addition, a correction factor f0 is incorporated in the analysis and
will be further discussed in the Calculations section below.
Moreover, the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is utilized to derive the shear strength of the ground, hence,
the ultimate shear force that can be developed in a single slice i is:
Where c and φ refer to the cohesion and the friction angle of the ground, respectively, L is the length of the
slice‟s base, and N’ is the effective normal force acting at the base of the slice.

Firstly, the horizontal force equilibrium on each slice is established. The horizontal components of the shear
resistance and the reaction of the ground below the failure surface are taken into consideration as:

Subsequently, the correspondent vertical force equilibrium for each slice yields:

Combining equations [2] and [3], we get:

Finally, the overall horizontal equilibrium yields:

Given that:

and considering equations [4] and [5] it is deduced that:

Where B is the width of each slice, Bi=Li*cos(αi).

Using the formula of equation [6], the FoS cannot be calculated as the vertical interslice forces V are
unknown. To address this issue, Janbu incorporated the aforementioned correction factor f0 which substitutes
the difference (Vi-1 - Vi+1). The final form of equation [6] is:

The correction factor f0 depends on the strength parameters of the ground and on the geometry of the slope.
In particular, the segment that connects the toe and the crown of a potential failure surface is derived and its
length is measured (L). Subsequently, the maximum vertical distance between this segment and the failure
surface is also determined (d). Finally, the ratio d/L is calculated and the correction factor f0 is derived
via Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, there are 3 curves that can be used depending on the shear strength
parameters of the soil. The “c-only” curve is utilized when total stress analyses are performed hence, the
shear strength of the ground is fully represented by the undrained shear strength component (c=cu, φ=0). The
“φ and c soils” and “φ-only soil” curves are utilized once effective stress analyses are conducted and hence,
the shear strength of the ground is given via the Mohr-Coulomb criterion:
 Figure 3. Janbu‟s correction factor f0 (Rabie, 2014).

The correction factor can also be derived via the following equation:

Where b1 depends on the shear strength assumptions made for the soil mass:

 C-only soils: b1=0.69

 Φ and C soils: b1=0.50
 Φ-only soils: b1=0.31

The correction factor f0 is greater that one, hence, it may increase the FoS by up to 5% and 12% for granular
soils without cohesion and for clayey soils in which a total stress analysis is conducted, respectively.
The f0 was later added by Janbu to compensate for the fact that the assumed interslice shear forces are
negligible (an assumption made in a simplified method). Hence, the current method is also known as
the Janbu’s Corrected Method.

Role of Geosynthetics in stabilization of slopes

Slopes may be manmade or natural. It may be unstable and failure may occur. In such a case, the
conventional methods will be very expensive and sometimes it is very difficult to construct as per
the desires of the owner.

Geosynthetics

Synthetic materials that are specially manufactured using polymers, to be used in geotechnical and geo-
environmental engineering applications are known as Geosynthetics.
The invention of Geosynthetics has given a new dimension to the reinforced earth, geo-synthetics is a term
which essentially includes a family of materials that are natural or manmade, used in conjunction with soil to
improve the performance of soil in specific context. They are gaining popularity among engineering
community because of low cost, better quality, ease of construction, maintenance and saving in time of
construction also.
 Application of Geosynthetics

Resevoirs, dams Liquid waste Solid waste Canals

Roads Railroads Retaining walls Erosionprotection

Tunnels Drainage systems

Introduction of geosynthetics as primary and/or secondary reinforcements will enable to construct a stable
slope over foundation soil. The primary geosynthetic reinforcement is placed horizontally to stabilize the
steep slopes against potential global failure.
Sometimes, it is required to stabilize the face of the slope by providing relatively small and closely spaced
secondary reinforcements, i.e., short edge strips or by wrapping the geosynthetic reinforcement at the face
during fill placement and compaction.
It is needed to protect the slope from erosion. In such cases, geomeshes or geocells filled with soil can be
used for vegetation. The most important is to provide the chimney drain and geotextile-wrap drainage pipe
behind the reinforced soil zone to eliminate seepage forces.

Geosynthetic-reinforced slopes are generally compacted fill embankments that incorporate geosynthetic
layers as tensile reinforcement to enhance stability. The reinforcement holds together the soil mass from both
sides of the failure surface, thus increasing the factor of safety of the existing slope.
Geotextile has been used successfully on numerous occasions to stabilize steep slope in residual soil and
weathered rock. Geotextile was used as tensile reinforcement and filter to stabilize slopes or embankments.
The geotextile is usually placed in horizontal layers within the slope. It is placed along with the slope cutting
across potential sliding surfaces in the soil. The geotextile will reduce the pore water pressure within the
slopes during the rainy season, thereby increasing the shear strength. The geotextile also acts as a filter that
prevents the migration of soil or sometimes called the internal erosion within the slope. Last but not least, the
geotextile reinforces the soil along potential sliding zones or planes. All these will increase the stability of
the slope.
Geotextiles and Geogrids are used normally for reinforcing embankments or natural slopes either to obtain
higher factor of safety or for construction with steep slopes. Allowable Geotextile/Geogrid strength is arrived
at using several factors to account for degradation, creep, installation damage, etc. The allowable tensile
strength, Tall, is
Tall=Tult/RFID∗RFCR∗RFCBD ----1
Where Tall and Tult - allowable and ultimate tensile strengths respectively, RFID, RFCR and RFCBD - reduction
factors (all >1.0) for installation, creep and chemical and biological damage respectively. The combined or
overall reduction factor is about 2.0 for design.
Stability analysis of Infinite Slopes
Stability of Slopes of Earth Dam