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The effect of water filling on slope stability of open pits: A numerical

investigation

Conference Paper · April 2021

DOI: 10.1201/9781003188339-47

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The effect of water filling on slope stability of open pits:

A numerical investigation

I.E. Zevgolis
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

A. Mikroutsikos, A.I. Theocharis & N.C. Koukouzas

Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Athens, Greece

ABSTRACT: One of the most common practices for valorisation of abandoned open-pit
mines is flooding them to form pit lakes. The present work numerically examines stability
issues for a horizontal water table being elevated from the bottom to the top of an open-pit,
initially with the limit equilibrium method. During the water table’s elevation, the safety
factor gradually decreases until the water’s height reaches 40% of the total height. It then
increases and becomes larger than the initial one when the water table reaches full height. The
maximum safety factor decrease is approximately 10% and thus, flooding does not affect sig­
nificantly the slope stability Furthermore, limit equilibrium analysis results are compared and
validated with the finite element method. Finally, analyses of slopes with and without benches,
but of the same overall angle, are performed and compared. The omission of benches is
always more conservative, leading to smaller SFs by 6%-14%.

1 INTRODUCTION

For many decades, coal and lignite (brown coal) mining have contributed significantly to global
energy needs. However, many surface coal and lignite areas will be abandoned soon, as several
countries pass in the post-lignite era. One of the most common reclamation practices is the for­
mation of pit lakes. During this process, old excavations are flooded with water to create a lake
offered to the local societies, mainly for recreational purposes. Failure incidents and landslide
phenomena have frequently been linked with coal and lignite mines, leading to casualties and
social and economic disruption (Zevgolis et al. 2019). Thus, the reclamation of these areas poses
engineering challenges related to slope stability. The water table’s elevation during flooding
affects the slope safety by increasing the pore water pressures of the submerged soil layers, while
erosion and liquefaction phenomena may occur. However, the increase of the water body inside
the open-pit also acts as a supporting force, and the pit lake’s creation has been reported to
improve slope stability (e.g. Desjardins et al. 2020; Faur et al. 2020).
The present work examines possible slope stability issues during the pit lake’s creation pro­
cess through numerical analysis. A horizontal water table is elevated from the bottom of the
excavation to the crest, as the open-pit is flooded. In this framework, the influence of the
water table’s elevation on the safety factor (SF) is examined for various soil strength param­
eters. The limit equilibrium method (LEM) is employed and then compared with the finite
element method (FEM), as implemented in Slide2 and RS2 of Rocscience, respectively.
Finally, slopes with and without benches are compared, and the error from the omission of
benches is quantified. Identical slope geometries, geotechnical parameters, and groundwater
conditions were considered for the comparisons.

DOI: 10.1201/9781003188339-47

373
2 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

2.1 The effect of water filling on slope stability by the LEM

In surface coal/lignite mines, slopes commonly consist of layers of sterile materials and coal/lig­
nite seams that are frequently (but not always) characterised by similar shear strength. As
a result, under certain circumstances, considering the various soil formations as a single material
for slope stability analysis is a reasonable assumption (Mikroutsikos et al. 2021). Moreover,
a bedrock formation with high strength is commonly encountered close to the excavation
bottom. Figure 1 presents a typical soil stratigraphy for coal and lignite mines, with
a homogeneous slope and a bedrock formation at the bottom of the excavation. This stratig­
raphy is governed by a complex failure mechanism and a non-circular failure surface, due to the
bedrock’s presence. Note that in practice, mining slopes consist of several benches, which are
omitted in the present numerical analysis models (Figure 1). This geometry simplification does
not critically affect the results, as will be quantified and discussed on the sequel (section 2.3).

Figure 1. Geometry and stratigraphy of the numerical model.

The slope stability of this stratigraphy was analysed based on the LEM (using Slide2). Provid­
ing simplicity and speed, the LEM has been for many decades the most common slope stability
method. However, most LEM software require the knowledge (or estimation) of the shape and
the location of the failure surface to provide reliable results. This is mainly the case for noncir­
cular failures, as in the present study. The advanced “cuckoo” search method was used in this
work, which does not demand the failure surface’s location or shape, combined with Spencer’s
method. The Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was employed for modelling soils’ shear strength.
The water level’s rise in the pit (leading to the lake’s formation) was simulated with a horizontal
phreatic water table elevating from the bottom of the excavation (and the interface between bed­
rock and overburden soil) to the pit’s crest. In Figure 1, L refers to the water table’s elevation
measured from the bottom of the excavation; initially L=0. The final elevation was achieved in
11 stages, with L being risen by 15m in each stage. The slope’s height and inclination are
H=150m and β=14°, respectively, and the unit weights are γmoist=17kN/m3 and γsat=20kN/m3
for all materials. The bedrock’s strength is significantly higher than the soil’s strength and does
not affect the results, since the failure mechanism is not encountered in this formation.
The friction angle and cohesion of the homogeneous soil layer may vary in a wide range.
A recent study shows that the average characteristic peak friction angle and cohesion for
Greek lignite mines are 25° and 111kPa, respectively (Theocharis et al. 2021). However, for
individual mines, these values can be as low as 22° and 20kPa. Similar values of friction angle
and cohesion are common for coal and lignite mines globally (e.g. Bednarczyk 2017; Ulusay
et al. 2014), while cohesion is frequently assigned values even close to zero, due to its high
uncertainty. Hence, six different φ-c combinations were considered in the present study, with
φ and c varying between 20° and 25°, and between 5kPa and 110kPa, respectively.
For all φ-c combinations, increasing L from 0 to 60m leads to the gradual decrease of
SF by approximately up to 10% (Figure 2). However, a further increase of L (from 60 to

374
150m) favours the stability and the SF increases by 14%-28% with respect to the
L = 60m case, and by 2%-16% with respect to the initial, dry conditions. In all cases, the
lowest differences are encountered for the lowest cohesions. In other words, for this spe­
cific stratigraphy and hydraulic conditions, the lowest SF (corresponding to the most crit­
ical condition) is computed when the water table rises at 60m above the bottom of the
excavation, i.e. at 40% of the slope’s height. The most stable conditions are when the
water table reaches the slope’s crest. At this final flooding stage, the free water surface
results in an immense supporting force that exceeds the pore water pressure’s influence
on the SF, and sequentially in higher SFs than for dry conditions. For example, if
φ = 20° and c = 40kPa, SF equals 1.81 for dry conditions (L = 0), decreases to 1.61 for
L = 60m, and then increases to 1.98 when the lake reaches its final level.

Figure 2. SF with water elevation L, for various φ-c combinations.

2.2 The effect of water filling on slope stability by the FEM

In this section, FEM simulations are conducted for comparison purposes considering the
model of Figure 1 and following the same flooding process. Two-dimensional plane strain and
drained conditions were used, while simulations were performed for 6-noded triangular elem­
ents with a very fine discretisation in RS2. The vertical boundaries were located at a 2H dis­
tance from the slope’s crest and toe, respectively; the horizontal bottom boundary was at
a distance H from the slope’s toe, where H stands for the overall height (Figure 1). The slope’s
creation was simulated as a staged excavation, and shear strength reduction analysis was per­
formed at the final stage to calculate the SF. The Mohr-Coulomb elastic-perfectly plastic con­
stitutive model was used for all materials.
Slope geometries, geotechnical parameters, and groundwater conditions were identical with
the previous section. The increase of water table elevation was performed in 11 stages, and
a single pair of φ-c values was examined (φ = 20° and c = 40kPa). Stiffness for the overburden
soil is 50MPa, while Poisson’s ration and dilation angle are ν = 0.3 and ψ = 0° respectively, for
all materials. Additionally, the strength and stiffness of the bedrock do not affect the results.
In principle, the FEM provides a robust model of a slope’s behaviour but demands several
parameters to be defined and increased computational time. Nevertheless, herein FEM results

375
are practically in total agreement with LEM results for all L values. The SFs from FEM are
0-1% lower than the respective results from LEM, and the failure mechanisms are almost iden­
tical. Figure 3 illustrates two indicative simulations for the case of the lowest SF for both
methods (L = 60m); the calculated failure surface from LEM and the shear strains that indi­
cate the failure surface position for FEM are presented. It is concluded that the LEM is
adequate for stability problems as the one in the present study - considering a simplified stra­
tigraphy and a horizontal water table - and more advanced FEM simulations are not neces­
sary. Notice that for more com-plicated conditions, e.g. groundwater flow, FEM might be
more advantageous, and a similar comparison would be needed.

Figure 3. The calculated failure surfaces and SFs from the two methods, considering L = 60m. In FEM,
the illustrated shear strains indicate the position of the failure surface.

2.3 The role of benches on the stability

Slopes of open-pit coal and lignite mines typically consist of several benches. The number and
the geometry of benches may vary widely, depending on the excavation method and the mine
exploitation scheme. Therefore, benches are often neglected from slope stability analysis since
the systematic study of slope stability with benches is complicated. However, it is essential to
quantify the error of such an assumption. Hence, in this section, slopes with and without
benches are compared, in the flooding process.
Employing FEM analysis for an internal dump in a coalfield, Verma et al. (2013) concluded
that omitting benches was always more conservative (i.e. led to smaller SF) with an SF error
within 3-6%. Additionally, in a recent study referring to lignite mines, Mikroutsikos et al.
(2021) conducted similar FEM analyses considering the presence of a weak zone. In that case,
SF’s differences did not exceed 11% (models with benches provided higher SF).
FEM simulations demand an increased mesh density and the assignment of a linear elastic
material to the benches to prevent local failures. To avoid this simulation complexity and
since FEM and LEM were found to provide practically identical results, the comparison is
performed using the LEM. The area of the model where the failure surfaces can appear was
appropriately constricted to avoid minor bench failures insignificant to the overall slope sta­
bility (by modifying the tools “slope limits” in Slide2).
Four different slope geometries with different number of benches (n) were created; their
characteristics are summarised in Table 1. Identical total slope inclination and height, geotech­
nical parameters, and groundwater conditions were considered for the comparison. The water
table elevation was performed in 11 stages as in the previous sections, while φ and c are 20°
and 40kPa, respectively.

376
Table 1. Benches geometry for the four configurations.
Bench height Bench face inclination Bench width

Number of benches, n m degrees m

1 75 20 188
2 50 30 170
4 30 40 105
5 25 45 90

Simulations with benches provide higher SFs, and the models without benches are always
more conservative by 6%-14% for any number of benches and water table levels; the failure sur­
face is similar for all models. The relation between SF and water table level (L) for each config­
uration is similar to the simulations without benches; the most critical state during the flooding
process is when L equals 60m (40% of H), while the most stable when L=150m (L=H). Figure 4
presents indicative slope stability results with and without benches for L=30m, where the highest
SF differences between the different configurations were encountered (10%-14%). The highest
number of benches provide results closer to the simulations without benches, for all cases exam­
ined; in Figure 4, the slopes with n=4 and n=5 provide critical SFs and failure surfaces closer to
the reference results (n=0). This conclusion is reasonable because as the number of benches
increases, the slope’s overall geometry resembles the no-bench case.

Figure 4. Failure surfaces and SFs for five slopes with different number of benches (n), considering the
same water level and overall slope angle.

377
3 CONCLUSIONS

In this work, open pits’ slope stability during flooding for lake creation was investigated
through numerical analysis. A homogeneous soil slope was considered with bedrock at the
bottom of the excavation. The pit lake’s formation was simulated by rising a horizontal phre­
atic water table from the bottom to the pit’s crest (with a simultaneous water table rise within
the slope’s soil mass). The effect of flooding on the SF was quantified and evaluated through
the LEM, implementing an advanced search method (the so-called “cuckoo” of Slide2) to cap­
ture the non-circular failure surface.
The slope height and inclination are 150m and 14° respectively, while the water table was
elevated stepwise in 11 stages, increased by 15m in each stage. Various shear strengths were
ex-amined for the homogeneous soil. In all cases, the lowest SF (indicating the most critical
conditions) is when the water table lies at 60 m above the bottom of the excavation (i.e. at
40% of the slope’s height). In this case, SF is reduced by approximately 10% with respect to
initial, dry conditions. The highest SF is when the water table reaches the crest of the pit,
because in this case, the water mass results in an immense supporting force. Notice that SF is
higher at this final flooding stage than for initial, dry conditions by 2%-16%. Overall, it is con­
cluded that the flooding process does not affect significantly the slopes’ stability.
Results from the limit equilibrium analyses were compared with equivalent finite element
analyses in RS2. Identical slope geometries, geotechnical parameters, and groundwater condi­
tions were considered. The two methods present practically identical results; calculated SFs
from FEM are 0-1% lower than from LEM, and the failure mechanisms are almost identical.
It is concluded that the LEM is adequate for the present study (that uses a horizontal water
table rising and remaining horizontal) and could be preferred for similar analysis, being sim­
pler and quicker than the FEM.
Moreover, slopes with benches and without benches, but with the same overall slope
angle, were compared. Benches are always part of a mining excavation, so numerical
models considering them are closer to the real problem’s geometry. However, omitting
benches from the model saves time, is simpler, and provides a more generic analysis’
framework. Based on the present work, simulations without benches provide similar fail­
ure surfaces and lower safety factors by 6%-14%. Thus, benches’ influence can be ignored
for this stability problem, noticing that this type of analysis is always more conservative
and on the safe side.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work has received funding from the European Union’s Research Fund for Coal and Steel
(RFCS) under the project “RAFF - Risk assessment of final pits during flooding slopes”
grant agreement No 847299. Financial assistance by the European Commission is much
appreciated.

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