MEN-RME-411&511

ROCK MECHANICS I & II

Dyson MOSES (Ph.D.)

dmoses@unima.ac.mw or dysonmoses@gmail.com

+265881833015
SLOPE STABILITY
 SLOPE STABILITY
※Slopes in soils and rocks are seen everywhere in nature and in man-made
structures
 Highways, dams, levees, canals and stockpiles are constructed by sloping
the lateral faces of the soil or rocks.
※Building slopes is generally less expensive than constructing walls
 Design of stable slopes relies heavily on experience and careful site
investigation.
※As geotechnical engineers, pay particular attention to;
 Geology, surface drainage, groundwater, and shear strength of
soil/rock in assessing slope stability.
※The analyses of slope stability are based on simplifying assumptions.
 WHY SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS?

Slope failure!!
 Open pit
 Tailing dam
 Road
 SLOPE INSTABILITY

※A number of causes exist simultaneously to eventually trigger

the slope failure.

※These factors can be grouped into the two major categories;

A. Factors that contribute to increased shear stress
B. Factors that contribute to low or reduced shear strength

※Their influence is double edged

INCREASED SHEAR STRESS FACTORS
i. The addition of surcharge to the slope - weight of rain, hail, snow, or
water, and action of humans, as in the construction of a fill, mine waste
dumps, ore stockpiles
ii. Transitory earth stresses – vibrations from earthquakes, blasting,
heavy machinery, traffic, pile driving, vibratory compactors
iii. The removal of lateral and underlying support of the slope -
undercutting of banks by rivers, streams e.t.c
iv. Lateral pressure, most commonly from water in pore spaces, cracks,
caverns, or cavities.
v. Volcanic processes – swelling or shrinking of magma chambers.
vi. Tectonic activities – alteration of the stress fields on a very large
scale.
REDUCED SHEAR STRENGTH FACTORS
i. Factors stemming from the initial state or inherent
characteristics of the material i.e texture; and gross structure
and slope geometry.
ii. Changes in shear strength due to weathering and other
physicochemical reactions.
iii. The actions of roots and burrowing animals
iv. Changes in intergranular forces due to water content and
pressure in pores and fractures;
a) Rapid drawdown of a lake or reservoir.
b) Rapid changes in the elevation of the water table.
c) Rise of the water table in a distant aquifer.
d) Seepage from an artificial source of water.
 ROCK STRENGTH PARAMETERS

 ROCK STRENGTH PARAMETERS

 SLOPE CONFIGURATION
Bench angle: the angle of inclination of
the bench face measured from the
horizontal.
Berm: a horizontal shelf built into the
embankment or sloping wall
Crest: top of an excavated slope.
Face: more or less vertical surface of
rock exposed by excavation.
Overall slope angle: the angle
measured from the horizontal to the line
joining the toe of a wall and the crest of
the wall.
Toe: The bottom of a slope or cliff.
GENERAL TYPES OF SLOPE FAILURE
※ There are four primary modes of slope failure in rock masses:
1. Planar failure
2. Rotational failure
3. Wedge failure
4. Toppling failure
※ Other modes that are recognized as important under certain
conditions include:
i. rockfalls or earth falls
ii. rock or earth spread
iii. rock or earth flow
iv. buckling of steeply dipping thin beds
 PLANAR FAILURE
※ The mass progresses out or down and
out along a more or less planar or gently
undulating surface.
※ The movement is commonly controlled
structurally by;
i. Surface weakness, such as faults,
joints, bedding planes, and variations
in shear strength between layers of
bedded deposits.
ii. The contact between firm bedrock
and overlying weathered rock.
 PLANAR FAILURE
Conditions;
 The plane on which sliding occurs must strike
parallel or nearly parallel (±20°) to the slope face.
 The sliding plane must ‘daylight’ in the slope
face, ψp < ψf.
 The dip of the sliding plane must be greater than
the angle of friction of this plane, ψp > ϕ.
 The upper end of the sliding surface either
intersects the upper slope, or terminates in a
tension crack.
※ Slope performance is determined by probability of failure (PoF) 
likelihood of failure occurrence
 In mines acceptable PoF ≤ 10%
PLANAR FAILURE
 PLANAR FAILURE ANALYSIS
 The simplest model applied to planar failure is that of a block resting on an
inclined plane at limiting equilibrium.
PLANAR FAILURE ANALYSIS
 WEDGE FAILURE
※ Occurs on two intersecting planes of the
joints.

Conditions:

i. The trend of the intersection line

orientated within 90°of the dip
ii. The plunge of the intersection line
must “daylight” in the slope face 17
 WEDGE FAILURE
※ Two planes will always intersect in a line.
※ On the stereonet, the line of intersection is represented by the point where the
two great circles of the planes intersect, and the orientation of the line is defined
by its trend (αi) and its plunge (ψi)
※ In general, sliding may occur if the intersection point between the two great
circles of the sliding planes lies within zone of influence
 WEDGE FAILURE
The trend αi and plunge ψi of the line of intersection of planes A and B can
be determined on the stereonet, or calculated as;

where αA and αB are the dip directions and ψA and ψB are the dips of the
two planes.
 CIRCULAR FAILURE

In weak materials such as

highly weathered or closely
fractured rock, and rock fills
failure occurs along a surface
that approaches a circular
shape.
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 CIRCULAR FAILURE
※There are several problems in
determining the forces and moments
on a slip surface.
※One approach to solve the problem is
to divide the sliding mass into an
arbitrary number of slices and then
sum the forces and moments of each
slice (Limit equilibrium methods).
 Generally, the larger the number
of slices, the better the accuracy
of our answer

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 METHOD OF SLICE
※Let us consider an arbitrary slice, ABCD, and draw a free-body diagram of the
forces acting on the slices.

22
 METHODS OF SLICE
Several solution methods have evolved depending on the assumptions made
about the unknown

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 TOPPLING FAILURE
※ A number of different types of toppling failures may be encountered in the field
i. Block toppling-set of steeply dipping & basal joint.
ii. Flexural toppling-bend forward.
iii. Block–flexure toppling-pseudo-continuous
flexure.
TOPPLING FAILURE: STAGES
 ANALYSIS OF TOPPLING FAILURE
Block shape test
※Diagram shows toppling blocks with height y and
width Δx on a plane dipping at an angle ψp
 If the friction angle between the base of the
block and the plane is ϕp, then
 ANALYSIS OF TOPPLING FAILURE
Interlayer slip test
 When the layers slip past each other, σ must
be inclined at an angle ϕd with the normal to
the layers
 If ψf is the dip of slope face and ψd is the dip
of the planes forming the sides of the blocks,
then the condition for interlayer slip is given
by
 SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
 Limit equilibrium methods (LEM), so far discussed, assume
rigid/perfectly plastic material behaviour and are therefore incapable
of computing displacements and/or deformation
 An alternative stability analysis is by numerical analysis
 Models (sometimes called deformation models or displacement
methods) are capable of computing displacements and
deformation and can use a variety of material models to simulate
rock slope behaviours
 The stability analysis is termed strength reduction, and the strength
ratio is the strength reduction factor (SRF).
 SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
Factor of safety determination in numerical analysis
 To perform slope stability analysis with the shear-strength reduction method
(SRM), simulations are run for a series of increasing trial factors of safety (f).
 Actual shear strength properties, cohesion (c) and friction angle (ϕ), are
reduced for each trial according to the following equations:
SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS

30
 SLOPE STABILITY: NUMERICAL
ANALYSIS
 Numerical analysis is able to
provide safety factor contours that
show the regions of a slope most
susceptible to failure
 Numerical models produce
displacement and stresses within
the modelled region.
 For this reason, numerical
models are sometimes referred
to as stress models or
deformation models.
SLOPE STABILITY: NUMERICAL
ANALYSIS
SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
 SLOPE STABILIZATION METHODS
※The most commonly used slope stabilization techniques are categorized as
follows:
A. Geometric techniques: The application of geometric techniques brings
about a change in the geometry of slope.
 Flattening the slope
 Eliminating part of the soil/rock
 Eliminating load from the top of the slope and therefore reducing the
shear stresses on critical planes
 Constructing pressure berms at the toe of the slope
 Replacement of slipped material by free-draining materials
 By re-compaction of slip debris to provide more resistance against
loading
 SLOPE STABILIZATION METHODS

B. Hydrological Techniques;
 Installing surface and subsurface drain pipes and therefore
reducing pore water pressure
 Use of inverted filters
 Use of thermal techniques, such as ground freezing and
heating methods
 SLOPE STABILIZATION METHODS
C. Chemical and Mechanical Techniques;
 Using grouting to increase the shear resistance of slope
 Constructing restraining structures, such as concrete gravity or
cantilever walls
 Construction of gabion structures, baby crib walls, and embankment
piles in order to provide resistance against toppling
 Constructing lime and cement columns
 Installing ground anchors, rock bolts, root piles, etc. to provide
effective tension to rock blocks
 By planting shrubs and grasses to reduce soil erosion
 SLOPE STABILIZATION METHODS
D. Construction Techniques ;
 Reinforcement support
Includes rock bolts, dowels, tied-back walls, shotcrete, buttresses, etc.
 Unstable rock removal
Involves methods like re-sloping, cutting, etc.
 Protection
Comprises the construction of ditches, mesh, catch fences, warning
fences, rock sheds, tunnels, etc.
 REFERENCES
 Bieniawski, Z. T. (1989). Engineering Rock Mass Classification: A
Complete Manual for Engineers and Geologists in Mining, Civil and
Petroleum Engineering. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons.
 Hudson J.A. and Harrison J.B., (1997), Engineering Rock Mechanics
 Duncan, C. W., 2018. Rock Slope Engineering; Civil Applications.
Canada: CRS Press, Taylor and Francis Group.
 Hoek, E. and John, B., (1981), Rock Slope Engineering. London:
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.
 Hoek, E. and Edwin, T.B., (1982), Underground Excavations in Rock.
London: Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.