SLOPE/W is the leading slope stability software for soil and rock slopes.

SLOPE/W can
effectively analyze both simple and complex problems for a variety of slip surface shapes, pore-
water pressure conditions, soil properties, and loading conditions. SLOPE/W can model almost
any stability problem, including:

 Natural soil and rock slopes

 Construction excavations
 Earthen dams and levees
 Open-pit high walls
 Reinforced earth structures
 Slope stabilization design
 Slopes with surcharge or seismic loading
 Dam stability during rapid drawdown
 Partially and totally submerged slopes
 Unsaturated slopes subjected to infiltration
 Tailings dam stability

Key Features
Pore-Water Pressure
Pore-water pressures can be defined using piezometric lines, spatial functions, or the results
from other GeoStudio finite element analyses. Values can be displayed as contours on the
geometry to reveal PWP values used in the analysis.

SLOPE/W's intuitive modeling workflow

1. Create problem workspace and analysis properties
Create a SLOPE/W analysis and set up the problem workspace. Choose options for limit
equilibrium or finite element stress methods, pore-water pressures, trial slip surfaces,
tension cracks, probabilistic and sensitivity methods, pseudo-static loading, partial
factors, convergence criteria, and more.
2. Draw or import domain regions from a CAD program
Create a SLOPE/W analysis, and then draw the regions in your domain using CAD-like
drawing tools, including drawing polygon and circular regions, coordinate import, copy-
paste geometric items, length and angle feedback, region splitting and merging, and
direct keyboard entry of coordinates, lengths, and angles. Alternatively, import AutoCAD
DWG or DXF files directly into GeoStudio to create your domain geometry.
3. Define material properties and pore-water pressure
Define the material properties for your analysis, assign them to regions on the domain,
and then define your initial pore-water conditions. Select from a comprehensive list of
soil and rock material models including Mohr-Coulomb, undrained, high strength,
impenetrable, bilinear, strength as a function of depth, anisotropic strength, generalized
shear-normal function, SHANSEP, and generalized shear-normal function (for typical
rock material models including Hoek-Brown). Define the pore-water pressure conditions
as either piezometric lines, spatial functions, finite element computed, or Ru and B-bar
approaches.
4. Define loading conditions and reinforcement
Define slope reinforcement properties to simulate ground anchors, soil nails, piles, or
geosynthetics. Define surcharge loads to simulate a pressure applied over a portion of
the ground surface, such as a footing. Any other loads can be modeled on the domain as
a point load. You can also specify seismic loading on the domain by setting horizontal
and vertical coefficients that represent a force created by seismic or earthquake
accelerations.
5. Define a set of trial slip surfaces
Define a set of trial slip surfaces that SLOPE/W will use for computing a critical factor of
safety. A number of options for specifying slip surfaces are available, including as entry
and exit zones along the ground surface, a grid of slip surface centers and radius
tangents, blocks of slip surface intersection points, or pre-defined slip surface line
segments.
6. Solve your analyses
When your problem is completely defined, start the analysis process in the Solver
Manager window. Once the Solver is running, multiple slip surfaces are solved in
parallel, allowing for faster performance. The Solver Manager displays the solution
progress, allowing you to cancel or stop/restart if necessary. While the solution is in
progress, you can look at preliminary results in the Results window.
7. Display computed slip surfaces as a color map
When the Solver is finished, the critical slip surface is displayed, along with the critical
factor of safety. Use a slip surface color map to visualize the variability in factor of safety
with slip surface position. You can filter the slip surfaces displayed to a specific factor of
safety range.
8. View slip surface details, generate plots and reports
Interactively select any analyzed slip surface to graphically display the forces on any slice
or information about the sliding mass. Display plots of computed results over the slip
surface, such as various strength or convergence parameters along each slice. Generate
reports of the definition and results, and export into other applications such as
Microsoft Excel for further analysis.