Indian Geotechnical Conference 2017 GeoNEst

14-16 December 2017, IIT Guwahati, India

Stability of Rock Slopes in Soft and Stratified Rock Mass

Mithresh K P
A Murali Krishna
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati – 781039
E-mail : mithresh@iitg.ernet.in; amurali@iitg.ernet.in

Keywords: Rock slope stability; stratification; soft rocks; numerical analysis

1. Introduction
Stratification is generally observed in rock slopes
composed of sedimentary rock masses. The stability of
rock slopes formed in such stratified rocks thus depend
significantly on the dip and mechanical parameters of the
bedding plane. The presence of secondary discontinuities
will lead to the formation of large sized rock blocks,
which may fall, or slide along the bedding plane. The
situation gets further aggravated for rock slopes in soft
rocks where weathering of the rocks causes deterioration
of slope material at the interior of the slope. During the
event of an earthquake, larger displacements take place
due to loss of slope material at the toe, which brings down
the sliding mass in the form of monolithic bodies.
4. Important Outcomes
The kinematic analysis manifested the possibility of
flexural and oblique toppling failures with the bedding
plane serving as the base plane for the unstable rock
blocks. The static analysis yielded a critical SRF value of
1.06 (Fig.1) which infers that the slope is vulnerable even
under static conditions. With the application of dynamic
loading, greater displacements are found to occur owing
to the amplification of seismic waves. The effect of
amplification of seismic waves is pertained to the
influence of topography, material contrast, and
anisotropy due to discontinuities (Gischig et al. 2005).

2. Motivation and Objective

Numerous rock slope failures are reported subjected to
the low strength and stratifications present in
sedimentary rock masses. The present study focusses on
understanding the behaviour of rock slopes in soft and
stratified rock masses under the effect of both static and
dynamic loading using finite element based numerical
modelling.
3. Methodology
The study considers a rock cut slope which is composed
of sedimentary shale which is thinly bedded in nature. Fig. 1 Displacement contour under static conditions
Kinematic analysis followed by a finite element based 5. Conclusions
numerical analysis is performed using Phase2 9.0 The major conclusions of the study are,
(Rocscience 2016). The seismic stability of the slope is
1. The presence of stratifications forms release
investigated using the acceleration-time history data of
planes for unstable blocks for sliding or
Sikkim-Nepal earthquake 2011. Table 1 defines the
toppling failures.
various input parameters used in the study.
2. The seismic waves have undergone
Table-1 Input parameters used for the analyses
amplification due to the effect of topography,
Property Value of parameter material contrast.
Unit weight (kN/m3) 21.33 3. The seismic waves also suffer attenuation due
to the low stiffness and closer spacing of
Young’s modulus (Ei, GPa) 2
stratifications.
UCS (σci, MPa) 9.71
References
Orientation
Bedding plane Rocscience (2016) Phase2 v9.020, finite element analysis
20/280 for excavations and slopes. Rocscience Inc., Ontario
Joint 1 85/180 Gischig, V. S., Eberhardt, E., Moore, J. R., & Hungr, O.
(2015) On the seismic response of deep-seated rock
Joint 2 85/90
slope instabilities - Insights from numerical modeling.
Slope 45/270 Engineering Geology, 193(August 2016), pp. 1–18.