SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS (CHAPTER 3)

By:
Cacho, renz michael
Noor, rayyan a.
Oczon, mark fernan t.

SLOPE STABILITY
An exposed ground surface that stands at an angle with the horizontal is called unrestrained slope.
-Slope failures cause damage and loss of lives.
-Need to check the shear stress that can be develop along the most likely rupture surface with the shear
strength of the soil.

• Construction of highway and railway

• Embankments
• Earth dams
• Levees and canals.

TYPES OF SLOPE
Infinite Slopes
• They have dimensions that extend over great distances and the soil mass is inclined to the horizontal.
Finite Slopes
• A finite slope is one with a base and top surface, the height being limited.
• The inclined faces of earth dams, embankments and excavation and the like are all finite slopes.

Natural
Formation due to geological features of the earth.

Man made
Construction activity like cutting, filling etc.

SLOPE FAILURE TRIGGERING MECHANISMS

• Intense Rain-Fall
• Water-Level Change
• Seepage Water Flow
• Volcanic Eruption
• Earthquake Shaking
• Human activity

CAUSES OF SLOPE FAILURE

• Erosion: The wind and flowing water causes erosion of top surface of slope and makes the slope steep and
thereby increase the tangential component of driving force.

• Steady Seepage: Seepage forces in the sloping direction add to gravity forces and make the slope
susceptible to instability. The pore water pressure decreases the shear strength. This condition is critical for
the downstream slope.

• Sudden Drawdown: in this case there is reversal in the direction flow and results in instability of side slope.
Due to sudden drawdown the shear stresses are more due to saturated unit weight while the shearing
resistance decreases due to pore water pressure that does not dissipate quickly.

• Rainfall: Long periods of rainfall saturate, soften, and erode soils. Water enters into existing cracks and may
weaken underlying soil layers, leading to failure, for example, mud slides.

• Earthquakes: They induce dynamic shear forces. In addition, there is sudden buildup of pore water pressure
that reduces available shear strength.

• External Loading: Additional loads placed on top of the slope increases the gravitational forces that may
cause the slope to fail.
• Construction activities at the toe of the slope:
Excavation at the bottom of the sloping surface will make the slopes steep and thereby increase the
gravitational forces which may result in slope failure

Definition of Key Terms

• Slip or failure zone: It is a thin zone of soil that

reaches the critical state or residual state and
results in movement of the upper soil mass.
• Slip plane or failure plane or slip surface or
failure surface: It is the surface of sliding.
• Sliding mass: It is the mass of soil within the
slip plane and the ground surface.
• Slope angle: It is the angle of inclination of a
slope to the horizontal.
• The slope angle is sometimes referred to as a
ratio, for example, 2:1 (horizontal: vertical).

TYPES OF SLOPE FAILURE

Broadly slope failures are classified into 3 types as

1. Face (Slope) failure
2. Toe failure
3. Base failure

Face (Slope) Failure: This type of failure occurs when the slope angle is large and when the soil at the toe
portion is strong.
Toe Failure: In this case the failure surface passes through the toe. This occurs when the slope is steep and
homogeneous.
Base Failure: In this case the failure surface passes below the toe. This generally occurs when the soil below
the toe is relatively weak and soft.

METHODS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT SLOPE STABILITY

Slopes flattened or benched
Weight provided at toe
Lowering of groundwater table to reduce pore water pressures in the slope
Use of driven / cast in place piles
Retaining wall or sheet piling provided to increase resistance to sliding
Soil improvement

TYPES OF STABILITY ANALYSIS PROCEDURES

- Mass Procedure – The mass of the soil above the surface of sliding is taken as a unit.
- Methods of Slices – The soil above the surface of sliding is divided into a number of vertical parallel slices.
 The stability of each slice is calculated separately.
 Non-homogeneity of the soils and pore water pressure can be taken into consideration.
 It also accounts for the variation of the normal stress along the potential failure surface.

Cohesion and Friction may be expressed as,

FACTOR OF SAFETY
𝜏𝑓 = 𝑐′ + 𝜎′𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′
𝐹𝑆 =𝜏𝑓/𝜏𝑑
Where:
Where:
c’ = cohesion
FS = factor of safety
𝜱’ = angle of friction
𝞽f = shear strength
𝝈’ = effective normal stress
𝞽d = shear stress
We can also use,

𝜏𝑑 = 𝑐′𝑑 + 𝜎′𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′𝑑

By substituting the equations, When those three equations are compared,

𝐹. 𝑆. =𝑐′ + 𝜎′𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′/𝑐′𝑑 + 𝜎′𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′𝑑 Or,

Factor of safety with respect to cohesion, 𝑐′/𝑐′𝑑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′/ 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′𝑑

𝐹𝑆𝑐′ =𝑐′/𝑐′𝑑 𝐹𝑆 = 𝐹𝑆𝑐′ = 𝐹𝑆𝛷′

Factor of safety with respect to friction, When FS is equal to 1, the slope is in state of impending failure.

𝐹𝑆𝛷′ =𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′/𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛷′𝑑 A value of 1.5 for the FS with respect to strength is acceptable for
the design of a stable slope.

ANALYSIS OF INFINITE SLOPE (without seepage)

Max. height of the slope for which critical equilibrium occurs

ANALYSIS OF INFINITE SLOPE (without seepage)

Example:
What will be the factors of safety with respect to average shearing strength, cohesion and internal friction of a
soil, for which the shear strength parameters obtained from the laboratory test are c´ = 32 kN/m2 and Ø´ =
18°, the expected parameters of mobilized shearing resistance are c´α= 21 kN/m2 and Ø´α = 13° and the
average effective pressure on the failure plane is 110 kN/m2 . For the same value of mobilized shearing
resistance determine the following:

1. Factor of safety with respect to strength

2. Factor of safety with respect to friction when that with respect to cohesion is unity; and
3. Factor of safety with respect to strength.

SOLUTION:
Factor of safety with respect to strength
𝜏f = c´ + σ´ tanØ ´ τα = c´ α + σ´ tanØ ´ α
= 32 + 110tan18° = 21 + 110tan13°
= 67.8 kN/m2 = 46.4 kN/m2
FACTOR OF SAFETY = 𝜏f / 𝜏α
= 67.8 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2/46.4 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
= 𝟏. 𝟒𝟔
SOLUTION:
Factor of safety with respect to friction
FACTOR OF SAFETY = tan Ø′ / 𝑡𝑎𝑛Øα
= 𝑡𝑎𝑛18° / 𝑡𝑎𝑛13°
= 1.41
Factor of safety with respect to cohesion
FACTOR OF SAFETY = 𝑐′ / 𝑐𝛼
= 32 / 21
= 1.52
SOLUTION:
Factor of safety with respect to height
FH = Fc Will be at FØ = 1.0
τα = 46.4 = 32 / F𝑐 + 110𝑡𝑎𝑛18° / 1.0 , therefore F𝑐 = 32 / 46.4−35.8 = 3.0
Factor of safety with respect to friction at FØ = 1.0 is
τα = 46.4 = 32 / 1.0 + 110𝑡𝑎𝑛18° / FØ, therefore, FØ = 35.8 / 46.4−32 = 2.49
Factor of safety with respect to strength Fs is obtained when FØ = Fc we may write;
τα = 46.4 = 32 / Fs + 110𝑡𝑎𝑛18° / Fs , OR Fs = 1.46