CHAPTER FIVE
SLOPE STABILITY
1
Introduction
The term slope as used in here refers to any natural
or man made earth mass, whose surface forms an
angle with the horizontal.
Natural forces (wind, rain, earthquake, etc.) change
the natural topography often creating unstable
slopes.
Failure of natural slopes (landslides) and man made
slopes have resulted in much death and destruction.
Introduction
In assessing the stability of slopes, geotechnical
engineers have to pay particular attention to geology,
drainage, groundwater and the shear strength of the
soils.
In this chapter, we will examine the stability of earth
slopes in two dimensional space using limit
equilibrium methods.
Definitions of Key Terms
Slip plane or failure plane or slip surface or failure
surface is the surface of sliding.
Sliding mass is the mass of soil within the slip plane
and the ground surface.
Slope angle (or simply slope) is the angle of
inclination of a slope to the horizontal. The slope
angle is usually referred to as a ratio, for example, 2:1
(horizontal: vertical)
Some Types of Slope
Failure
Some Types of Slope
Failure
Some Types of Slope
Failure
Some Causes of Slope Failure
Some Causes of Slope Failure
Some Causes of Slope Failure
Some Causes of Slope Failure
Two-Dimensional Slope Stability
Analysis
Slope stability can be analysed using one or more of
the following: the limit equilibrium method, limit
analysis, finite difference method and finite element
method.
Limit equilibrium is the most widely used method for
stability analysis.
Stability Analysis of Infinite Slopes
Stability Analysis of Infinite Slopes
The general objective of infinite slope stability
analysis is to determine either the critical slope or
critical height or alternatively, the factor of safety of
the slope.
f
FS
m
Stability of Infinite Slopes in φu =0,
cu soil
f c u
N W cos s T W sin s
T W sin s cos s bz
m sin s cos s z sin s cos s
l b b
cu 2c u
FS
z sin s cos s z sin( 2 s )
c 12 sin 1 (2cu z )
2c u
zc
sin( 2 s )
Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, φ’
Soil – With no Seepage
f c' n' tan '
c' n' tan ' n' tan '
c'
FS
m m m
c' W ' cos s tan ' c' tan '
FS
z sin s cos s W sin s z sin s cos s tan s
c' sec 2 s
z c
tan s tan '
Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, φ’
Soil – Steady State Seepage
J s iw bz
N ' W ' cos s ' bz cos s
c' ' bz cos s tan '
FS
sat z sin s cos s sat zb cos s tan s
c' ' tan '
sat z sin s cos s sat tan s
c' csc 2 s
zc
tan s ' tan '
Rotational Slope Failure
The infinite slope failure mechanism is reasonable for
infinitely long and homogeneous slopes made of
coarse-grained soils, where the failure plane is
assumed to be parallel to the ground surface.
But in many practical problems slopes have been
observed to fail through a rotational mechanism of
finite extent.
Stability of Infinite Slopes in φu =0,
cu soil – circular failure surface
Stability of Infinite Slopes in φu =0,
cu soil – circular failure surface
cu LR cu R 2 0
FS 0
Wd Wd 180
0 0 0
R 2 (cu11 cu 2 2 ... cun n )
FS 0
Wd 180
Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, φ’
Soil – method of slices
Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, φ’
Soil – method of slices
Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, φ’
Soil – method of slices
i n i n i n ( f l ) i i n
T R R (
i 1
i
i 1
m l ) R
i 1 FS
(W sin ) i R
i 1
i n i n
(c'
i 1
'
n tan ' )l
i (c' l N ' tan ' )
i 1
i
FS i n
i n
(W sin )
i 1
i (W sin )
i 1
i
Fellenius or Ordinary or Swedish
Method
N W cos N ' ul N ' W cos ul
i n
(c' l (W cos ul ) tan ' )
i 1
i
FS i n
(W sin )
i 1
i
Bishop Simplified Method
c' l sin
W ul cos
N' FS
sin tan '
cos
FS
1 c' b W (1 ru ) tan '
i n
FS i n
i 1 m
i
(W sin ) i
i 1
sin tan '
m cos
FS
