Abstract
Abstract The failure of coastal rock cliffs is attributed to a variety of factors such as weathering, wave action, ground water level, and rock and joint parameters. The wave-induced undercutting of the vertical cliff face is hereby assumed to play a critical role. Very little attention has, however, been paid to the gravity-induced stresses within the cliff face. A numerical analysis of the stress distribution in idealised rock cliffs of varying slopes (50–90°) and in various stages of undercutting has been conducted. Investigated parameters included slope angle, cliff height, influence of a cliff base cavity, front face loading, and cliff surcharge loading. The analysis showed that stresses in the cliff face geometry immediately after a failure were insignificant. With the steepening of the cliff, stresses increased to reach very high values for a vertical cliff face. Additional undercutting of the cliff resulted only in a slight increase of those stress magnitudes. The steepened rock cliff can result i...
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