Abstract
Current design practice often involves the consideration of slope stability when the strength parameters of the soil or the pore pressures vary considerably within a slope. In these cases it is evident that, because of departures from homogeneity, the soil mass may slip along a noncircular surface and local overstress will occur if the factor of safety lies below a value of about 1.8. Overstress also occurs when a slope contains materials that activate their shear resistances under significantly different stress – strain relationships. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe a new limit equilibrium approach suitable for the consideration of the heterogeneous slopes. A new definition of local factors of safety distribution, not only along a trial sliding surface but also at the interfaces of wedge-shaped slices, is introduced considering the soil strain properties. The main features of the comptutational procedure are outlined. One illustrative example dealing with the stability of a heterogeneous slope is included. Key words: limit equilibrium, slope stability, local factors of safety.
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