Seismic Stability Analysis of Earth Slopes Using Graphical Chart Solution

Abstract

AbstractThe stability charts for static and pseudo-static (PS) stability analysis of homogenous slopes have been widely used for preliminary design work. Based on the concept of a graphical stability chart, this study presents a series of improved stability charts solution based on PS analysis of a wide range of homogeneous slope models with inclination angles varying from 10° to 60°, and considering both horizontal and vertical seismic loads. The concept of limit state line (LSL) is presented, and their mathematical expressions are obtained from extensive regression analyses. The LSL-based graphical stability charts’ solutions are proposed for PS stability analysis of homogeneous slopes with any given combination of physical parameters. The proposed charts show very good performances for obtaining the PS FoSs accurately and rapidly; the calculation errors are generally within 10%. It is anticipated that the developed charts, which consider the relatively realistic conditions of seismic loads, may serve as a promising tool for practicing engineers to estimate the FoS of homogenous slopes equivalent to PS stability analysis in less time.KeywordsSlope stabilityGraphical stability chartLimit state lineSeismic coefficientLimit equilibrium analysis.