Slope stability analysis based on the direct comparison of driving forces and resisting forces

Abstract

AbstractThe paper disproves a commonly accepted concept that the slope stability problem cannot be correctly solved without invoking the auxiliary static assumptions. The given slope stability analysis is based on the direct comparison of the driving force tending to induce a movement of the slope mass and the mobilized resisting force. A problem of separating the driving forces from the resisting forces is resolved by subdividing an area of the assumed slide mass into two segments wherein the driving forces dominate over the resisting forces at the first segment and vice versa at the other. The slope stability is assessed by the stability index that is equal to a ratio between the resisting forces and driving forces. The stability problem is reduced to determining and analyzing a distribution of the interslice force along the slip line length. A system of recurrence dependencies involving the components of the interslice force and the vertical coordinates of the thrust line is derived from the complete system of the slice equilibrium equations (equilibrium of the horizontal and vertical forces and the force moment equilibrium). This system falls into two subsystems of relations one of which involves only the components of the interslice force. From this it follows that a distribution of the interslice force does not depend on the thrust line position. The slope safety factor regulated by the design manuals for mobilizing the soil shear strength along the slip line is prescribed in advance. A computer program is developed for solving the governing recurrence relations and computing the slope stability index. The applicability of the program is confirmed by solving the problem on a calculation of the critical safety factor for three shapes of the slip line (a circular arc, and a cubic and quadratic parabola) and the stability problem of the real inhomogeneous slope consisting of four layers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.