Stability analysis of nonhomogeneous and anisotropic stepped slopes under the influence of earthquakes

Abstract

There have been many studies related to the stability of single-step slopes, but there have been few studies on the stability of stepped slopes. Based on the limit analysis method and the strength reduction method, the stability factor FS of a stepped slope in nonhomogeneous and anisotropic soils is calculated. Then, the calculation method in this paper is compared with previous studies to verify the correctness of the calculation method. Finally, the parametric analysis of the stepped slope is also carried out. The results show that the maximum error obtained by the calculation method of this paper does not exceed 5%, which verifies the rationality and effectiveness of the method in this paper. The ratio B/H of slope width to slope height significantly affects the stability of the slope. When B/H < 3, FS decreases sharply with increasing B/H; when B/H > 3, FS decreases slowly with increasing B/H. When the inclined angle, anisotropy parameter and seismic parameter of the slope increase, the stability of the stepped slope decreases; when the platform width parameter and soil nonhomogeneity parameter of the slope increase, the slope stability is also improved.