The role of discontinuities in rock slope stability: Insights from a combined finite-discrete element simulation

Abstract

Rock slope failure is particularly detrimental to the safety of human life and engineering infrastructure. The pre-existing discontinuities in the jointed rock slopes play a key role in the slope stability, and the destabilization process often related to the complex interaction between the discontinuities and the intact rock bridge. Understanding the failure mechanism and accurately predicting the failure process are essential for the safety of jointed rock slopes. In this paper, a jointed rock slope analysis model (Y-slopeJ) is developed to evaluate the stability state and simulate the progressive failure process of jointed rock slopes based on the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). The accuracy and robustness of the proposed model are validated by numerical tests. Then this Y-slopeJ is applied to investigate the failure mechanism and failure process of rock slopes with various types of discontinuities, with an emphasis on crack initiation, propagation and coalescence. This work proposed a promising tool in understanding and predicting the progressive failure process of jointed rock slopes.