RockM.N.

Bagde
Slope Nasim
Stability andSheikh and A.K. Soni
Risk Assessment Studies

Boulder Characterization and Stabilization at

Ajanta Caves: A Study
M.N. Bagde Nasim Sheikh & A.K. Soni
CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research,
Regional Center, MECL Bhavan, Seminary Hills, Nagpur 440 006
email:mnbagde@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: In Ajanta caves, the hillside slopes are predominantly covered by surface
boulders. The boulder dislocations due to long-term rock mass deterioration, distressing, water
percolation and weathering for a strike length of 600 m, and a height of 75 m; are a major
concern considering the safety of the visitors/tourists, the site personnel’s and also keeping in
view the preservation of the historic heritage site. A representative study to assess and
characterize the formation of boulders with possible suitable stabilization measures of a boulder
field is described and discussed. The study considered the possible geological mode of
development of the boulder field, boulder stabilization philosophy and recommended the various
stabilization measures considering aesthetic value of the World heritage site Ajanta.
1. INTRODUCTION
Ajanta caves are situated on the northern fringe of the Maharashtra Plateau in district
Aurangabad. The Ajanta caves area has suffered by climatic degradation due to natural processes
and human interferences since long. Ajanta caves are classified as heritage monuments where
ancient Buddhist rock-cut caves excavated from second century BC to 6th century AD. The
developments and stability of these surface boulders is of direct concern due to the safety of
caves and visitors. The number of incidents in the recent past posed by vulnerable potential
boulders movement led the Archaeological Survey of India to take necessary satisfactory
resolution of this problem as part of the design process for risk-based sites. The monument is
damaged by the environmental effects over time as well as by the human actions (anthropogenic
interference). It is noticed that the geological discontinuities have contributed towards partly
instability of the Ajanta Caves, causing the geological hazards around the area. To ensure both
the stability of the unstable boulders, the world heritage site and the safety of the tourists, studies
are carried out. To consider the possible protection and preservation of historic sites and
monuments, geological characterization of the various types of boulder formation and suitable
measures is discussed.
2. LOCAL GEOMORPHOLOGY AND GEOLOGY
The basaltic flows exposed in the area (Fig. 1), have been sub-divided into four stratigraphic
formations according to the Geological Map (1994) of Ajanta Quadrangular (GSI, 2001). The
Deccan trap basaltic flow of Ajanta Formation of Sahyadri Group mainly occupies the cave
monument area with five successive flows. The Ajanta Formation is alternating sequence of
basaltic lava flows with blocky broken surfaces i.e. ‘Aa’ and basaltic lava flow with a twisted
billowy surface that resembles a coiled rope. i.e. ‘Pahoehoe’ flows. The exposed thickness of
the volcanic pile of Ajanta Formation ranges from 65 to 310 m. The Caves are curved in the
compound ‘Pahoehoe’ flow (Fig. 1). The lava flows have regional lateral gradients of the order

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 Boulder Characterization and Stabilization at Ajanta Caves: A Study

of 1 in 120 to 1 in 500 towards northeast. The Geomorphologically Ajanta Formation is

distinguished into several variables.

Fig. 1. View of Ajanta caves and curved shaped.

Regionally, there are three characteristic geomorphic units namely Khandesh uplands in the
north, Ajanta ranges in the central part and east sloping Ajanta plateau in the south. The Ajanta
ranges act as water divide between the easterly flowing Purna River basin (a tributary of
Godavari River) and the northerly flowing Ajanta, Waghur, Girna and Vaya Rivers of the Tapi-
Purna system. The range has the famous Ajanta pass close to the Ajanta Caves. The Waghur
River, the main drainage of the area is a fourth order stream, flowing south to north. Sharp
meanders, rapids and waterfalls are observed in the area. The most prominent waterfall is
Saptdhara/Satkund, located in upstream of the caves. Regionally, the area is bound by three
major faults, namely the ENE- WSW to E-W trending Tapi-Purna fault in the north, NW- SE
trending Upper Godavari fault in the south and the Kaddam fault in the east (GSI, 2009).
3. GEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF BOULDERS
In the area oldest flow is ‘Aa’ type exposed below 420-430 m above MSL along Waghur
River bed. Megascopically the rock is hard massive, compact, dark grey, fine-grained,
moderately porphyritic, showing well developed Polygonal joints. The base of the flow is not
identified. Above flow I, compound ‘Pahoehoe’ flow II is exposed with thickness of flow
ranges between 52-58 m (Fig. 1). In general, the flow is partly to moderately weathered. It
consists of 16 to 19 ‘Pahoehoe’ units, each of thickness varying between 1 to 5 m. These units
show pinching and swelling structure. A fairly well developed and persistent red bole is seen on
the top of the flow. In the major part of the area adjacent to Cave 1, spheroidal weathering is

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 M.N. Bagde Nasim Sheikh and A.K. Soni

quite commonly seen. Flow III overlies the flow II which is 18-20m thick ‘Aa’ flow with a red
bole contact at about 480-488m above MSL. Basalt of this flow is quiet compact to partly
weathered. Above flow III is compound ‘Pahoehoe’ flow IV which is 52-58 m thick exposed
between 502-498 m to 556-557 m above MSL. It comprises 9-13 ‘Pahoehoe’ units of thickness
varying from 5-8 m. Again, the units show pinching and swelling structure. The middle massive
part comprises of dark grey, fine to medium grained, moderately porphyritic basalt. The top part
of the units is highly vesicular or amygdular. In general, this flow is slightly to moderately
weathered and at some places highly weathered. Overlying the flow IV with a thin and
impersistent red bole horizon at an elevation of 556-557 m above MSL is the ‘Aa’ type of
basaltic flow V. The flow is slightly to moderately weathered. Development of multilayered Sub
columnar joints is common apart from the vertical to sub-vertical cooling cracks. This
combination of joints leads to formation of rise to huge boulders on weathering (GSI, 2001).

Fig. 2. The development of boulders in Basaltic terrains

According to Grigg and Wang (1987), due to natural agencies such as physical weathering
of the outcrops yielded boulders over the years will serve an important aid to understanding the
boulder fields and deriving a suitable stabilization scheme. The various geological processes
leading to the development of boulders formation in the studied area is shown in Fig. 2. The
physical weathering is natural process of in-situ disintegration of rocks into smaller fragment
and particles through essentially without a change in their composition. In phase A, a hilly stable
rock mass exists in a region with a structural discontinuities of variable density, established by
regional geological movements. In phase B, during favorable climatic conditions the cooling
cracks, joint frequency of columnar and vertical joints, cross jointed columns random adverse
joints are developed. As a result creation of core stones within the weathered mantle as well as a
variable bedrock surface which later effectively determines the geomorphic form of the area.
The changes in the climatic environment in which erosion processes predominantly result in
progressive removal of the weathered blocks-thus forming boulders (Phase C).
4. CLASSIFICATION OF BOULDERS IN STUDIED AREA
The discontinuities in rocks are typically dependent on the chemical and mineralogical
composition of the rock mass. At Ajanta site rock fall potential of ‘Aa’ and ‘pahoehoe’ flows
mainly disproportional to their extent. The discontinuities developed in the basaltic terrains is

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due to the rock falls are mainly from ‘Aa’ basaltic flow of narrow upper scarp and to a lesser
extent relative to its hill slope area, from higher ‘pahoehoe’ basalt slope. Higher joint frequency
of columnar and other vertical joints, cross jointed columns, random adverse joints or Stress
Reduction Coefficient (SRC) and several dykes/thick crack infill’s with sub horizontal
(columns) provide adversely disposed blocks in large number (GSI, 2001).

Fig. 3. Various types of boulder in the studied area:-

A) Spheroidal boulder in above cave 18 & 19
B) Biological disturbance above cave 1 C) Embedded boulder above cave 1
D) Drifted boulder above cave 9
Field studies performed around the Ajanta caves revealed that there is evidence of various
geological periods of rock falls. The spacing of the flow layering and cooling joints may ranges
from a few centimeters to a few meters. As a result, both small and large blocks are formed.
Jointing, freeze-thaw, water effects, and tree roots are the main causes of rock falls (Fig. 3).
Spheroidal weathering is observed in jointed rocks and which resulted the breaking of
original rock mass into spheroidal blocks. It is observed that both mechanical and chemical
weathering played actively in causing spheroidal weathering (Fig.3A). The original solid rock
mass is splitted into small blocks by development of parallel joints due to thermal effects
(insolation). Also simultaneously, the chemical weathering process corroded the borders and
surfaces of blocks causing their shapes roughly into spheroidal contours. It is expected that the

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 M.N. Bagde Nasim Sheikh and A.K. Soni

development of hill-slope profiles at the Ajanta Cave monument site is the result of weathering,
discontinuities and seepage related erosional processes took place over long time. The rate of
erosion or denudation has resulted into valley widening, possibly steep slope formation resulting
into transportation of boulders. Evidence of meandering river and water fall suggest depositional
and erosion conditions in the area. The river flows along a narrow V – shaped valley till Cave 28
(Fig. 1). The outcrops are jointed since aperture decreases the frictional resistance and water
percolation along discontinuities.
Movement in the root zone due to leverage forces imposed on trees by wind action is
dislodging blocks or rock falls loosened by wedging action. There are illustrative evidences
pointing to this mode of slope damage above Cave 1 and in the area. The abundance of trees on
the Upper Stress Slope is certainly injurious to the rock mass that forms the roof of the caves.
However, the extent of existing and likely damage over time cannot be judged without geo-
botanical studies based on the adequate knowledge on relevant parameters on rock joints and
tree species present at the site. The trees are often weakening the rock slope surfaces by growing
roots into the bed rock, discontinuities and effectively jacking the bed rock blocks loose over
time (Fig. 3 B). On the other hand ‘pahoehoe’ slope generally has sparse random joints. The
coefficient of friction on the basaltic joint planes is low because they are clay filled embedded
boulders (Fig. 3 C).
The faunal disturbances on the slopes include monkeys and gravity of boulders movement
resulting in loose block roll and falls (Fig.3 D). Routine cleaning of drains and walkway
generate rock/ soil debris (up to 4cm size material) which is regularly disposed on the steep
slope below walkway. Study of climatic conditions causing chemical weathering of basalts is
important for Ajanta site for slope as well as monument protection. Fairly large area of Ajanta
and Waghur river banks are highly and even completely weathered to significant depths. This
aspect which demands elaborate field and lab studies in the specialized area.
5. BOULDER STABILIZATION
All boulders with varied dimension were carefully inspected and assessed. If any potential
instability existed for any of these boulders, preventive measures is recommended. The
techniques could be adopted for stabilization of boulders is:
(a) Breaking down and removal of loose boulders by chiseling, stone cutting machine,
manually etc.
(b) Reduce size of boulders by trimming to stable configuration
(c) Chemical and epoxy resin based grouting for joints and fissures
(d) Rock bolting/ anchors
(e) Wire net/ sleeping wire net/catch-net
(f) Fiber reinforced shotcrete
Quantitative assessment of boulders stability were not generally considered for remedial
measures design due to the inherent problems of determining three dimensional boulder shapes
and of assessing underlying founding conditions etc. Fig. 4 shows the stabilization of highly
vulnerable boulder by the use of steep flexible fibre rope to tie the individual boulder and
anchored it into firm ground. Then fill the cavities between boulders by steel fibre reinforced
shotcrete.

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 Boulder Characterization and Stabilization at Ajanta Caves: A Study

Fig. 4. Stabilization of highly vulnerable boulder by different

stabilizing methods (Bagde et al. 2010).

Fig. 5. View of cover the rock formation with wire net in

Seacliff Bridge along Lawrence Hargrave Drive in Australia. (Picture: M.N. Bagde).

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 M.N. Bagde Nasim Sheikh and A.K. Soni

6. CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that principles of engineering and characterization of boulders should give
priority to ensuring the safety and stability of the Ajanta Caves and at the same time take into
account the question of aesthetic style so that major changes will not be made to the appearance
of the Ajanta Caves. Therefore, it is essential to bring the structures of the stabilization project
into line with the original style of the Caves and make the utmost effort to preserve their original
appearance. Keeping all this in view, boulder characterization and classification of development
is carried out and suitable stabilization measures towards slope and critical boulders based on the
case to case basis is being recommended.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The study is funded and supported by ASI, GOI. The support provided by ASI and GSI
officials during the field studies is highly appreciated. Thanks are also due to Ms. Yogita Badge
and Mr. Roshan Rathod for their help during field studies. The views expressed therein are of
those authors and not necessarily of the Institute they belongs to.
References
Bagde M.N., Yogita Badge, Soni A.K. and Sinha A. (2010). Stabilization and Preservation at
World Heritage Historic Ajanta Caves: Problems and Issues, In Procd. ISRM International
Symposium 2010 and 6th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium - Advances in Rock
Engineering, 23-27 October, New Delhi, India.
Fookes P and Sweeney M. (1976). Stabilization and control of local rock falls and degrading
rock slopes. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, Geological
society of London, 9(1):37-55.
Grigg P. V. and Wong K. M. (1987). Stabilization of boulders at a hillslope site in Hong Kong
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, London, 20:5-14.
GSI (2001). Geoscientific Studies for the Conservation of Ajanta Caves, Prepared by Geological
Survey of India (GSI), Unpublished report, January.
GSI (2009). Geoscientific Studies for the Conservation of Ajanta Caves, Prepared by Geological
Survey of India (GSI), Unpublished report, April.
www.AECOM.com website

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 StabilityRock
Analysis
SlopeofStability
a Rock Slope Section
and Risk using Neural
Assessment StudiesNetwork

Stability Analysis of a Rock Slope Section using

Neural Network
S. Rukhaiyar1 and N.K. Samadhiya2
1
Research scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
2
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
e-mail: saurav.rukhaiyar@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Slope stability analyses are routine calculations in geotechnical engineering.

Stability evaluation of slopes is an engineering problem that involves several parameters. The
parameters are complex and there are stochastic and fuzzy properties in them, which make the
slope stability analysis process highly complex and nonlinear. The stability of slope is generally
analyzed using limit equilibrium and Numerical methods. In this article the authors analyze a
slope section in Garhwal Himalayas using a Neural Network system established on Neural
Network toolbox of Matlab. The system has fully used Neural Network's powerful nonlinear
functions mapping abilities and auto learning ability. Bayesian regularization method is used to
improve the network’s generalization ability. A three-layer back propagating neural network
with six input nodes, one hidden layers, and one output nodes was developed. A comprehensive
data of results from 84 rock slope sections from literature was collected. The data set was
randomly divided into two sets for training and testing. Limit equilibrium analysis using Geo-
studio software and finite element analysis using Phase2 software has been done to compare the
results.
1. INTRODUCTION
Landslide Represent a natural process of slope degradation in hilly terrains accompanied
with failure of slopes, which is a very complex natural activity and constitutes one of the major
elements of natural disaster. Every year a large amount of money is invested to recover the
damage caused by these slope failure activities. The Himalayan ecosystem is very fragile in
nature and characterized by weak rocks, unfavourable hydrogeological conditions and geological
discontinuities like joints, shear band etc. Every year a number of slope failure cases occur in
Himalayan geology especially along the roads. The stability analysis of slope is of utmost
importance as slope failures leads to economic and life loss. The stability of slopes is stated in
terms of a parameter known as Factor of Safety (FOS). The slope is considered as safe against
failure if factor of safety is greater than one. A Number of methods had been developed in past
by various researchers to compute this parameter. The methods available to calculate FOS for a
given slope can be classified into four categories (Nash, 1987; Duncan, 1996).
• Limit Equilibrium
• Circular and Non Circular failure surface methods
• Energy methods
• Finite element and finite difference methods.
The slope stability influencing parameters are complex and have fuzzy properties and
uncertainty attached with them. These uncertainties and complex behaviour of parameters have
brought many difficulties to the slope stability analysis. Traditional methods are inadequate and
some times over estimate or under estimate the slope stability. A new approach has been

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developed in recent past known as Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Artificial Neural Networks
(ANNs) have been frequently used for function approximation in different field of science,
including geotechnical engineering and rock mechanics. The attractiveness of ANNs comes from
the information processing characteristics of the system, such as non-linearity, high parallelism,
fault tolerance, learning, and generalization capability. Unlike the classical regression methods
in which a certain form for the approximation function must be presumed, ANNs do not require
any presumption in this regard. Hence, they give better flexibility and higher accuracy in
function approximation problems
This approach successfully performs in modelling non-linear multivariate problems. ANN
reacts to training data input in such a way as to alter their initial state, i.e. they can learn. In this
article, the authors try a widely used artificial neural network method, Back Propagating Neural
Network (BPNN), to assess the stability of slope section in Garhwal Himalayas.
2. METHOD OF SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
Stability analyses of slopes are generally done by methods of Limit equilibrium and
Numerical methods. These methods analyse the strength parameters and geometrical parameters
of the soil or rock mass to compute a parameter which define the stability of slopes i.e. the factor
of safety (FOS). The Factor of safety is defined as the ratio of reaction over action, expressed in
terms of moments or forces, and eventually in term of stresses, depending upon geometry of
assumed failure surface. Factor of safety is also defined as the ratio of actual shear strength to
the minimum shear strength required to prevent failure. This is also known as shear strength
reduction factor or SRF. Numerical methods generally compute factor of safety in terms SRF.
3. NEURAL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are a form of artificial intelligence which attempt to
mimic the behaviour of the human brain and nervous system. It consists of a complex network of
interconnected processing unit. ANN with high degree of nonlinear and powerful processing
unit, self-organizing, adaptive and learning ability are used to model multi-factor multi index
and fuzzy information processing problems.
In this article, BPNN i.e. back propagating neural network, which is the most widely used
neural network, is adopted to predict the factor of safety of a representative section of slope.
BPNN is a multi-layer feed forward Network with most common configuration composed of an
input layer, output layer and hidden layers (one or more layers) which are comprised of several
neurons, which may use differentiable transfer function to generate their output. The model
adjust the connection weights between nodes by learning to memories every network learning
and training pattern, each of which is composed of one input and output pair.
The BPNN is trained by repeatedly presenting a series of input/output pattern set to the
network. The network gradually learns the input/output relationship of interest by adjusting
weight to minimise the error between the actual and predicted output pattern of the training set.
After learning process is completed, network weight coefficient cannot be changed. In this
model, use of network with only forward calculation in predicting the output and calculation is
done very quickly. The working principal of BPNN is shown in Figure1.

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 Stability Analysis of a Rock Slope Section using Neural Network

Fig 1. Flow chart of BPNN

3.1 Training data
There are six major Influencing parameters for circular slope stability analysis. These are
unit weight of slope material (�), shear strength parameter, cohesion (c) and angle of internal
friction (φ), average angle of slope (β), height of slope (H) and pore water pressure coefficient
(ru). The Authors have gathered 84 case studies of rock slopes analysed for circular critical
failure mechanism from literature (Sakellariou and Ferentinou, 2005; Zhou and Chen, 2009;
Zhou et al., 2009). These 84 cases had been randomly divided into two groups. A group of 61
slopes is used for training of established network and another group of 23 slopes is used for
testing of networks. The data used for training and testing are shown in Table 1 and 2.
3.2 Establishing Network based on MATLAB’s NN toolbox.
MATLAB stands for MATrix LABoratory, is a high-level language and interactive
environment for numerical computation, visualization, simulation and programming. It features
a family of add-on application–specific solutions called toolboxes. Neural Network toolbox is
one of the tools most widely used for neural network design and training. This tool had been
used by the authors for establishing network for stability prediction of representative slope
section.

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TABLE 1 Training Samples

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 Stability Analysis of a Rock Slope Section using Neural Network

TABLE 2 Testing Samples

Number of input neurons of neural network depends upon the number of input parameter of
slope stability analysis. The Authors of this article considered six input parameters. So, number
of input neuron taken is six. The output of slope stability analysis is Factor of Safety, So output
layer is made up of one neuron only. Kolmogorov's theorem proved that a three-layer BP neural
network can achieve arbitrary mapping from n dimension to m-dimension. So a three-layer
BPNN with only one hidden layer is applied to evaluate the slope stability. There is no fixed
method for selecting the number of the neurons in the hidden layer. Never the less, in the light of
experience the number of the neurons of hidden layer in a three-layer BPNN can be determined
according to the equation (1) as follow.
M = 2N ± 2 (1)
Where, N is number of input node and M is number of hidden neuron. Hence the initial
number of the neurons in the hidden layer was set to 12. Continuous adjustment by practical
training is done to fix the most optimize value of number of neuron in hidden layer. It was found
that a hidden layer with 14 neurons gives the most optimum result. The activation function in
hidden layer is Tan sigmoid and for output layer is pureline transfer function. After repeated
training, a 6-14-1 network is built as shown in figure 2.

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Fig. 2 BPNN schematic diagram

. When the data set is small and the network is trained for function approximation, Bayesian
regularization provide better generalization. So, Lavenberg-Marquardth back propagation
algorithm combined with Bayesian regularization have been used for training of network
because of fast training and high generalization. The algorithm work best when the network
Inputs and targets are scaled so that they fall in range of -1 to 1. Equation 2 is used for linear
scaling of data.
xs = 2*(xi-xmin)/(xmax-xmin)-1 (2)
where, xs is the scaled value of parameter and xmax and xmin are maximum and minimum
value of parameters respectively.
3.3 Fitting examination
It was found that best performance of the network has been achieved at 602 iteration or
epoch. The fitting results of the network are shown in Table 3. The table contains the values of
actual factor of safety, predicted factor of safety from the network and error for both training and
testing data. It was found that the Mean square error (MSE) for training data is 0.000748 while
for testing data is 0.0848. Fig. 3 (a and b) shows the fitting curve of networks computation result
and predicted result for training and testing data. Fig. 4 shows the scatter and regression of
actual and predicted values.
Overall, the predicted results of the network are in comparison with actual results. So this
network can be used for prediction of factor of safety for any slope section with all parameters
given.

Fig. 3 (a) Actual Factor of safety and estimated Factor of safety for
61 cases for training of network

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Fig. 3 (b) Actual Factor of safety and estimated Factor of safety for
23 cases for testing of network

TABLE 3 Actual, Predicted And Error In computation of Factor of Safety

TRAINING DATA TESTING DATA
Sl Actual Predicted |Error| Sl No. Actual FOS Predicted |Error|
No. FOS FOS FOS
1 1.110 1.104 0.006 1 1.840 1.652 0.188
2 1.875 1.882 0.007 2 1.530 1.544 0.014
3 2.045 2.043 0.002 3 1.490 1.502 0.012
4 1.780 1.776 0.004 4 1.430 1.004 0.426
5 1.990 1.987 0.003 5 1.340 1.188 0.152
6 1.250 1.291 0.041 6 1.840 2.188 0.348
7 1.020 1.014 0.006 7 1.070 0.550 0.520
8 1.300 1.302 0.002 8 1.290 0.873 0.417
9 1.200 1.199 0.001 9 1.400 0.884 0.516
10 2.000 2.026 0.026 10 1.180 1.072 0.108
11 1.700 1.623 0.077 11 0.970 1.194 0.224
12 1.020 1.028 0.008 12 0.650 1.219 0.569
13 1.110 1.113 0.003 13 1.460 1.034 0.426
14 1.400 1.399 0.001 14 1.210 1.061 0.149
15 1.350 1.335 0.015 15 1.000 1.005 0.005
16 1.030 1.028 0.002 16 0.650 0.873 0.223
17 1.280 1.282 0.002 17 1.120 0.667 0.453
18 1.630 1.623 0.007 18 0.990 0.841 0.149
19 1.090 1.129 0.039 19 1.310 1.324 0.014
20 1.110 1.128 0.018 20 1.490 1.573 0.083
21 1.010 1.017 0.007 21 1.200 1.185 0.015
22 0.625 0.625 0.000 22 1.520 1.573 0.053
23 1.120 1.098 0.022 23 1.200 1.257 0.057
24 1.800 1.803 0.003
25 0.900 0.888 0.012

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26 0.960 0.984 0.024

27 0.830 0.835 0.005
28 2.090 2.090 0.000
29 2.000 1.994 0.006
30 2.310 2.304 0.006
31 2.050 2.044 0.006
32 1.710 1.649 0.061
33 1.490 1.530 0.040
34 1.450 1.440 0.010
35 1.620 1.665 0.045
36 1.200 1.187 0.013
37 1.200 1.200 0.000
38 1.200 1.188 0.012
39 1.200 1.191 0.009
40 1.200 1.188 0.012
41 1.249 1.260 0.011
42 1.150 1.199 0.049
43 1.440 1.424 0.016
44 1.270 1.242 0.028
45 1.300 1.222 0.078
46 1.160 1.216 0.056
47 1.240 1.263 0.023
48 1.245 1.246 0.001
49 1.252 1.238 0.014
50 1.246 1.253 0.007
51 1.434 1.435 0.001
52 1.418 1.426 0.008
53 1.280 1.245 0.035
54 1.370 1.340 0.030
55 1.230 1.287 0.057
56 1.200 1.210 0.010
57 1.150 1.197 0.047
58 1.340 1.339 0.001
59 1.200 1.231 0.031
60 1.550 1.495 0.055
61 1.450 1.433 0.017

Mean Square error = 0.000748 Mean Square error = 0.0848

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 Stability Analysis of a Rock Slope Section using Neural Network

Fig 4. Scatter of actual and predicted factor of safety for training and testing data

4. STABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE SLOPE SECTION

The slope sections taken for stability analysis lie on left bank of Pinder River, along
Karnaprayag-Gwaldam Road, in Chamoli District of Uttrakhand. The section of slope is shown
in figure 5. The slope is 170 m high, have an average slope angle of 38° and dips at an angle of
300° N. The slope section consists of dislodged rock derived from the ancient landslide. As such
it consists of assorted materials ranging from clay to big boulders, which have been obtained
from the adjoining rock exposure. The in-situ rock exposures are expected to be present at
deeper levels.
The slope material has the unit weight of 18 KN/m3, cohesion of 100 KPa, angle of internal
friction of 32° and pore water pressure coefficient of 0.15. The elastic Modulus and poisons ratio
of rock mass is 170 MPa and 0.26. Non-associated dilation is assumed i.e. no volume is changed
during failure.
4.1 Analysis using Neural Network
The slope influencing parameters are normalized using equation 2 and passes through the
network generated by training and testing of 84 slope sections as discussed above. The factor of
safety for the section is shown in Table 4.

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 S. Rukhaiyar and N.K. Samadhiya

Fig. 5 Slope Section taken for study

4.2 Analysis using Limit equilibrium Methods
The Slope is analysed by limit equilibrium method using Geo-Studio 2004 software
commercially available by Geo-slope International Ltd. The Factor of safety for various different
limit equilibrium methods are shown in Table 4.
4.3 Analysis using Numerical methods
The slope is assumed to be continuum and finite element analysis is done. The analysis is
done using Phase2 software commercially available by rocscience Inc. The critical SRF and
maximum shear strain plot is shown in figure 6 and Table 4.
TABLE 4 Factor of safety calculation using different methods
Sl Analysis Method Factor of Safety
No.
1 ANN BPNN 1.323
2 Limit Equilibrium Ordinary / Fellenius 1.234
Method Bishops simplified 1.299
Janbu Simplified 1.230
Spencer 1.294
Morgenstern price 1.295
Lowe-karafiath 1.306
3 Numerical Method Finite Element Method 1.170

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 Stability Analysis of a Rock Slope Section using Neural Network

Fig. 6 Maximum Shear strain plot and critical SRF for slope section
5. CONCLUSION
• A variety of methods are used for slope stability analysis. It is also evident that the slope
parameters are the most influencing factors for stability analysis. The parameters are
stochastic in nature and give rise to nonlinear multivariate problems. Neural network can
be used for prediction of factor of safety for slope sections with sufficient accuracy.
• The slope is analysed for circular failure mechanism. A back propagating neural network
(BPNN) with six input node, one output node and a hidden layer with fourteen neurons is
found to give the most optimum result. Bayesian regularization method was used to
enhance the generalization ability of network. The neural network is developed by training
with the cases of 61rock slopes and tested using cases of 23 slopes from literature. It was
found that after 602 iterations the network predict FOS with sufficient accuracy.
• The neural network developed is used to predict the factor of safety of a slope section in
Garhwal Himalaya. Limit equilibrium and Numerical analysis of slope is also done. It is
found that the predicted results are in comparison to the results from other methods. The
slope section is critically stable, however FOS predicted from ANN is slightly on higher
side as compared to limit equilibrium and Numerical method.
• Neural networks method predicts factor of safety with sufficient precision. This technique
has high efficiency and is very simple and convenient to use. However its accuracy and
flexibility can be further improved using more governing input parameter and more
comprehensive data set.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Authors thanks Mr Anindya Pain, Scientist–C, CBRI-Roorkee for his useful
suggestions. Authors are also thankful to Dr. S. Sarkar and Dr. D.P. Kanungo of CSIR-CBRI for

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 S. Rukhaiyar and N.K. Samadhiya

allowing us to work on the Rocscience software. The authors also express their sincere thanks to
The Head, civil engineering department, IIT Roorkee.
References
Duncan J.M. (1996),“State of the art: limit equilibrium and finite element analysis of slopes”,
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. Vol. 122, pp. 577– 596.
Feng X. T. (1995),“Neural Network Estimation of Slope Stability”, Engineering Geology, Vol.
3(4), pp. 54-61.
Lees B. G. (1996),“Neural networks applications in the geosciences: an introduction”,
Computer and Geosciences, Vol. 22, pp. 955– 957
Nash D. (1987),“A comparative review of limit equilibrium methods of stability analysis”, Slope
Stability for Geotechnical Engineering and Geomorphology. John Wiley & Sons, New
York, pp. 11–75.
The Mathworks, inc.(2011), “Neural network Toolbox User’s guide”.
Sakellariou M. G. and Ferentinou M. D. (2005),“A study of slope stability prediction using
neural networks”, Geotechnical and geological engineering, vol. 23, pp. 419-445.
Wang H.B., Xu W.Y. and Xu R.C. (2005),“slope stability evaluation using back propagation
neural networks”, Engineering Geology, vol. 80, pp 302-315.
Zhou K. and Chen Z. (2009),“Stability prediction of tailing dam slope based on neural network
pattern recognition”, Second international conference on environmental and computer
science, IEEE, pp 380-383.
Zhou C.H., Jun Y. and Haiming C. (2009),“Artificial neural network’s application in intelligent
slop analysis”, Second international conference on intelligent computation technology and
automation, IEEE, pp 306-309.

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 Study of EffectRock
of Bolt Anchorage
Slope StabilityParameters on Rock Slope
and Risk Assessment Stability by FEM
Studies

Study of Effect of Bolt Anchorage Parameters on

Rock Slope Stability by FEM
G. Tiwari1, N.K. Samadhiya2 and A. Pain3
1
M. Tech. Student, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
2
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
3
Scientist, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, India
(e-mail of corresponding author:gauriiitr@gmail.com)

ABSTRACT: The slopes near highway, residential area and along reservoir rim are vulnerable
and require special attention. These slopes are analyzed extensively for potential failure as any
movement in slope cause significant damage to infrastructure and lives residing nearby it. This is
achieved through an extensive investigation and monitoring program, and supported by detailed
numerical modelling studies. In this article an endeavour has been made to study optimization
angle and length of rock bolts for stabalization of rock slopes. Diameter of bolts and distance
from toe of the slope are kept unchanged because of their minor influence on FOS (factor of
safety) of slope, as suggested by some researchers. Numerical Analysis has been done using
Finite element based software PHASE2. The factor of safety of slopes is determined for around
150 cases of reinforced slopes with different lengths, angle of orientation and vertical spacing.
Although more detailed studies are required to assess the effect of anchorage parameters on
slope stability for a wider range of slope and reinforcement types.
1. INTRODUCTION
Stability analysis of soil and rock slopes has been a research problem for civil and mining
engineers for several decades. In civil engineering applications, the slope stability is concerned
with many projects in hilly as well as plain terrains, such as foundations of structures,
transportation routes and underground storages and basements.
The rock masses are generally heterogeneous and anisotropic because of presence of
discontinuities; therefore, the stability analysis of rock slopes has been a challenging task for
engineers. The stability of rock slopes is essentially governed by the joint sets, characteristics of
joint materials, seepage pressure, and depth and steepness of the excavated slope face and its
orientation with respect to the joint sets. Slope design is primarily concerned with the stability of
unstable blocks of rock formed by discontinuities. Several types of slope failures such as plane
failure, wedge failure, circular failure, toppling failure and buckling failure have been
recognized in the past.
For maintaining a stable slope in excavated or natural rock mass against these failures,
stabilization is a good method. Rock anchoring is the most common methods of rock slope
stabilization. Efforts were made earlier for developing appropriate installation steps for rock
anchoring, and these steps are described in the literature (Kliche, 1999; Wyllie, 1999;
Ramamurthy, 2007). Basically, rock anchors are high tensile strength bars or strands pre-
tensioned by anchoring at the end of the borehole within the unstable rock mass (Ramamurthy,
2007). Anchor force as well as anchor orientation both plays an active role in achieving the
required slope stability. There is an optimum anchor orientation which minimizes the required

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 G. Tiwari, N.K. Samadhiya and A. Pain

anchor force.
In this article by a parametric study, an endeavor has been made to study optimization angle
and length of rock bolts for stabalization of rock slopes against planar failure using FEM
approach. The result of this study can be of directive significance for the design and
construction of slope anchorage.
2. NUMERICAL METHOD FOR SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
Numerical models are computer programs that attempt to represent the mechanical response
of a rock mass subjected to a set of initial conditions such as in situ stresses and water levels,
boundary conditions and induced changes such as slope excavation. The result of a numerical
model simulation typically is either equilibrium or collapse. In numerical modeling of
engineering problem, some problems can be represented by an adequate model using a finite
number of well-defined components. The behavior of such components is well known, or can be
independently treated mathematically. The global behavior of the system can be determined
through well- defined inter-relations between individual components.
2.1 Overview of the SSR method
The Shear Strength Reduction technique (Matsui & San, 1992) enables slope factor of safety
to be calculated using numerical modelling methods such as FE analysis. In the approach, FE
analysis is systematically used to search for a stress reduction factor (factor of safety value) that
brings a slope to the very limits of failure. The approach is best explained for slope material of
Mohr-Coulomb strength. The factored or reduced shear strength of a Mohr-Coulomb material is
described by the equation :
c
cf 
SRF …1
 tan  
 f  tan 1  
 SRF  …2
A major advantage of the SSR method is that it does not require a priori assumptions on the
nature of failure mechanisms; it can find a broad range of mechanisms including complex ones.
PHASE2 (Rocscience) uses shear strength reduction method for slope stability analysis.
3. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
A theoretical slope example having the parameters as shown in table 1 has been used for
calculation optimization of anchorage, in respect of structural plane involved failures by finite
element method (FEM). PHASE2, a FEM based software has been used to determine the
optimum anchorage parameters such as the length of the rock bolts and the angle at which they
are installed. The mechanically end anchored bolts of diameter 22 mm and tensile capacity 100
kN have been considered for the present study. According to the FE calculation and orthogonal
analysis carried out by Xiaolin (2011), the effect of bolt anchorage on slopes with stability-
related structural plane is principally determined by the length and installation angle of rock
bolts; in comparison to the diameter of bolt and distance from the toe of slope which have minor
influence on critical SRF. A parametric study is carried out to find out the effects of length and
installation angle on the SRF of the slopes keeping distance from toe and diameter of bolts
constant.

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 Study of Effect of Bolt Anchorage Parameters on Rock Slope Stability by FEM

Table 1 Slope Parameters

Slope Slope Unit Cohe- Angle of Poisson’ Joint Angle of Joint Cohe-
Height Angle weigh sion of shearing s ratio Angle shearing Spacin sion of
(m) (degr- t Rock resistance of (degree resistance g (m) Joint
ees) (kN/ (kPa) rock(φ,degr- ) of joint(φj, (kPa)
m3) ees) degrees)
11.80 50 19.62 25 25 0.3 36.10 35 0.88 1

3.1 Numerical modelling of slope

The numerical model is shown in Fig.1. Plane strain model has been built with 3-nodded
triangular elements. For the joints 4-nodded quadrilateral Goodman elements with zero thickness
are used which simulate shear and normal displacements of interfaces. The Mohr-Coulomb
criterion is taken to describe the elastic-plastic behavior of rock mass. The boundary conditions
considered is fixed in all directions at the bottom boundary, restrained in horizontal direction at
the both sides boundary and slope face was kept free. In the loading step each finite-element is
given both an initial stress and a body force (self-weight). Phase2 determines the ground surface
above the element and automatically determines the stress due to the material above the element.
 H 
The horizontal to vertical stress ratio   is kept as 1.0 (Pal et al., 2012). Matrix-oriented
 V 
solution schemes are common for the finite element method. An implicit method is often used
for solving the equations, in which every element communicates with every other element during
one solution step and several iterations are necessary before compatibility and equilibrium are
obtained. In this study Gaussian Elimination is used for solution of the equations. To reach the
equilibrium user defined energy tolerance is used in this research. These energy tolerance criteria
simply mean that, for a given load step, PHASE2 cease iterations when the energy imbalance of
a current state becomes a small fraction of the initial energy imbalance (energy imbalance on the
first iteration). If this condition is not satisfied during a specified maximum number of iterations,
the solution process is deemed not to have converged. For the current study an energy tolerance
of 0.1% is used.
Two types of numerical modeling are done, one is for slope without reinforcement, the other
is for the slopes with reinforcement. Fig.1 illustrates the FE mesh plot for the unreinforced slope.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Slope without reinforcement
The Fig.2 presents the displacement pattern of the slope without any reinforcement with
displacement contour and deformation vectors. The joints are of daylight type with an angle
lesser than the slope angle. The failure pattern is essentially planar as can be seen from the Fig 2.
The critical SRF value obtained by the analysis is 1.005 merely greater than 1.00, hence needed
to be stabalized.
4.2 Slopes with reinforcement
The bolt which has been considered in the present study reinforced slope is mechanically
end anchored. Table 2 shows the bolt parameters used in the numerical model. An End
Anchored bolt in Phase2 behaves as a single element. Interaction with the finite element mesh is
through the endpoints only. Failure of an End Anchored rock bolt occurs due to tensile yielding

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 G. Tiwari, N.K. Samadhiya and A. Pain

of the bolt material after failure. Since the primary purpose of grouting mechanically anchored
bolts is to prevent corrosion and to lock the mechanical anchor in place, the strength requirement
for the grout is not as important as it is in the case of grouted dowels or cables.

Fig. 1 FE Mesh Plot for Slope in PHASE2

Fig. 2 Deformation vectors in PHASE2

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 Study of Effect of Bolt Anchorage Parameters on Rock Slope Stability by FEM

Table 2: Bolt Parameters

Bolt Type Bolt diameter Tensile strength (kN)
End anchored 22 mm 100 kN

Fig. 3 Displacement pattern of a reinforced slope

4.2.1 Effect of Bolt orientation

The graphs (Fig. 6) show that the optimum installation angle for a bolt is flatter than the
normal to the sliding plane. The optimal installation angles are in between 0-20 degrees form
horizontal i.e. between 30-60 degrees from joint. Results are in good agreement with the
laboratory testing results (Amin et. al., 2004). This can be attributed to the reason that the normal
component of the anchor tension (T sin(ψp + ψT)) is added to the normal force acting on the
sliding plane which counteracts dilation, which has the effect of increasing the shear resistance
to sliding by increasing friction as shown in Fig. 4. Also, the shear component of the anchor
tension (T cos(ψp +ψT)) acting up the sliding plane is subtracted from the driving forces, so the
combined effect of the anchor force is to improve the factor of safety (if (ψp + ψT) < 90◦) as
shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 a) Rock bolt intersecting ajoint (after Amin et. al., 2004)
b) Reinforcement of a slope with tensioned rock bolt( after Wyllie and Mah, 2004)
As can be seen from graphs in Fig. 6 as when the bolts are inclined at about 54 degrees
with horizontal the bolts become perpendicular to joint. As the bolts are getting perpendicular to
the joint the SRF values are almost same for all lengths and vertical spacing considered which
can be attributed to the reason that when the bolts are perpendicular to joint as shown in Fig. 5,

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 G. Tiwari, N.K. Samadhiya and A. Pain

bolt does not experience considerable amount of tensile stress due to absence of significant
yielding and bending of bolt when joint is displaced and hence additional shear resistance from
the bolt is not possible (Spang and Egger, 1990).

Fig. 5 Rock bolt perpendicular to joint (after Amin et al. 2004)

Bolts installed at an angle steeper than the normal to the sliding plane increases shear
resistance negligibly (Haas, 1976), even can be detrimental to stability sometimes (Wyllie and
Mah, 2004) since shear component of the tension, acting down the plane, increases the
magnitude of the displacing force. So in the present study only a slighter greater angle (55
degrees) than the normal to the joint is considered only.
Besides this it can be seen from the graphs in Fig. 6 that there is a particular optimal angle
for a particular length. This optimal angle value is reducing as the length is increasing which is
in good agreement with the results obtained by Xiaolin (2011).
2.2 Effect of vertical spacing
As the vertical spacing is reducing SRF is increasing as it can be shown from graphs in Fig.
7. This can be attributed to the reason that the anchor tension has two components one is
tangential to the joint surface, the other one is normal to the joint surface and thus stabalizes the
slope by two ways. The component tangential to the joint surface will give a direct contribution
to the shear resistance. The component normal to the joint surface will increase the normal stress
acting on the joint and helps to prevent the dilation and thus increasing the frictional strength of
joint. As the rock bolts are increased there will be increment in both components of anchor
tension and hence SRF increases. This increment in SRF value is for all the bolt lengths
considered L=3m, L=4m, L=5m and L=6m and even for all the orientation angles flatter than
normal to the joint.

(a)

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 Study of Effect of Bolt Anchorage Parameters on Rock Slope Stability by FEM

(b) (b)

Fig. 6 SRF vs Bolt orientation for (a) vertical spacing = 0.5m (b) vertical spacing =
1 m (where L = Bolt Length)

Also it can be seen from the graphs (Fig. 7) that when the bolt becomes perpendicular to the
joint the critical SRF value is almost same as that for the unreinforced case for all the lengths
L=3m, L=4m, L=5m and L=6m due to the reason explained above. So it can be predicted from
the graphs (Fig. 7) that vertical spacing have no effect on the SRF value if bolts becomes
perpendicular to the joint plane.

2
Critical SRF

0 spacing = 0.5 m
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
spacing = 1 m
Bolt orientation with horizontal(degrees)
spacing = 1.5 m

(a)

1.505
Critical SRF

spacing= 0.5 m
1.005 spacing= 1 m
0 5 10 15 2025 30 3540 45 5055 60
spacing= 1.5 m
Bolt orientation with horizontal(degrees)

(b)

Fig. 7 Critical SRF vs Bolt orientation with horizontal for (a) bolt length=4 m (b) bolt
length=5 m

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 G. Tiwari, N.K. Samadhiya and A. Pain

4.2.3 Effect of Bolt lengths

It can be seen in graphs (Fig. 6) that for each length of rock bolt there exists a corresponding
optimal installation angle. The longer the bolt higher the critical SRF value. However the SRF
value is not necessarily greater at all the orientation angles for longer bolt lengths. The longer
the rock bolts, the smaller the optimal installation angle as can be seen from graphs and table
both. So for a homogenous rock slope they are inversely proportional to each other. Meanwhile,
the installation angle exhibits an approximate linear relation with FOS before and after reaching
the optimal value. The results are in good agreement with the results obtained by Xiaolin (2011).
Table 3: Optimum Installation angle for different vertical spacing and bolt lengths
Bolt Optimum Installation Optimum Installation Optimum Installation
Length angle (degrees) for angle (degrees) for angle (degrees) for
(m) vertical spacing= 0.5m vertical spacing=1.0m vertical spacing=1.5 m
3 20 10 15
4 15 5 10
5 10 5 10
6 5 0 0
5. CONCLUSIONS:
 It can be seen from graphs that the optimal angle of installation is in between 0°-20°
with the horizontal for all lengths and vertical spacing.
 Bolt angle installed at an angle flatter than the angle normal to joint have better
reinforcing properties.
 The increase in shearing resistance due to perpendicular bolts are very small.
 It should be noted that bolts installed at an angle steeper than the normal to the sliding
plane can be detrimental to stability.
 As the vertical spacing between bolts decreases the critical SRF values increases and
hence stability of slopes increases.
 For each length of rock bolt there exists a corresponding optimal installation angle
which is in inverse proportion to the length of rock bolt.
 In field construction numerical calculation must be made beforehand to determine the
optimal anchorage parameters of slopes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
The Authors thank Mr. Saurav Rukhaiyar, Research scholar, IIT Roorkee for his useful
suggestions. The authors also express their sincere thanks to Mr. Hitesh Upreti & Mr. Surya Dev
Prasad, M.Tech. students, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee.
References:
Amin, M.F.M., Siang, K.K. and Chon, C.H.(2004). “Reinforcement mechanism for rock bolt-A
laboratory investigation”, Kej Awam, Vol. 16(1), June.
Haas, C.J. (1984), “Analysis of rock bolting to prevent shear movement in a fractured ground”,
Mining Engineering, June, pp. 698-704.

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 Study of Effect of Bolt Anchorage Parameters on Rock Slope Stability by FEM

Kliche, A.C. (1999). “ Rock slope stability. Society for Mining Metallurgy”. USA, 1999.
Matsui, T. and San, K.C. (1992). “Finite element slope stability analysis by shear strength
reduction technique”, Soils and Foundations, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 59-70.
Pal, S., Kaynia, A.M., Bhasin, R.K. and Paul, D.K., 2012. Earthquake Stability Analysis of Rock
Slopes:aCase Study. Rock Mech. Rock Eng., 45, 205-215.
Ramamurthy, T. (2007). “Engineering in rocks for slopes, foundation and tunnels”, Prentice
Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, India.
Spang, K. and Egger, P. (1990). “Action of fully grouted bolt in jointed rock mass and factors of
influence” , Rock Mechanics and rock Engineering, V. 23 part 3, pp.201-229.
Wyllie, D.C. and Mah, C.W. (2004). “Rock slope engineering”, Fourth edition. London, Spon
Press.
Xiaolin, W. and Baojian, L. (2011). “Optimization Study on the Effect of Bolt Anchorage on
Slope Stability by FEM”, Advanced Materials Research Vols. 243-249 (2011) pp 3300-3305.

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