SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS

GROUP 3

BONITE, ZARINA JOY DI

MANGA, GHILYN M.
GALES, KEN

BSCE 5C
GEOSYNTHETICS IN GEOTHECNICAL ENGINEERING
MTH 1:00-2:30PM

COURSE INSTRUCTOR:
ENGR. KEREN JOY ORILLOSA
NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL SLOPES MAY BE:

1. INFINITE SLOPES

- THE TERM INFINITE SLOPE IS USED TO DESIGNATE A CONSTANT SLOPE OF INFINITE EXTENT

- THE LONG SLOPE OF THE FACE OF A MOUNTAIN

2. FINITE SLOPES

- FINITE SLOPES ARE LIMITED IN EXTENT

- THE SLOPES OF EMBANKMENTS AND EARTH DAMS ARE EXAMPLE OF FINITE SLOPES

SLOPE STABILITY:

- DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTIOM OF EARTH DAMS

- SLOPE FAILURE CAN OFTEN BE CATASTROPHOBIC, INVOLVING THE LOSS OF CONSIDERABLE
PROPERTY AND MANY LIVES.

CAUSES OF SLOPE FAILURE:

- GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
- FORCE DUE TO SEEPAGE WATER
- EROSION OF THE SURFACE OF SLOPES DUE TO FLOWING WATER
- SUDDEN LOWERING OF WATER ADJACENT TO A SLOPE
- FORCES DUE TO EARTHQUAKES

TWO TYPES OF SLOPES OF EARTH

1. Natural slopes

2. Man made slopes

SLOPE STABILITY

IN SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS WE DETERMINE THE FACTOR OF SAFETY AS A RATIO OF RESISTING FORCES
TO DRIVING FORCES

FS = RESISTING/DRIVING

THEORITICALLY, ANY SLOPE WITH FS = 1 WILL FAIL AND FS > 1 WILL NOT FAIL
THE SHEAR STRENGTH OF SOIL IS ASSUMED TO FOLLOW COULOMB’S LAW

FACTOR OF SAFETY

1. FACTOR OF SAFETY WITH RESPECT TO SHEARING STRENGTH

2. FACTOR OF SAFETY WITH RESPECT TO COHESION

3. FACTOR OF SAFETY WITH RESPECT TO HEIGHT

EFFECTS OF WATER ON SOIL STABILITY

 IMPORTANCE OF WATER

Next to gravity, water is the most important factor in slope stability. Water is the key factor in
assessing slope stability

 EFFECTS OF WATER ON COHESIONLESS SOILS

In cohesionless soils, water does not affect the angle of internal friction. The effects of water on
cohesionless soils below nthe water table is to decrease the intergranular (effective) stress between soil
grains, which decreases the frictional shearing resistance.
TYPES OF SLOPE FAILURE

1. PLANE FAILURE

A rock slope undergoes this mode of failure when combinations of discontinuities in the rock
mas frorm blocks or wedges within the rock which are free to move.

2. WEDGE FAILURE

This failure can occur in rock mass with two or more sets of discontinuities whos lines of
intersection are approximately perpendicular to the strike of the slope.

3. TOPPLING FAILURE

This failure occurs when columns of rock, formed by steeply dipping discontinuities in the rock
rotates about an essentially fixed point at or near the base of the slope .

4. ROTATIONAL FAILURE

Transnational and compound slips occure where the form of the failure surface is influenced by
the presence of an adjacent stratum of significantly different strength.