Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp.

353-359 (2003)

353

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF ROCK SLOPES USING BLOCK THEORY

Tien-Kuen Huang*, Jaw-Chern Chen and Chein-Chi Chang

ABSTRACT
The system of discontinuities that transverses a rock mass delimits rock blocks of many sizes, shapes and positions in a surficial excavation. By using the block theory, it is possible to determine the most critical of these isolated masses, which are denoted as key blocks. After identifying the potential key blocks, their shapes and volumes can be computed with the input of the spacing of each discontinuity. In this paper, a sliding equilibrium stability analysis is performed with the friction of each discontinuity, the gravity force, the sliding direction and rock bolt support for the potential key blocks calculated from the study of some typical examples and field cases. Key Words: key block, kinematics, limit equilibrium method, stability analysis, stereographic projection.

I. INTRODUCTION Discontinuities in rocks are very common in rock slope engineering. Since discontinuities are extensive near the earth surface, they frequently intersect each other and divide rock masses into jointed rocks of various shapes and sizes. The instability phenomena of discontinuous rock slopes may be due to rotation, sliding and toppling. Rotational slides mainly occur in closely jointed rock. Sliding motion tends to follow the pre-existing discontinuity plane (s). Toppling conditions are reached when the jointed rock is tall and thin enough so that the gravity vector of the jointed rock falls outside its base. Once the blocky system has been isolated and defined, static or dynamic methods (Lin and Fairhurst, 1988) for stability analysis can be used. Static analysis examines the kinematic mechanism of the sliding or toppling of the block which
*Corresponding author. (Tel: 886-4-22872221 ext. 227; Fax: 886-4-22862857; Email: huang@mail.ce.nchu.edu.tw) T. K. Huang is with the Department of Civil Engineering, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 402, R.O.C. J. C. Chen is with the Water Conservancy Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taichung, Taiwan 408, R.O.C. C. C. Chang is with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD 21250, U.S.A.

has a face exposed on the rock slope. The acting and resistant forces are computed and the equilibrium equations are then solved to determine whether or not the block is stable. The analysis by using the limit equilibrium method, considers the incipience of motion and does not examine the subsequent behavior of the whole system of blocks. On the other hand, dynamic analysis such as the distinct element method (Cundall, 1988), attempts to simulate the behavior of a blocky system in a realistic manner by taking account of discontinuity stiffness, rock block deformation, and progressive failure, etc. Since most occurrences of jointed rocks are near the earths surface in rock slope engineering and if the removable blocks around the surface are restrained, the jointed blocks behind the surficial block will remain in a stable condition and no subsequent behavior of the blocky system needs to be examined. Therefore, the static analysis based on the limit equilibrium method is still an efficient procedure for the stability evaluation of discontinuous rock slopes. As for discontinuous rock slopes, a complete stability analysis should include three parts: (1) generate the geometry of the blocky system isolated by discontinuities and rock slope; (2) find the potential removable blocks and the corresponding sliding modes; and (3) evaluate the stability. Most previous research on the stability problems of discontinuous rock slopes with static analysis was

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Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 3 (2003)

only focused on some subjects, such as generation of a blocky rock mass by Warburton (1983) and Heliot (1988); the determination of sliding modes and safety factors of sliding blocks by Klaus (1968), and Hoek and Bray (1981); the distinction between single and double plane sliding of blocks by Hocking (1976) and Lucas (1980); the assessment of kinematic feasibility, sliding and volumes of blocks through inclined stereographic projection by Priest (1980), through vector analysis by Warburton (1981), or based on graphic theory by Lin and Fairhurst (1988). The block theory developed and continuously extended by Shi et al . (Goodman and Shi, 1985; Mauldon and Goodman, 1990) can be thought of as a comprehensive procedure of static analysis for stability evaluation of discontinuous rock slopes. The power of this block theory lies in simplification from a fairly complicated analysis of discontinuous rock slopes to a step-bystep analysis (Mauldon and Goodman, 1990). This paper describes the principles of block theory in a brief manner to evaluate the stability of discontinuous rock slopes. Detailed fundamentals and proofs can be referred to in the book by Goodman and Shi (1985). Some typical examples and field cases are illustrated to validate the theoretical results by the block theory. It seems that very few applications are conducted for jointed rock stability in a detailed manner. II. BLOCK THEORY 1. Generation of a Block A block is the region of intersection of halfspace formed by the discontinuities that form the block faces. Each discontinuity is described by two parameters: the dip angle and the dip direction . If D is the length perpendicular from the origin to the discontinuity or slope plane, the equation of the discontinuity plane is given by: (sin sin ) X +(sin cos ) Y +(cos ) Z = D (1)

theory. An infinite block (type V) is of no hazard to an excavation. Finite blocks are divided into nonremovable and removable types. A finite block may be non-removable because of its tapered shape (type IV). The other three (III, II, I) are removable blocks. Their stability depends on the orientation of the resultant force, frictional resistance of discontinuities and support implementation, etc. 3. Determination of Removable Blocks The blocks are defined partly by discontinuity and rock slope half-spaces. The discontinuity subset of the half-spaces determines the joint pyramid (JP ). The set of slope half-spaces is designated as the excavation pyramid ( EP ). The block pyramid ( BP ) is then the intersection of the JP and the EP for a particular block: BP = JP EP If the BP is empty ( ), the block is infinite. JP EP = (3) (2)

Whether a finite block is not removable (type IV, tapered) or removable is based on the following conditions. A block is removable if its BP = and JP and becomes non-removable if its BP = and JP = . 4. Failure Modes of Removable Blocks Only removable blocks require for further analysis. There are three failure modes considered. They are lifting (or falling), sliding on a single plane, and sliding on the intersection of two planes. The lifting or falling mode occurs when there are no discontinuities in contact and the sliding direction is along the resultant force. In the case of sliding in a single plane, there will be only one discontinuity in contact and the sliding direction is along the orthogonal projection of the resultant force on that contact plane. As for sliding on the intersection of two planes, there are two discontinuities in contact and the sliding direction is along the intersection of those two planes. A fully kinematic analysis used to determine the sliding direction of the removable blocks has been developed in the block theory. 5. Analysis of Sliding Equilibrium Stability From the kinematic analysis of failure modes for removable blocks, one can obtain the required information for identifying the possible sliding conditions of the removable blocks. If the removable blocks for

A particular block can be created by the intersection of the designated upper or lower half-spaces corresponding to each of the discontinuities. The block corners are calculated as the intersection points of three different planes. Only a few corners which are real actually belong to the considered block. In computing the volume of any type of block, it can be subdivided into tetrahedra and then can be made of the common formula with vector analysis. 2. Types of Blocks There are five types of blocks in the block

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Table 1 Joint and slope orientations of worked example Plane 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Joint) (Joint) (Joint) (Joint) (Joint) (Non- overhanging slope) (Overhanging slope) Dip, (deg) 65 42 50 39 82 80 30 Dip direction, (deg) 353 305 45 153 179 292 40

Plane 1
3

011
23 2 0 S 12 10

010 001 000 110 101 Plane 2 111 Slope 6

Fig. 1 Stereographic projection of plane 1, 2, 3 and 6 of worked example Fig. 2 80

13

011 Plane 3
70 60 50 40 30

20

Sliding equilibrium regions and contours of friction of JP001 of worked example

III. WORKED EXAMPLE The computational procedure of the block theory is demonstrated with a worked example. To provide comparison with previous work, the illustration is based on the example chosen by Priest (1980), which involves five discontinuity planes for defining ten tetrahedra. Two types of free surfaces are considered, which are non-overhanging and overhanging respectively. The dip angles and dip directions of all the discontinuity planes and free surfaces are listed in Table 1. The blocks are under gravity load only. First, the removable block with a designated JP code number corresponding to each type of tetrahedron by discontinuity planes and free surface can be determined through stereographic projection. Fig. 1 shows the results of the stereographic projection of the discontinuity planes 1, 2, 3 and a non-overhanging face 6 with a lower focus projection. The only removable block is JP with code number 001 inside the circle 6. The result of sliding equilibrium regions corresponding to JP001 is presented in Fig. 2. It can be seen that

a given rock slope do not have any failure mode, they will be stable and safe. An innovative approach to combining the kinematic conditions and stability analysis of the sliding equilibrium for removable blocks is developed in the block theory through the construction of sliding equilibrium regions of stereographic projection. In the sliding equilibrium region for each of the removable blocks, its stereographic projection is obtained from the designated half-spaces of discontinuity planes with the inclusion of three failure modes. Within the region of each removable block, the contours of different friction angles of the discontinuities are also constructed to provide the friction to stabilize the removable block. In the projection, five symbols +, 0, i , ij and S represent respectively the resultant force projection, the region of lifting (or falling), the region of sliding on plane i, the region of sliding on the intersection of planes i and j and the safe region.

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Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 3 (2003)

Table 2 Summary of tetrahedral blocks under a non-overhanging slope ( =80 , =292 ) Planes defining tetrahedra 123 124 125 134 135 145 234 235 245 345 Removable JP code no. 001 101 101 010 010 010 011 011 010 101 Sliding plane(s) 2 1 and 2 1 and 2 none 1 and 5 1 and 5 2 2 2 and 5 none Min. friction to stabilize (deg) 42.0 29.6 29.6 2.9 2.9 42.0 42.0 24.4

Table 3 Summary of tetrahedral blocks under an overhanging slope ( =30 , =40 ) Planes defining tetrahedra 123 124 125 134 135 145 234 235 245 345

Removable JP code no. 001 101 101 111 111 110 111 111 110 010

Sliding plane(s) 2 1 and 2 1 and 2 0 0 5 0 0 5 3 and 5

Min. friction to stabilize (deg) 65.0 29.6 29.6 82.0 82.0 23.6

: falling mode

001 Plane 3 000 011 111 010 100 101

Plane 4
12 1 2

Plane 1
13
80 70 60

23

110 Slope 7

50 40 30

20

10

Fig. 3

Stereographic projection of planes 1, 3, 4 and 7 of worked example

Fig. 4

Sliding equilibrium regions and contours of friction of JP111 of worked example

JP001 slides along plane 2 (the symbol + inside region 2) and a minimum value of friction, over 40 degrees, is needed to stabilize the removable block. Other computational results concerning the discontinuous planes 1, 3, 4 and an overhanging face, 7, are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. JP111 is the only removable block and its sliding mode is falling. Friction does not have any effect in the prevention of falling because there are no discontinuities in contact. The other removable tetrahedra by any three discontinuity planes and the non-overhanging face 6 or overhanging face 7 can be obtained in a similar manner. The results are summarized in Tables 2 and 3, in which the corresponding sliding plane(s) and the least friction angles to keep the removable blocks stable are also included. When compared with the work by Priest (1980), the sliding mode and direction corresponding to each of the tetrahedra are the same as those obtained from the block theory. But more engineering information such as the precise description

of removable blocks and minimum friction angles required to prevent the movement of the potential removable blocks are easily examined and provided in the analysis of the block theory. IV. FIELD CASES In the following, two field cases are studied to validate the practical applicability of the theoretical results by the block theory. The in-situ discontinuous rock slope is located on the side of a country road in the central part of Taiwan. The discontinuity conditions of rock mass and the surficial excavation for the first case studied are listed in Table 4 after field investigation. The principal joint sets are characterized through the measuring of many joints and then determined from the clustering of joint orientations in the stereographic projection. The bedding system is laminated by sand and shale layers of different

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Table 4 Joint and slope information of field cases Plane 1 (Joint) 2 (Joint) 3 (Bedding) 4 (Slope) Dip, (deg) 60 70 40 70 Dip direction, (deg) 300 25 145 315 Friction angle, (deg) 30 30 15-30 Spacing, m 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.25 0.1-0.5

Plane 4

70 80

60

Plane 1 101 001

50 0 1 2 30 12 13 R1
Plane 2 110 Plane 3

40

011 000 010 100

20 3

S 23 10

111

Fig. 5 Stereographic projection of field case one Fig. 6 Sliding equilibrium regions and contours of friction of JP001 of field case one

thickness and extends with an orientation of dip direction of 145 from the north and dip angle of 40 . Two types of joint planes are developed in the bedding with a spacing of 50 cm in sand layer and a spacing of 10 cm in shale layers, while 10-25 cm spacing is found in the joint planes. The other case is near the site of the former one on the same route but the orientation of surficial excavation is shifted for complying with the local morphology. The dip angle and dip direction for case two are 80 and 35 , respectively. In the former case, Figs. 5 and 6 show the analyzed results in which JP001 is the only removable block and its sliding direction is along the intersection of the planes 1 and 2, and a higher friction angle of approximately 50 degree is required to constrain the removable block (JP 001) if no artificial support is provided. Fig. 7 shows the wedge failure of this case in the field. It can be clearly seen that much more blocks with tetrahedron shapes slide in sand layer along the intersection of the two joint planes. Considering the maximum removable block JP001 with the spacing of joint 1, joint 2 and bedding 3 being 0.20m, 0.25m and 0.50m respectively, the volume is computed as 0.172 m 3. The gravity weight is about 464 kg. With the provision of rock bolt of 10mm in diameter installed along the normal direction of both sliding planes, the allowable shear

strength for each rock bolt is about 879 kg (=0.4.2800. (1) 2. 3.14/4). The new orientation of the resultant can be obtained and plotted on the stereographic projection as R1 in Fig. 6. It can be seen that the removable block JP001 will stand safely after implementing the rock bolt even without the provision of joint friction. As for the latter case, the stereographic projections of the discontinuity and surficial planes are shown in Fig. 8. The only type of removable block is JP 101 which is inside the surficial surface 4. Following the same procedure as in the analysis of the former case, we can construct the sliding equilibrium regions of the block JP101 (see Fig. 9) in which the sliding mode is along the joint plane 2, and an approximate friction angle value of 70 is needed to stabilize the removable block if no artificial support is provided. Fig. 10 shows the sliding in this case along plane 2 with a higher dip angle. In a similar manner, the maximum removable block can be obtained with the maximum spacing of discontinuities. Its volume and weight are 0.265 m 3 and 716 kg respectively. A rock bolt of 10mm in diameter is installed along the normal direction of the sliding plane. The new orientation of the resultant combined with the allowable

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Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 3 (2003)

13 50 1 0 12 2 S 70 60 80

40

30

Fig. 7 Wedge failure of field case one

3 20 23 10

Plane 1 001 011

101

R2

Fig. 9
Plane 2

Sliding equilibrium regions and contours of friction of JP101 of field case two

000 100 010 110 111 Plane 3 Slope 4

Fig. 8 Stereographic projection of field case two

shear strength can be obtained and plotted on the stereographic projection as R2 in Fig. 9. The removable block JP101 becomes stable, as in case one, after installing the rock bolt. V. CONCLUSIONS D In this paper the principles and procedures of the block theory are described in a brief manner. Very common cases of rock slope with two joint planes, one bedding and a surficial excavation are introduced in the example problems and field case studies. In the block theory, the removable blocks can be precisely examined and predetermined. Only removable blocks require further analysis. Through a kinematic analysis the sliding mode is obtained. Then either potential blocks with suitable frictional resistance or unstable blocks required artificial support are calculated sequentially. The illustrations of worked example and field cases validate the theoretical results by the block theory. More engineering information from the computation of block theory can provide valuable references in the design of discontinuous rock slopes. NOMENCLATURE BP block pyramid EP JP

Fig. 10 Single plane sliding of field case two

perpendicular length from the origin to discontinuity excavation pyramid joint pyramid dip angle dip direction REFERENCES

Cundall, P. A., 1988, Formulation of a Three Dimensional Distinct Element Model - Part I. A Scheme to Detect and Represent Contacts in a System Composed of Many Polyhedral Blocks, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science , Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 107-116. Goodman, R. E., and Shi, G. H., 1985, Block Theory and Its Application to Rock Engineering, Prentice -Hall, New Jersey, p. 338. Heliot, D., 1988, Generating a Blocky Rock Mass, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science , Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 127-138. Hocking, G. A., 1976, A Method for Distinguishing

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between Single and Double Plane Sliding of Tetrahedral Wedges, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science, Vol. 13, No. 7, pp. 225-226. Hoek, E., and Bray, J. W., 1981, Rock Slope Engineering, Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, p. 358. Klaus, W. J., 1968, Graphical Stability Analysis of Slope in Jointed Rock, Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 94, No. 2, pp. 497-526. Lin, D., and Fairhurst, C., 1988, Static Analysis of the Stability of Three-Dimensional Blocky Systems around Excavations in Rock, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science , Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 139-147. Lucas, J. M, 1980, A General Stereographic Method for Determining the Possible Mode of Failure of any Tetrahedral Rock Wedge, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science , Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 57-61. Mauldon, M., and Goodman, R. E., 1990, Rotational Kinematics and Equilibrium of Blocks in a Rock

Mass, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 291-300. Priest, S. D., 1980, The Use of Inclined Hemisphere Projection Methods for the Determination of Kinematic Feasibility, Slide Direction and Volume of Rock Blocks, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science , Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1-23. Warburton, P. M., 1981, Vector Stability Analysis of an Arbitrary Polyhedral Rock Block with any Number of Free Faces, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 415-427. Warburton, P. M., 1983, Application of a New Computer Mode for Reconstructing Blocky Rock Geometry, Analyzing Single Block Stability and Identifying Keystones, Proceedings of 5th International Congress on Rock Mechanics , Meibourne, Balkema, Rotterdam, F225-230. Manuscript Received: Jan. 25, 2002 Revision Received: Nov. 03, 2002 and Accepted: Dec. 22, 2002