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INTRODUCTION

What is Slope?
A slope may be an unsupported or supported, inclined surface of some mass like soil mass. Slopes can be natural or man made. These may be above ground level as embankments or below ground level as cuttings. Analysis of stability of slopes is of utmost importance as its failure may lead to loss of lives and great economic losses. Failure of a mass located below the slope is called a slide. It involves downward and outward movement of entire mass of soil that participates in failure. Slides may occur in almost nay conceivable manner slowly or suddenly, with or without apparent provocation.

SLOPE STABILITY
In naturally occurring slopes like along hill slopes and river sides, the forces of gravity tends to move soil from high levels to low levels and the forces that resist this action are on account of the shear strength of the soil/rock. Factors affecting slope stability: (1) Presence of water increases weight and reduces shear strength and hence decreases stability. (2) Weights of man made structures constructed on or near slopes tend to increase the destabilizing forces and slope instability. Causes of failure of Slopes: 1. Gravitational force. 2. Force due to seepage of water. 3. Erosion of the surface of slope due to flowing water. 4. The sudden lowering of water adjacent to the slope. 5. Forces due to earthquakes

Assumptions in Analysis
The analysis of stability of soil consists of two parts:
1)The determination of the most severely stressed internal surface and the magnitude of the shearing stress to which it is subjected. 2)The determination of the shearing strength along this surface. General Consideration and Assumptions in the Analysis : -The stress system is assumed to be two-dimensional. The stresses in direction which is perpendicular to the section of soil mass are taken as zero. -It is assumed that the coulomb equation for shear strength is applicable and the strength parameters c and are known. -Depending upon the method of analysis, some additional assumptions are made regarding the magnitude and distribution of forces along various planes. -The conditions of plastic failure are assumed to be satisfied along the critical surface. In other words, the shearing strains at all points of the critical surface are large enough to mobilize all the available strength.

Landslide(Soil slope failure)

SOME CLASSICAL METHODS

1. Fellenius method 2. Swedish slip circle method 3. Bishops method 4. Janbus method 5. Friction circle method 6. Taylors stability number method 7. Culmanns method 8. Spencers method 9. Morgenstern and price method 10. Bells method

METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF STABILITY OF SLOPE


Theoretical Analysis

--Fellenius Method (The Ordinary Method of Slices)


This method is applicable to soil slopes with both friction and cohesion. In this method, the forces on the sides of the slice are neglected. The normal force on the base of the slice is calculated by summing forces in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the slice. Once the normal force is calculated, moments are summed about the center of the circle to compute the factor of safety.

FINITE EQUILLIBRIUM METHOD


(1)The finite element method (FEM) is more powerful than the limit equilibrium method (LEM) in slope stability analysis since the FEM satisfies the equilibrium at any point in the soil mass (local domain) and the surrounding soil (global domain), while the LEM satisfies the global force or moment equilibrium for the sliding mass only. (2)The need for assumptions in the FEM will be only for the definition of the failure criteria rather than the derivation complication and assumptions in the LEM. The derived factor of safety in the FEM is believed to be more accurate than the LEM in 2D and 3D analysis as well. FEA PACKAGES:-PLAXIS,ABAQUS etc.

PLAXIS Finite Element Program


(1)PLAXIS is a finite element software for soil and rock that has been used by geotechnical engineers and researchers for more than two decades. (2) Different soil models are incorporated in PLAXIS with a versatile library of structural elements. (3) The automated mesh generation tool in the program makes the creation of soil models easy and practical since 6-node as well as 15-node triangular elements are available. The program uses the c- method to calculate the factors of safety of slopes.

FOS from PLAXIS 2D


Dry slope

The c- Method
(1)The c- method is based on the reduction of the shear strength (c) and the tangent of the friction angle ( tan ) of the soil. (2) The parameters are reduced in steps until the soil mass fails. PLAXIS uses a factor to relate the reduction in the parameters during the calculation at any stage with the input parameters according to the following Equation:

SLOPE STABILIZATION
INTRODUCTION

Slope stbilization methods generally reduce driving forces ,increase resisting forces ,or both.Driving forces can be reduced by excavation of material from the appropriate part of the unstable ground and drainage of water to reduce the hydrostatic pressures acting on the unstable zone .Resisting forces can be increased by: 1)Drainage that increases the shear strength of the ground. 2)Elimination of weak strata or other potential failure zones. 3)Building of retaining structures or other supports . 4)Provision of in situ reinforcement of the ground 5)Chemical treatment to increase shear strength of the ground.

VARIOUS METHODS OF SLOPE STABILIZATION

ARE DISCUSSED BELOW:


1)Unloading:By Excavation and Lightweight Fill. 2)Buttressing: It is a technique used to offset or counter the driving forces of a slope by an externally applied force system that increases the resisting force.It may consist of Soil and rock fill and Counterberms.

Rock Buttress used to control unstable slope.

3)Drainage:Off all stabilization techniques considered ,proper water drainage is most important.Drainage reduces destabilizing hydrostatic & seepage forces on a slope as well as the risk of erosion and piping .Various drainage techniques are Surface Drainage,subsurface drainage. 4)Reinforcement:Soil Nailing,Stone Columns.

Soil Nailing For stability

5) Retaining Walls:Retaining walls provide lateral support to vertical slopes of soil. They
retain soil which would otherwise collapse into a more natural shape. The retained soil is sometimes referred to as backfill.The types of retaining wall are Cantilever retaining walls ,Driven Piles,Drilled Shaft Walls ,Tieback Walls.

Tieback Reinforcement

Use of driven piles to stbilize slopes.

Cantilever Type Retaining Wall

CONCLUSION
In practice, different slope stability methods produce different slip surfaces and hence different minimum factors of safety Therefore, It is important to compare the analysis results with field measurements rather than comparing the factors of safety only. The most critical issue in evaluating different analysis methods is the ability of that method to capture the most critical slip surface. For stabilization we generally go for reinforced slopes or retaining walls. These slopes have greater factor of safety than corresponding nonreinforced or unsupported slopes. Although, they decrease the amount of earth work involved the cost is significantly increased due to the addition of these structures.

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