Slope Stability – Mechanics of

Limit Equilibrium Procedures (2)

Advanced Soil Mechanics II

By
Dr. Manal Salem
Single free body procedures
 Infinite slope procedure
 Swedish circle / =0 Method
 Logarithmic spiral procedure

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Logarithmic spiral method
 Logarithmic spiral slip surface

where d = developed friction

angle. Note:  > 0, c >0
 Stresses along slip surface
consist of  and 
Duncan and Wright (2005)

 Radius extended from center of spiral to a point on slip

surface intersects slip surface at angle d to the normal
the resultant forces produced by  and tand act
along a line passing through center of spiral forces on
slip surface producing moment about center of spiral are
only due to developed cohesion (cd) 3

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Logarithmic spiral method
 M about spiral center = 0
Moments due to:
1. Weight of sliding mass
2. Mobilized/developed cohesion
(cd = c/F)
3. Pore water pressure (if any) Duncan and Wright (2005)

 “F” is the only unknown statically determinate

problem for an assumed slip surface with specific
logarithmic spiral shape
 Similar to Swedish method, procedure explicitly satisfies
moment equilibrium, and implicitly satisfies complete
force equilibrium relatively accurate procedure
because it satisfies complete equilibrium 4

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Easy to use and provide rapid analysis for slope stability
 Averaging shear strength parameters:

i
i   i
i i

Where:
i = central angle of arc # i (degrees)
ci, i, (su)i: shear strength parameters in zone of arc # i
cav, av, (su)av: average shear strength parameters along critical
slip surface
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Averaging unit weights:

Where:
hi: thickness of layer # i
i: unit weight of layer # i
av: average unit weight

Notes:
In case of no GWT: use bulk unit weight
In case of submerged slope: use submerged unit weight
In case of partially submerged slope: calculate av using bulk unit
weight above GWT and submerged unit weight below GWT
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0: (Appendix Page 266)
 Homogeneous slopes
 Slopes steeper than ~ 45o toe circle
 Slopes flatter than ~ 45o failure surface extends below toe
deep circle depth factor = d = D/H, where D is the
depth from the toe of slope to lowest point on slip surface
 Failure surface entirely above toe slope circle

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0:
 Steps:
1. Select range of depths for possible critical circles to be
investigated
 If water outside slope circle above water may be
critical
 If weak layer below strong layer critical circle may
extend to lower weaker layer
 If strong layer below weak layer critical circle may
be tangent to top of strong layer
2. Calculate depth factor d. If the circle being analyzed is
entirely above the toe, its point of intersection with the slope
should be taken as an adjusted toe and all dimensions (D, H,
and Hw) should be adjusted accordingly
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –
 = 0:
 Steps:
3. Find center of
critical circle
(assumed trial
surface), then
draw this circle
to scale on the
slope

After Janbu (1968)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0:
 Steps:
4. Calculate the average value of strength c (c = su)
5. Calculate the quantity Pd:

Where:
 = average unit weight of soil
q = surcharge (if any)
Hw = height of external water level above toe (if any)
q, w, t = adjustment factors for surcharge, submergence,
and tension crack, respectively (charts)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0:

After Janbu (1968)

 If no surcharge, q = 1
 If no external water above toe, w = 1
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0:
 Depth of tension crack:
2c
Ht 

 tan(45  )
2

 If no tension cracks,
t = 1

After Janbu (1968)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  = 0:
 Steps:
6. Determine the stability number, No, which depends on  and d
7. Calculate factor of safety “F”:
F = Noc/Pd

After Janbu (1968)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  > 0: (Appendix Page 270)
 Steps:
1. Estimate the location of the critical circle
 For slopes in uniform soils, mostly, critical circle passes
through the toe of slope
 If water outside slope critical circle may pass above
the water
 If weak layer below strong layer critical circle may be
tangent to base of weaker lower layer
 If strong layer below weak layer critical circle may be
tangent to base of either layer

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  > 0:
 Steps:
2. Calculate Pd [same for Janbu (1968),  = 0]:

If the circle being analyzed is entirely above the toe, its point
of intersection with the slope should be taken as an adjusted
toe for the calculation of H and Hw
3. Calculate Pe:

where Hw’ is the height of water within the slope, and w’ is
seepage correction factor (same chart for Janbu (1968),  = 0)
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  > 0:
 Steps:
 Hw’ is the average level of piezometric surface within the
slope. For steady seepage conditions, Hw’ is related to
position of phereatic surface below crest of slope (chart).
 If circle being investigated passes
above the toe of slope, Hw’ is
measured relative to adjusted toe.
 If no seepage, w’ = 1.
 If no surcharge, q = 1.
 In total stress analysis, internal
pore water pressure is not
considered, thus, Hw’ = 0 and
w’ = 1 in Pe After Duncan et al. (1987) 16

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  > 0:
 Steps:
4. Calculate dimensionless parameter c

where c and  are average shear strength

parameters. Note that steps 4 and 5 are
iterative. On the first iteration, average values
of c and  are assumed
5. Determine the center co-ordinates of the circle
being investigated (chart: slope ratio b = cot ),
then draw this circle to scale on the slope and
calculate the average shear strength
parameters. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until c After Janbu (1968)
becomes constant 17

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Stability charts
 Janbu (1968) –  > 0:
 Steps:
6. Determine the value of stability number, Ncf, which depends on
 and c (chart)

7. Calculate factor of safety “F”:

After Janbu (1968)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Procedures of slices
 Circular slip surfaces
 Ordinary method of slices
 Simplified Bishop procedure

 Noncircular slip surfaces

 Forces equilibrium (only) procedures
1. Lowe and Karafiath
2. Simplified Janbu
3. Modified Swedish method
 Complete equilibrium procedures
1. Spencer’s procedure
2. Morgenstern and Price procedure

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Procedures of slices - General
 Can analyze all soil types, non homogeneous slopes, and
any failure surface (not only infinite or curved)
 Soil mass above slip surface is subdivided into vertical
slices
 Number of slices depends on slope geometry and soil
profile

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Procedures of slices: Circular slip surfaces
 Consider equilibrium of moments about center of circle
 Overturning moment, Md:
Md =  Wi ai
where Wi is the weight of ith slice, and ai is the horizontal
distance between center of circle and center (mid width is a
reasonable approximation) of slice i

Md = r  Wi sini
i (+ve)
where ai = r sini i (-ve)

Note the sign convention of i

(Figure)

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Procedures of slices: Circular slip surfaces
 Resisting moment (Mr) is provided by shear stress () on
base of each slice. Normal stress () on base of each slice
passes through center of circle, thus produces no moment
Mr = r  Si
where Si is the shear force on the base of ith slice, which equals the
product of the shear stress () and the area of the slice base (li . 1)
Si = i li = (si/F) li
where si is shear strength (c + 
tan, and “F” is factor of safety
Mr = r  (si/F) li
 Equating resisting and driving
moments:
(c   tan  )l
F li
 W sin  22

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Ordinary method of slices
 Neglects the forces on the sides of slice
 Only satisfies moment equilibrium
 Normal force on base of slice N = W cos
 Normal stress on base of slice W cos/l
 Total stress analysis:

(c   tan  )l

F
 W sin 

(cl  W cos  tan  )

F
 W sin 

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Ordinary method of slices
 Effective stress analysis:
(c '   ' tan  ' )l
F
 W sin 
W cos 
 
'
u
l
[c ' l  (W cos   ul ) tan  ' ]
F
 W sin 
Expression for “F” in terms of effective stresses may lead to
unrealistically low values for effective stresses on slip surface as
pore water pressures become larger and slip surface becomes
steeper (large ) (ex. page 66). This happens mainly due to
neglecting shear forces on sides of slices and there is nothing to
counteract pore water pressure
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Ordinary method of slices
 Effective stress analysis:
[c ' l  (W cos   ul ) tan  ' ]
F
 W sin 
To overcome this problem:
N’ = W’ cos
W’ = W - u b, where u b represents the uplift
force due to pore water pressure on bottom of
slice (note: u is integrated on “b” instead of “l”)
b = l cos
N’ = W cos – u l cos2
W cos 
'   u cos 2 
l
[c ' l  (W cos   ul cos 2  ) tan  ' ]
F
 W sin  25

Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Ordinary method of slices
 Sample table for manual calculations using the Ordinary
method of slices and effective stresses

[c ' l  (W cos   ul cos 2  ) tan  ' ]

F
 W sin 
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Ordinary method of slices - Notes
 Assumes circular slip surface
 Sums moment about center of circle
 Satisfies only moment equilibrium
 Factor of safety is calculated directly for assumed slip
surface, without iterations convenient for hand
calculations
 Less accurate compared to other procedures of slices,
especially for effective stress analysis as the pore water
pressure increases
 No. of equilibrium equations: “1” moment about center
of circle
 No. of unknowns solved for: “1” factor of safety
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Simplified Bishop procedure
 Assumes circular slip surface and horizontal forces
between slices (no shear stresses between slices)
 Moment equilibrium about center of circle and force
equilibrium in the vertical direction are satisfied
 Equilibrium equation for forces in the vertical direction:
N cos + S sin – W = 0 (+ve for upward direction)....(1)
S =  l = (s l)/F (s = shear strength)
 Effective stress analysis:
1
 
S  c '   ' tan  ' l
F
1 N 
S  c '  (  u ) tan  '  l
F l 

1
 
S  c ' l  ( N  ul ) tan  '
F
………(2)
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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Simplified Bishop procedure
 Effective stress analysis:
Combining equations (1) and (2):

W  (1 / F )(c ' l  ul tan  ' ) sin 

N
cos   (sin  tan  ' ) / F
N
  u
'

l
Combining expressions of N and ’ with equation of
moment equilibrium about center of circle (used for
Ordinary method of slices):

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Simplified Bishop procedure
 Total stress analysis:
Use c and  instead of c’ and ’ and set pore water pore
water pressure term (u) to zero

 Notes:
 Requires iterations for each trial slip surface, relatively
complicated for hand calculation
 More accurate when compared to Ordinary method of slices ,
especially for effective stress analyses with high pore water
pressures

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability

Simplified Bishop procedure
 Notes:
 No. of equilibrium equations satisfied:
“1” moment equilibrium about center of circle
“n” force equilibrium in vertical direction
Total No. of equilibrium equations = n+1
 No. of unknowns solved for:
“1” factor of safety
“n” normal force on base of slices “N”
Total no. of unknowns = n+1

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Dr. Manal Salem – Slope Stability