Three-dimensional analysis of slopes reinforced with piles

Based on the upper bound of limit analysis, the plane-strain analysis of the slopes reinforced with a row of piles to the 3D case was extended. A 3D rotational failure mechanism was adopted to yield the upper bound of the factor of safety. Parametric studies were carried out to explore the end effects of the slope failures and the effects of the pile location and diameter on the safety of the reinforced slopes. The results demonstrate that the end effects nearly have no effects on the most suitable location of the installed piles but have significant influence on the safety of the slopes. For a slope constrained to a narrow width, the slope becomes more stable owing to the contribution of the end effects. When the slope is reinforced with a row of piles in small space between piles, the effects of group piles are significant for evaluating the safety of slopes. The presented method is more appropriate for assessing the stability of slopes reinforced with piles and can be also utilized in the design of plies stabilizing the unstable slopes.

Pseudo-static stability analysis of rock slopes reinforced by passive bolts using the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion

The stability analysis of passive bolt-reinforced rock slopes under seismic loads is investigated within the framework of the kinematic approach of limit analysis theory.A pseudo-static method is adopted to account for the inertial forces induced in the rock mass by seismic events.The strength properties of the rock material are described by a modified Hoek-Brown strength criterion,whereas the passive bolts are modeled as bar-like inclusions that exhibit only resistance to tensile-compressive forces.Taking advantage of the ability to compute closed-form expressions for the support functions associated with the modified Hoek-Brown strength criterion,a rotational failure mechanism is implemented to derive rigorous lower bound estimates for the amount of reinforcement strength to prevent slope failure.The approach is then applied to investigating the effects of relevant geometry,strength and loading parameters in light of a preliminary parametric study.The accuracy of the approach is assessed by comparison of the lower bound estimates with finite element limit analysis solutions,thus emphasizing the ability of the approach to properly predict the stability conditions and to capture the essential features of deformation localization pattern.Finally,the extension of the approach to account for slipping at the interface between reinforcements and surrounding rock mass is outlined.

Relationship between critical seismic acceleration coefficient and static factor of safety of 3D slopes

Many analytical methods have been adopted to estimate the slope stability by providing various stability numbers,e.g.static safety of factor(static FoS)or the critical seismic acceleration coefficient,while little attention has been given to the relationship between the slope stability numbers and the critical seismic acceleration coefficient.This study aims to investigate the relationship between the static FoS and the critical seismic acceleration coefficient of soil slopes in the framework of the upper-bound limit analysis.Based on the 3D rotational failure mechanism,the critical seismic acceleration coefficient using the pseudo-static method and the static FoS using the strength reduction technique are first determined.Then,the relationship between the static FoS and the critical seismic acceleration coefficient is presented under considering the slope angleβ,the frictional angleφ,and the dimensionless coefficients B/H and c/γH.Finally,a fitting formula between the static FoS and the critical seismic acceleration coefficient is proposed and validated by analytical and numerical results.