Upper bound solutions of stability factor of shallow tunnels in saturated soil based on strength reduction technique

Based on the upper bound theorem of limit analysis,the factor of safety for shallow tunnel in saturated soil is calculated in conjunction with the strength reduction technique.To analyze the influence of the pore pressure on the factor of safety for shallow tunnel,the power of pore pressure is regarded as a power of external force in the energy calculation.Using the rigid multiple-block failure mechanism,the objective function for the factor of safety is constructed and the optimal solutions are derived by employing the sequential quadratic programming.According to the results of optimization calculation,the factor of safety of shallow tunnel for different pore pressure coefficients and variational groundwater tables are obtained.The parameter analysis shows that the pore pressure coefficient and the location of the groundwater table have significant influence on the factor of safety for shallow tunnel.

Finite element analyses of slope stability problems using non-associated plasticity

In recent years, finite element analyses have increasingly been utilized for slope stability problems. In comparison to limit equilibrium methods, numerical analyses do not require any definition of the failure mechanism a priori and enable the determination of the safety level more accurately. The paper compares the performances of strength reduction finite element analysis(SRFEA) with finite element limit analysis(FELA), whereby the focus is related to non-associated plasticity. Displacement-based finite element analyses using a strength reduction technique suffer from numerical instabilities when using non-associated plasticity, especially when dealing with high friction angles but moderate dilatancy angles. The FELA on the other hand provides rigorous upper and lower bounds of the factor of safety(FoS) but is restricted to associated flow rules. Suggestions to overcome this problem, proposed by Davis(1968), lead to conservative FoSs; therefore, an enhanced procedure has been investigated. When using the modified approach, both the SRFEA and the FELA provide very similar results. Further studies highlight the advantages of using an adaptive mesh refinement to determine FoSs. Additionally, it is shown that the initial stress field does not affect the FoS when using a Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.

Research on stability of a slope due to underground mining

This paper will present a detailed analysis of the deformation mechanism and stability assessment of the slope through field investigations, numerical modeling and measurements. Field investigation indicated that three thin coal seams encountered large mined-out area at one side and free surface of hill slope at the other side, which lead to the caving of roof strata movement, ground movement and crown crack along the preferred orientations of joints. The three-dimensional numeri- cal modeling study on the case demonstrated that the plasticity failure occurred gradually along with the extension of mined-out area in depth. When the depth of mining reached the verge defined by the seismic prospecting method, a large mount of tension failure occurred on the crown of the slope. The factor of safety was 1.36 calculated by the shear strength reduction technique, which indicated the slope was in stable state. The measurement showed that the residual deformation occurred before 1998 and became stable subsequently, which indicated that the residual deformation almost finished and the slope is in stable state.