FGE-II-Lecture 5 AB

CHAPTER -
FIVE
SOIL SLOPE
STABILITY
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LECTURE-
05
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INTRODUCTION
The term slope as used in here refers to any

natural or man made earth mass, whose surface
forms an angle with the horizontal.
The slope can be man made or natural slope
Hills and mountains, river banks, etc.
are common examples of natural slopes.
Examples of man made slopes include
fills, such as embankments, earth dams,
levees; or
cuts, such as highway and railway cuts,
canal 3
banks, foundations excavations and trenches.

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 Natural forces (wind, rain, earthquake, etc.)
change the natural topography often
creating unstable slopes. Failure of natural
slopes (landslides) and man made slopes
have resulted in much death and
destruction.
In assessing the stability of slopes,
geotechnical engineers have to pay particular
attention to geology, drainage, groundwater,
and the shear strength of the soils.
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Infinite and Finite Slopes
 The slopes whether natural or artificial may be
1. Infinite slopes
2. Finite slopes
 The term infinite slope is used to designate a
constant slope of infinite extent.
 The long slope of the face of a mountain is an
example of this type, whereas finite slopes are
limited in extent.
 The slopes of embankments and earth dams are
examples of finite slopes.
 The slope length depends on the height of the dam
or embankment.
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Slope failures depend on:
 the soil type
 soil stratification
 groundwater and
 the slope geometry.
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Cause of Slope Failure
The slope failure is caused by several human activities as

well as natural factors. Some of the major causes are
defined briefly as follows:
1. Earthquake: Earthquake is the major cause of slope
failure and instabilities in soil. In the action of the
earthquake, the slope is subjected to the vertical and
horizontal forces that result in stresses in the slope.
Earthquakes have dynamic forces which accordingly
decrease the shear strength and bearing of the soil makes
it too liable to fail
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1.Rainfall: Another major cause of slope failure is
rainfall. Heavy rainfall occurs for a period of time
which softens the soil and makes it liable to erosion.
The rainwater enters the cracks and reduces the
strength(bearing capacity) of soil which may cause
slope failure.
2.Erosion: Erosion is the process by which soil
particles get eroded by wind and rainwater etc. The
erosion of the soil particles develops changes in the
geometry of the slope that results in slope failure. The
utmost condition, it may also lead to landslides.
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1.Construction Work: The construction
activities are carried out near the toe of the existing
slope which eliminates the resistance that causes
slope failure.
2.Geological characteristics: Some of the
major and unidentified geological characteristics
can cause landslides (slope failure).
3.External loading: The various types of loads that
are imposed on the top of the surface (slope) add
additional load to the gravitational load and this causes
slope failure
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Planar Failure
 Soils such as gravel and sand are collectively
referred to as granular soils and normally exhibit
only a frictional component of strength.
 A potential slip surface in a slope of granular material
will be planar and the analysis of the slope is
relatively simple.
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Seepage
Forces
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Examp
le
An infinitely long slope is resting on a rock formation with
the same inclination. The height of the slope is 3.2
m.
Determine
a) the factor of safety
b)the modified shear stress developed on the sliding
surface.
s=250, =17.5 kN/m 3 , c’ = 12 kPa and ’=200.
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Planar translational
Slips
•Translation failure occurs in the case of infinite
slopes and here the failure surface is parallel to
the slope surface.
•As said above, when the soil along the slope has
similar properties up to a certain depth and soil
below this layer is strong or hard stratum, the
week topsoil will form a parallel slip surface
when failed
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Rotational failures
Failures in slopes made from soils that possess

both cohesive and frictional strength
components tend to be rotational, the actual
slip surface approximating to the arc of a circle.
A common type of failure in homogeneous
fine-grained soils is a rotational slide that has
its point of rotation on an imaginary axis
parallel to the slope.
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Wedge Failure
 Wedge failure, also known as block failure or
plane failure, generates a failure plane that is
inclined.
 This type of failure occurs when there are
fissures, joints, or weak soil layers in slope, or
when a slope is made of two different materials
 It is more similar to translational failure but the
difference is that translational failure only occurs
in case of infinite slopes but wedge failure can
occur in both infinite and finite slopes.
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Total stress
analysis referred to as an undrained
 This
analysis, analysis,
is intended to give the stability of an
also
embankment or cutting immediately after its
construction.
 At this stage it is assumed that the soil in the slope
has had no time to drain (i.e. the soil is considered to
be in an undrained state) and the strength parameter
used in the analysis is the undrained cohesion which
is found from either the unconfined compression test
or an undrained triaxial test without pore pressure
measurements.
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The Swedish method of slices analysis
 A more accurate assessment of the factor of safety can
be gained using this method (also known as the
Fellenius method).
 In this method the sliding section is divided into a
suitable number of vertical slices, the stability of one
such slice being considered in Fig. 13.11 (the lateral
reactions on the two vertical sides of the wedge, L1and
L2, are assumed to be equal).
 By analyzing the equilibrium of each slice and then
adding up the totals for all slices, we can establish the
factor of safety of the slope.
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i
(c'l  (W cos ul)

n
i

i1
FS tan')in


i (W
1
sin )i
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Slope stability design charts
 Design charts offer a means of rapidly determining
an approximate factor of safety of a homogeneous,
regular slope.
 It can be shown that for two similar slopes
made
from two different soils the ratio cm/ γ H is the same
for each slope provided that the two soils have
the same angle of shearing resistance. The ratio
cm/ γ H is known as the stability number and is
given the symbol N, where cm= mobilised cohesion,
γ = unit weight of soil, and H = vertical height of
slope. 37
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Taylor’s curves for β < 53° and φ′ ≠0

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Taylor’s curves for φ = 0° and β < 53°
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CHAPTER -

The term slope as used in here refers to any

banks, foundations excavations and trenches.

The slope failure is caused by several human activities as

Failures in slopes made from soils that possess

(c'l  (W cos ul)

Taylor’s curves for β < 53° and φ′ ≠0

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