Analysis of plane failures in compound slopes

ABSTRACT

Plane failure in rock and soil slopes is usually caused by the intersection of a discontinuity plane with a slope face. This discontinuity can be any one of many different types of faulting, fracturing, bedding, foliation, schistosity, etc. Generally, these discontinuities are weaker than the surrounding intact material and provide a surface along which movement can occur.

When designing a stable slope, it is often desirable to find the worst conditions for a particular slope configuration and base the final design around those conditions. The worst case for most dry slopes usually includes a tension crack at an unknown location. This paper focuses on plane failure analyses of compound slopes using limit equilibrium techniques. It provides new equations to calculate the position of tension cracks in compound slopes.