Chart-based slope stability assessment using the Generalized Hoek–Brown criterion

• Published in: International journal of rock mechanics and mining sciences (Oxford, England : 1997) Vol. 64; pp. 210 - 219
• Main Authors: Shen, Jiayi, Karakus, Murat, Xu, Chaoshui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Beta; Buildings. Public works; Charts; Computation methods. Tables. Charts; Disturbances; Exact sciences and technology; Factor of safety; Geotechnics; Hoek–Brown; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Rock; Rock slope; Slope stability; Soil mechanics. Rocks mechanics; Stability; Stability charts; Structural analysis. Stresses; Weighting; Weighting factor; Rock slope; Stability charts; Hoek–Brown; Factor of safety; Weighting factor; Rock mechanics; Theoretical study; Slope stability; Rock mass; Modeling; Hoek-Brown; Safety factor; Weighting; Example; Properties of materials; Application; Computing method; Comparative study
• ISSN: 1365-1609; 1873-4545
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2013.09.002

We present new stability charts for the analysis of rock mass slopes satisfying the Generalized Hoek–Brown (GHB) criterion. Firstly, charts for calculating the factor of safety (FOS) of a slope for a specified slope angle β=45° are proposed. Secondly, a disturbance weighting factor fD is introduced to illustrate the effect of disturbance factor D upon the stability of rock slopes. Thirdly, a slope angle weighting factor fβ is proposed to show the influence of slope angle β on slope stability. Combined with stability charts based on β=45°, the weighting factors fD and fβ allow the calculation of the FOS of a slope assigned various slope angle under different blasting damage and stress relief conditions. The reliability of the proposed charts is tested against numerical solutions. The results show that FOS from the proposed charts exhibits only 3.1% average discrepancy from numerical solutions using 1680 sets of data. The proposed charts are simple and straightforward to use and can be adopted as useful tools for the preliminary rock slope stability analysis. •This paper presents new stability charts for the analysis of rock mass slopes satisfying with the Generalized Hoek–Brown criterion.•The charts can be used to calculate the FOS of slopes from the Hoek–Brown parameters and rock mass properties.•The reliability of the proposed charts is tested against numerical solutions.•FOS from the proposed charts exhibits 3.1 % average discrepancy from numerical solutions using 1680 sets of data.