Stability Assessment of Multi-Stage Slopes Considering Local Failure

• Published in: Frontiers in earth science (Lausanne) Vol. 10
• Main Authors: Wu, Haochen, Sun, Miaojun, Wang, Jinnan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 20.06.2022
• Subjects: local failure; modified pseudo-dynamic approach; multi-stage slope; overall failure; seismic effect
• ISSN: 2296-6463; 2296-6463
• DOI: 10.3389/feart.2022.798791

The analytical method for slope stability analysis requires a collapse mechanism in advance. The collapse mechanism for a multi-staged slope is generally assumed to be overall failure, whereas this kind of slope may suffer from local failure. However, a local failure is rarely reported in the previous research for multi-staged slopes, which may result in an overestimate for slope stability. To this end, local failure is incorporated into the collapse mechanism for the first time, so as to develop a complete approach to assess the stability of multi-stage slopes. The modified pseudo-dynamic method is conducted to properly account for seismic effects. Thanks to the limit analysis method and strength reduction technique, the safety factor of a multi-stage slope is obtained. The result obtained by the presented approach shows a good agreement with that of previous literature and numerical calculations. The collapse mechanism of multi-stage slopes is studied, and the safety factor is presented schematically for a wide range of parameters. The results show that the local failure for a multi-stage slope often manifests under the intense seismic effects.