Shakedown analysis of a slope with cyclic groundwater level

Abstract Groundwater levels vary with precipitation and other environmental impacts, rendering wetting and drying cycles in parts of a slope. It may be quite disadvantageous, as groundwater has been implicated as a crucial controlling factor in slope stability. The wetting–drying cycles can be considered as cyclic loads for the slope. In such cases, a shakedown analysis is appropriate for the long‐term safety evaluation. This paper presents an upper bound shakedown analysis method based on strong version of Koiter's theorem to evaluate slope stability. An element integration method is employed to provide limit and shakedown safety factors for the slope. For plane slip surfaces or logarithmic spiral slip surfaces, the validity of the method is verified by two documented examples. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.