Slope Stability Analysis of the Earth Rockfill Dam Based on the Strength Reduction Method

In the traditional slope stability analysis of the earth rockfill dam,simplified Bishop method or Swedenarc method is usually used to calculate separately the slide safety coefficient of the upper and downstream slope,then the slope stability is evaluated according to code.The effective stress principle is applied and seepage field considered as the initial stress is imported into analysis of displacement and stress,then based on finite element strength reduction method,the whole dam body is conducted using elastic-plastic analysis,criterions of plastic zone transfixion and displacement saltation is used to get the minimum safety factor of the slope compared with the results by simplified Bishop method.The results shown that finite element strength reduction method was feasible to analyze slope stability of earth rockfill dam,but some questions still exists.Finally,two questions of the applications of finite element strength reduction method in slope stability analysis of embankment dam are preliminary studied.