Sustainable Slope Stability Analysis: A Critical Study on Methods

When studying the stability of a slope, the first issue that needs to be clarified is the slip surface, which determines the minimum safety factor. The slopes investigated here are homogenous with three distinct gradients (1:1.5; 1:1; 2:1), two defined heights (H-3 m; H-8 m), and four different soil characteristics (S1—clayey silt, S2—sandy clayey silt, S3—sandy silty clay, S4—clay). The purpose of this paper is to develop a new methodology capable of estimating the safety factor and the shape and centre of the critical slip surface, delivering an improved estimate of slope probability of failure, which can represent a significant component in a more precise risk assessment. This paper compares distinct methods used in the slope stability analysis, examining their hypotheses and effects on the estimated safety factor and the centre and shape of the critical slip surface. The study compares the limit equilibrium results with those determined by the shear strength reduction method using an approach based on the upper-bound limit analysis to compare the predictions extracted from these methods with those from the finite element method (FEM) analysis. The finite element method discretizes the soil mass into finite elements. Hence, it establishes a kinematically admissible velocity field searching for the failure mechanism of the slope. Results for FEM show the influence of the slope geometry and the mesh size and density on the safety factor. In the study, plots of the regression curves of five different critical slip surface shapes, including a circular slip surface (benchmark), show that the shape of the failure surface depends on the shape and material of the slope. Furthermore, they show that the critical slip surface layout can approach a logarithmic spiral, damped sinusoid, parabola, etc.; the slip surface is not always circular. The analysis reveals that none of the approaches can consider all uncertainties concerning the factor of safety and the interpretations of critical slip surfaces.