Estimation Method of Key Block Size on a Large Scale Rock Slope by Simulation of 3-D Rock Joint System

Accurate evaluation of the slope stability by assuming failure block as the entire slope is considered to be apposite for the small scale slope, whereas it is not the case for the large scale slope. Hence, appropriate estimation of a failure block size is required since the safety factor and the joint strength parameters are the function of the failure block size. In this paper, the size of failure block was investigated by generating 3-dimensional rock joint system based on statistical data of joints obtained from research slope, such as joint orientation, spacing and 3-dimensional joint intensity. The result indicates that 33 potential failure blocks exist in research slope, as large as 1.4 meters at least and 38.7 meters at most, and average block height is 15.2 meters. In addition, the data obtained from 3 dimensional joint system were directly applicable to the probability analysis and 2 and 3 dimensional discontinuity analysis.