Gondar University, IOT Department of Civil Engineering

CHAPTER FIVE

SLOPE STABILITY

Table of Contents

5 Introduction...........................................................................................50
5.1 Definitions of Key Terms.......................................................................50
5.2 Some Types of Slope Failure.................................................................50
5.3 Some Causes of Slope Failure................................................................51
5.4 Two-Dimensional Slope Stability Analysis................................................52
5.5 Stability Analysis of Infinite Slopes.........................................................53
5.5.1 Factor of Safety................................................................................54
5.5.2 Stability of Infinite Slopes in =0, cu soil...........................................54
5.5.3 Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, soil – with no seepage.....................54
5.5.4 Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, soil – steady state seepage..............55

5.6 Rotational Slope Failure........................................................................57

5.6.1 Stability of Slopes in cu, =0 soil – circular failure surface....................57

5.6.2 Effect of Tension Cracks.....................................................................58

5.6.3 Stability of Slopes in c’, soil – Method of Slices.................................58

5.6.3.1 Fellenius or Ordinary or Swedish Method...........................................60

5.6.3.2 Bishop Simplified Method................................................................61

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5. Introduction

The term slope as used in here refers to any natural or man made earth
mass, whose surface forms an angle with the horizontal. Hills and mountains, river
banks, etc. are common examples of natural slopes. Examples of man made slopes
include fills, such as embankments, earth dams, levees; or cuts, such as highway
and railway cuts, canal banks, foundations excavations and trenches. Natural forces
(wind, rain, earthquake, etc.) change the natural topography often creating
unstable slopes. Failure of natural slopes (landslides) and man made slopes have
resulted in much death and destruction.
In assessing the stability of slopes, geotechnical engineers have to pay
particular attention to geology, drainage, groundwater, and the shear strength of
the soils. The most common slope stability analysis methods are based on
simplifying assumptions and the design of a stable slope relies heavily on
experience and careful site investigation. In this chapter, we will examine the
stability of earth slopes in two dimensional space using limit equilibrium methods.
When you complete this chapter, you should be able to:
 Understand the causes and types of slope failure.
 Estimate the stability of slopes using limit equilibrium methods.

Sample Practical Situation: A reservoir is required to store water for domestic

use. Several sites were investigated and the top choice is a site consisting of clay
soils (clay is preferred because of its low permeability – it is practically impervious).
The soils would be excavated, forming sloping sides. You are required to determine
the maximum safe slope of the reservoir.

5.1 Definitions of Key Terms

Slip plane or failure plane or slip surface or failure surface is the surface of
sliding.
Sliding mass is the mass of soil within the slip plane and the ground surface.
Slope angle (or simply slope) is the angle of inclination of a slope to the
horizontal. The slope angle is usually referred to as a ratio, for example, 2:1
(horizontal: vertical)

5.2 Some Types of Slope Failure

Slope failures depend on the soil type, soil stratification, groundwater,

seepage, and the slope geometry. A few types of slope failure are shown in Figure

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4.1. Failure of a slope along a weak zone of soil is called a translational slide (Fig.
4.1 a). Translational slides are common in coarse-grained soils.

Figure 5.1: Some types of slope failure (Budhu, pp. 524)

A common type of failure in homogeneous fine-grained soils is a rotational

slide. Three types of rotational slides often occur. One type, called a base slide,
occurs by an arc enclosing the whole slope. A soft soil layer resting on a stiff layer
of soil is prone to base failure (Fig. 5.1 b). The second type of rotational failure is
the toe slide, whereby the failure surface passes through the toe of the slope (Fig.
5.1 c). The third type of rotational failure is the slope slide, whereby the failure
surface passes through the slope (Fig. 5.1 d). A flow slide occurs when internal
and external conditions force a soil to behave like a viscous fluid and flow down
even shallow slopes, spreading out in several directions (Fig. 5.1 e).

5.3 Some Causes of Slope Failure

Slope failures are caused in general by natural forces, human

mismanagement and activities. Some of the main factors that provoke failure are

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summarised in Figure 5.2 below.

Figure 5.2: Some causes of slope failure (Budhu, pp. 526)

As shown in Fig. 5.2, some of the most common causes of slope failures are
erosion, rainfall, earthquake, geological features, external loading, construction
activities (ex. excavation & fill), and reservoir rapid drawdown.

5.4 Two-Dimensional Slope Stability Analysis

Slope stability can be analyzed using one or more of the following: the limit
equilibrium method, limit analysis, finite difference method, and finite element

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method. Limit equilibrium is the most widely used method for stability analysis. In
the following sections, we will learn some of the commonly used slope stability
analysis methods that are based on the limit equilibrium.

5.5 Stability Analysis of Infinite Slopes

Infinite slopes have dimensions that extend over great distances. In practice,
the infinite slope mechanism is applied to the case when a soft material of very
long length with constant slope may slide on a hard material (e.g. rock) having the
same slope. Let’s consider a clean, homogeneous soil of infinite slope as shown

in Figure 5.3. To use limit equilibrium method, we must first speculate on a

failure of slip mechanism. We will assume the slip would occur on a plane
parallel to the slope. If we consider a slice of soil between the surface of the soil
and the slip plane, we can draw a free-body diagram of the slice as shown in Figure
5.3.

Figure 5.3: Forces on a slice of soil in an infinite slope.

The forces acting on the slice per unit thickness are the weight , the
shear forces and on the sides, the normal forces and on the
sides, the normal force on the slip plane and the mobilized shear resistance of
the soil, , on the slip plane. We will assume that forces that provoke failure are
positive. If seepage is present, a seepage force develops, where is the
hydraulic gradient. For a uniform slope of infinite extent, and .

To continue with the limit equilibrium method, we must now use the equilibrium
equations to solve the problem. But before that we will define the factor of safety
(FS) of a slope in the following subsection. The general objective of infinite slope
stability analysis is to determine either the critical slope or critical height, or

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alternatively, the factor of safety of the slope.

5.5.1 Factor of Safety

The factor of safety of a slope is defined as the ratio of the available shear
strength, , to the minimum shear strength required to maintain stability (which
is equal to the mobilized shear stress on the failure surface), , that is:

(5.1)

The shear strength of the soil is governed by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
(Chapter 1).

5.5.2 Stability of Infinite Slopes in =0, cu soil.

For the =0, cu soil, the Mohr-Coulomb shear strength is given by:
(5.2)

From statics and using Figure 4.3,

and (5.3)

The shear stress per unit length on the slip plane is given by:

　　 (5.4)

The factor of safety is then,

　　 (5.5)

At limit equilibrium, FS = 1. Therefore, the critical slope is

　　 (5.6)

and the critical depth is:

　　 (5.7)

5.5.3 Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, soil – with no seepage.

For a c’, soil, the Mohr-Coulomb shear strength is given by:

(5.8)
The factor of safety FS is then:

(5.9)

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The normal and shear stresses per unit length at the failure plane in reference to
figure 5.3 are given by:

and (5.10)

For a slope without seepage, Js=0. From Eqns. (4.4, 4.9 and 4.10) we get:

(5.11)

At limit equilibrium FS = 1. Therefore, the critical depth zc is given by

(5.12)

For the case where , the factor of safety is always greater than 1 and is

computed from Eqn. (4.6). This means that there is no limiting value for the depth
z, and at an infinite depth, the factor of safety approaches to . For a

coarse-grained soil with c’ = 0, Eqn. (4.6) becomes:

(5.13)

At limit equilibrium FS = 1. Therefore, the critical slope angle is:

(5.14)

The implication of Eqn. (4.8) is that the maximum slope angle of a coarse-grained
soil with c’ = 0, can not exceed . In other words, the case c’ = 0 and is

always unstable and can not be applied to practical situations.

Example 5.1
An infinitely long slope is resting on a rock formation with the same inclination. The
height of the slope is 3.2 m. Determine a) the factor of safety, b) the shear stress
developed on the sliding surface, and c) the critical height. =250, 17.5
3 0
kN/m , c’ = 12 kPa and 20 .

5.5.4 Stability of Infinite Slopes in c’, soil – steady state seepage.

We will now consider groundwater at the ground surface and assume that
seepage is parallel to the slope. The seepage force is:

Since seepage is parallel to the slope, . From statics,

(5.15)

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and

　　　 (5.16)

Therefore, the shear stress at the slip plane is:

From the definition of factor of safety (Eqn. 4.3), we get:

　　 (5.17)

At limit equilibrium, FS=1. Therefore, the critical height is:

At infinite depth the factor of safety in Eqn. (4.17) becomes:

　 　　　 (5.19)

Eqn. (5.19) can also be used for calculating the factor of safety for a coarse-grained
soil with c’ = 0. At limit equilibrium FS = 1, and hence, the critical slope for a
coarse-grained soil with c’ = 0 is given by:

　 　　　 (5.18)

For most soils, . Thus, seepage parallel to the slope reduces the limiting

slope of a clean, coarse-grained soil by about one-half.

If the groundwater level is not at the ground surface, weighted average unit
weights have to be used in Eqns. (5.17 and 5.18).

Example 5.2
A long slope of 4.5 m deep is to be constructed of material having the following
properties: =20 kN/m3, =17.5 kN/m3, c’=10 kPa, and =320. Determine

the factor of safety a) when the slope is dry, b) there is a steady state seepage
parallel to the surface with the water level 2 m above the base and c) the water
level is at the ground surface.

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5.6 Rotational Slope Failure

The infinite slope failure mechanism is reasonable for infinitely long and
homogeneous slopes made of coarse-grained soils, where the failure plane is
assumed to be parallel to the ground surface. But in many practical problems
slopes have been observed to fail through a rotational mechanism of finite extent.
As shown in Fig. (5.1), rotational failure mechanism involves the failure of a soil
mass on a circular or non-circular failure surface. In the following sections, we will
continue to use the limit equilibrium method assuming a circular slip surface. Those
methods, which are based on non-circular slip surface, are beyond the scope of this
course.

5.6.1 Stability of Slopes in cu, =0 soil – circular failure surface.

The simplest circular analysis is based on the assumption that a rigid,

cylindrical block will fail by rotation about its center and that the shear strength
along the failure surface is defined by the undrained strength cu. Figure 5.4 shows a
slope of height H and angle . The trial circular failure surface is defined by its
center C, radius R and central angle .

Figure .4: Slope failure in cu, =0.

The weight of the sliding block acts at a distance d from the center. Taking
moments of the forces about the center of the circular arc, we have:

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　　 (5.19)

Where L is the length of the circular arc, W is the weight of the sliding mass and d
is the horizontal distance between the circle center, C, and the centroid of the
sliding mass. If cu varies along the failure surface then:

　 (5.20)

The centroid of the sliding mass is obtained using a mathematical procedure based
on the geometry or the sub-division of the sliding mass into narrow vertical slices.

Example 5.3
Find the factor of safety of a 1V:1.5H slope that is 6 m high. The center of the trial
mass is located 2.5 m to the right and 9.15 m above the toe of the slope. cu = 25
kPa, and =18 kN/m3. Take d = 3.85 m.

5.6.2 Effect of Tension Cracks

Tension cracks may develop from the upper ground surface to a depth z 0 that
can be estimated using Eqn. (5.13). The effect of the tension crack can be taken
into account by assuming that the trial failure surface terminates at the depth z0,
thereby reducing the weight W and central angle . Any external water pressure in

the crack creates a horizontal force that must be included in equilibrium

considerations.

Example 5.4
Rework Example 4.3 by taking into account tension cracks. Geometric data are:

=66.60, area of sliding mass = 27.46 m2, and d = 3.48 m.

5.6.3 Stability of Slopes in c’, soil – Method of Slices.

The stability of a slope in a c’, soil is usually analyzed by discretizing the

mass of the failure slope into smaller slices and treating each individual slice as a
unique sliding block (Fig. 5.5). This technique is called the method of slices.

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Figure 5.5: Slice discretization and slice forces in a sliding mass.

In the method of slices, the soil mass above a trial failure circle is divided into
a series of vertical slices of width b as shown in Fig. 5.6 (a). For each slice, its base
is assumed to be a straight line defined by its angle of inclination with the

horizontal whilst its height h is measured along the centerline of the slice.

Figure 5.6: a) Method of slices in c’, soil, b) Forces acting on a slice.

The forces acting on a slice shown in Fig. 5.6 (b) are:

W = total weight of the slice = ×h×b

N = total normal force at the base = N’ + U, where N’ is the effective total

normal force and U = ul is the force due to the pore water pressure
at the midpoint of the base length l.
T = the mobilized shear force at the base = , where is the

minimum shear stress required to maintain equilibrium and is equal

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to the shear strength divided by the factor of safety: .

X1, X2 = shear forces on sides of the slice and E1, E2 = normal forces on
sides the slice. The sum of the moments of the interslice or side
forces about the center C is zero.
Thus, for moment equilibrium about the center C (note the normal forces pass
through the center):

　 (5.20)

where n is the total number of slices. Replacing by the Mohr-Coulomb shear

strength, we obtain:

　 (5.21)

The term c’l may be replaced by . For uniform c’, the algebraic

summation of c’l is replaced by c’L, where L is the length of the circular arc. The
values of N’ must be determined from the force equilibrium equations.
However, this problem is statically indeterminate – because we have six
unknown variables for each slice but only three equilibrium equations.
Therefore some simplifying assumptions have to be made. In this chapter
two common methods that apply different simplifying methods will be discussed.
These methods are called the Fellenius method and Bishop simplified method.

5.6.3.1 Fellenius or Ordinary or Swedish Method

The ordinary or Swedish method of slices was introduced by Fellenius (1936).

This method assumes that for each slice, the interslice forces X1=X2 and E1=E2.
Based on this assumption and from statics, the forces normal to each slice are
given by:
　 (5.22)

Substituting N’ into Eqn. 4.21, we obtain:

　 (5.23)

For convenience, the force due to pore water is expressed as a function of W:

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　 (5.24)

Where ru is called the pore water pressure ratio. Consequently, we have:

(5.25)

The term ru is dimensionless because the term represents the

weight of water with a volume of . Furthermore, ru can be simplified as

follows:

　　　　　 (5.26)

In the case of the steady state seepage the height of water above the
midpoint of the base is obtained by constructing the flow net. Alternatively, an
average value of ru may be assumed for the slope. By doing so it is assumed that
the height of water above the base of each slice is a constant fraction of the height
of each slice. If the height of the water and the average height of the slice are
equal, the maximum value of ru becomes , which for most soils, is

approximately 0.5. Note that the effective normal force N’ acting on the base is
equal to or . If the term
is negative, N’ is set to zero because effective stress can not be less than zero (i.e.
soil has no tension strength).
The whole procedure explained above must be repeated for a number of trial
circles until the minimum factor of safety corresponding to the critical circle
is determined. The accuracy of the predictions depends on the number of slices,
position of the critical surface, and the magnitude of ru. There are several
techniques that are used to reduce the number of trial slip surfaces. One simple
technique is to draw a grid and selectively use the nodal points as centers of
rotation.

Example 5.5
Using Fellenius’ method of slices, determine the factor of safety for the slope of
example 5.3 for ru = 0 and 0.4. Take the number of slices as 8, each having 1.5 m
width (check the width of the last slice). Soil properties are c’ = 10 kPa, =290,
and =18 kN/m3.

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5.6.3.2 Bishop Simplified Method

This method assumes that for each slice X1=X2 but E1 E2. These assumptions

are considered to make this method more accurate than the Swedish method. An
increase of 5% to 20% in the factor of safety over the Swedish method is usually
obtained. Referring to Figure 4.6 b, and writing the force equilibrium in vertical
direction (in order to eliminate E1 and E2), the following equation for N’ can be
found:

　　　　　　　 (5.27)

In addition to the force in the vertical direction, Bishop Simplified method also
satisfies the overall moment equilibrium about the center of the circle as expressed
in Eqn. (5.21). Putting and , and substituting Eqn. (5.27) into

Eqn. (5.21), we obtain:

　　　 (5.28)

where,

　　　 (5.29)

Equation (5.29) is non-linear in FS (that is FS appears on both sides of the

equations) and is solved by iteration. An initial value of FS is guessed (slightly
greater than FS obtained by Fellenius’ method) and substituted to Eqn. (5.29) to
compute a new value for FS. This procedure is repeated until the difference
between the assumed and computed values is negligible. Convergence is normally
rapid and only a few iterations are required. The procedure is repeated for
number of trial circles to locate the critical failure surface with the lowest
factor of safety.

Example 5.6
Re-work Example 4.5 for ru = 0.4 using Bishop’s simplified Method.

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