INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS, CHENNAI

Department of Civil Engineering

CE 5300 Applied Soil Mechanics
Tutorial # 3: Stability Analysis of Slopes
Note: Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.
1. (a) State the assumption on the side forces on slices in the following methods of slices: (i) Ordinary
method of slices, (ii) Modified Bishop's method, and (iii) Spencer's method.
(b) The more rigorous limit equilibrium analysis methods, such as the modified Bishop's and
Spencer's methods, produce factors of safety that are within about 5% of the "true" value. How
does this error compare to the uncertainty in the soil properties (c', ', and ) and the uncertainty
in the design soil profile? In light of these other sources of uncertainty, is a 5% error tolerable?
Explain.
(c) Use Swedish slip circle method to compute the factor of safety (FS) of a slope section shown in
Fig. 1.
(d)

Prepare

spreadsheet

to

implement the modified Bishop's

method and use it to compute the
factor of safety (FS) for the failure
surface shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

2. (a) A granular soil has sat = 19 kN/m3, ' = 35. A slope has to be made of this material. If a factor
of safety of 1.3 is needed against slope failure, determine the safe angle of the slope (i) when the
slope is dry or submerged without seepage, (ii) if seepage occurs at and parallel to the surface of the
slope and (iii) if seepage occurs parallel to the slope with the water table at a depth of 1.5 m, what is
the factor of safety available on a slip plane parallel to the ground surface at a depth of 4 m?
Assume = 28.
(b) Using the Fellenius method of slices,
determine the FS, in terms of effective
stress, of the slope shown in Fig. 2 for the
given failure surface (i) using peak
strength parameters c' = 10 kN/m2 and '
= 29 and (ii) using critical state
parameter ' cs = 31. The unit weight of
the soil both above and below the water
3
table is 20 kN/m .
Fig. 2
3.1

3. The figure shows the cross-section of a

cutting in a homogeneous, saturated clay
soil inclined at a slope of 2H: 1V, with a
height of 8 m. Bulk unit weight of the
soil is 18 kN/m3 and c u = 27 kN/m2 ( u =
0). What is the factor of safety against
immediate shear failure along the slip
circle shown in the figure, (a) ignoring
the tension crack, (b) allowing for the
tension crack but without water and (c)
allowing for the tension crack filled with
water?
4. (a) How does seepage affect the stability of
slopes?
(b) What is the effect of rapid drawdown on
slope stability?
(c) Figure 3 gives details of the cross-section of
an embankment. The soil has the following
properties: ' = 35, c' = 10 kN/m2, = 1 6
kN/m3. For the slip circle shown, determine
the factor of safety for the following values of
r u : 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6. Plot the variation of FS
with r u .

Fig. 3

5. (a) How is simplified Bishop's method different from the conventional Swedish circle method? Is it
a 'total stress' or an 'effective stress' analysis? Does it give a higher or a lower factor of safety as
compared to the conventional method?
(b) An embankment is made of soil having c' = 10 kN/m2, ' = 23 and = 19 kN/m3. The
embankment is of 9 m height and has a slope of 30. The average pore pressure ratio (r u ) may be
taken as 0.30 for the condition of steady seepage. Using the Fellenius method of slices, determine
the factor of safety against shear failure, for a slip circle passing through the toe. Locate the centre
of rotation by the Fellenius method. Using the Bishop's simplified method of slices, determine the
factor of safety.
6. (a) You are writing a computer program
to perform slope stability computations.
This program will consider only circular
failure surfaces. What procedure might you
use to locate the critical failure surface?
Provide a detailed explanation.
(b) A 45 slope is excavated to a depth of 8
m in a deep layer of saturated clay of unit
weight 19 kN/m3: the shear strength
parameters are c u = 65 kPa and u = 0.
Determine the factor of safety for the trial
failure surface specified in the figure.

3.2

7. For the given failure surface,

determine the FS in terms of total
stress for the slope detailed in Fig. 4.
The unit weight for both soils is 19
kN/m3. The undrained strength (c u )
is 30 kN/m2 for Soil 1 and 45 kN/m2
for Soil 2. What is the FS if
allowance is made for the
development of a tension crack?
Fig. 4
3

8. (a) A cutting 9 m deep is to be excavated in a saturated clay of unit weight 19 kN/m . The design
shear strength parameters are c u = 30 kN/m2 and u = 0. A hard stratum underlies the clay at a depth
of 11 m below ground level. Using Taylors stability coefficients, determine the slope angle at
which failure would occur. What is the allowable slope angle if a FS of 1.2 is specified?
(b) A long slope is to be formed in a soil of unit weight 19 kN/m3 for which the shear strength
parameters are c' = 0 and ' = 36. A firm stratum lies below the slope. It is to be assumed that the
water table may occasionally rise to the surface, with seepage taking place parallel to the slope.
Using the traditional method, determine the maximum slope angle to ensure a FS of 1.5, assuming
a potential failure surface parallel to the slope. What would be the FS of the slope, formed at this
angle, if the water table were well below the surface?
9. (a) Determine the height of a finite slope (1V: 2H) that should have a FS of 2 against sliding. For

the soil, the following values are given: c' =18 kN/m2, ' = 20, and = 1700 kg/m3. Assume the
critical surface for sliding to be a plane.

(b) A cut slope is to be made in a saturated clay. Given: c u = 30 kN/m2 ( u = 0 condition) and =
17 kN/m3. The slope makes an angle, , of 60 with the horizontal. Determine the maximum depth
up to which the cut could be made. Assume that the critical surface for sliding is circular. What is
the nature of the critical circle (that is, toe, slope, or midpoint)?
10. (a) For the given failure surface, determine the 11. Using the Bishop routine method of
FS in terms of effective stress for the slope
slices, determine the FS in terms of effective
detailed in Fig. 5, using the Fellenius method
stress for the slope detailed in Fig. 6 for the
of slices. The unit weight of the soil is 21 kN/m3
specified failure surface. The values of r u
and the shear strength parameters are: c' = 8
are 0.20, 0.30, 0.40 and the unit weight of
the soil is 20 kN/m3. The shear strength
kN/m2 and ' =32. (b) Repeat the analysis of
the slope detailed above using the Bishop
parameters are: c' = 0 and ' = 33. Reanalyse the slope using REAME and
routine method of slices.
SLOPE/W softwares.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6
3.3

12. Determine the FS in terms of

effective stress of the slope shown
in Fig. 7 using the Fellenius
method and Bishops method of
slices. The relevant soil properties
are: c' = 10 kN/m2, ' = 32; =
20 kN/m3.

Fig. 7

13.

14. Write notes on the following:

(i) Stability analysis of soil-nailed slopes, (ii) Pseudo-static analysis, (iii) Newmark sliding block
analysis, and (iv) Seismic stability analysis of slopes using FEM (See for example -- Plaxis,
Quake/W, Abaqus, etc.).
15.

3.4