Rock stability

Rock Stability Analysis- general

• We have to need good site investigation

• Different modes of failure
– Plane sliding
– Wedge sliding
– Polygonal sliding
– Circular sliding
– Toppling failure
• No one stability analysis is applicable to all rock slopes
 Rock Stability Analysis- general

• Slopes fail on weak planes => we have to know or

estimate them
• Continuum approach used in soil mechanics not usually
applicable
• Kinematic analysis (stereonets) can not determine factor
of stability
• Numerical analysis using FEM is not often appropriate
due to modelling of discontinuits
 Trigger mechanisms

• Water pressures in joints reducing normal stress >

FRICTION CAPACITY
• Less total stress capacity due to water /filling material/.
• Undercutting - natural / excavation.
• Shock - earthquake, blasting
 Modes of Failure

• Plane sliding
Occurs in rocks with plane discontinuities, e.g., bedding
planes.
 Plane failure

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 Plane failure

Factor of safety is calculated

by analysis of Plane Failure
resolving all forces acting on
the slope into components
parallel and normal to the
sliding plane.
 Planar Failure Analysis

The rock mass can slide along the smooth, stepped or

undulating plane.
The shear strength for the slip surface can be:
•Mohr - Coulomb
•Hoek - Brown
•Barton – Bandis

•More-info help
 Modes of Failure

• Wedge sliding
Occurs in rocks with intersecting discontinuities
forming wedges.
 Wedge failure

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 Wedge failure analysis

The failure of
wedge/block is along
the existing joints and
is controlled by the
orientation of those
joints and friction
angle.
 Stereographic Projection

EquatOrial proJection -

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 Stereographic Projection

North

Dip
direction Zenith

Equal _
Great circle Lower half area net
representation reference sphere
of a plane
Great circle

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 Modes of Failure

• Polygonal sliding
From observation it is known that sliding may take place
along polygonal sliding (depends on the main
discontinuities of the rock)
 Polygonal failure

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 Poygonal failure analysis
Program admits the following assumptions:
• Motion of rock blocks is only translational
• Blocks translate along the polygonal slip surface formed either by
planar planes or planes with moderate waviness
• Rock blocks are divided by joints with known directions
• Actual deformation of rock mass inside the blocks is negligible
• Failure on the polygonal slip surface and along joints is driven by
the Mohr-coulomb failure criterion
• The same factor of safety is assumed for all joints and along the
entire polygonal slip surface
• All rock blocks are in contact (opening of joints is not allowed)
• The shear forces on the polygonal slip surface have the same
sign
 Polygonal failure analysis

• The block geometry - it is necessary to ensure the

condition that all rock blocks are in contact (the opening
between joints is not allowed)
 Modes of Failure

• Circular failure
Usually occurs in waste rock, heavily fractured rock and
weak rock with no identifiable structural pattern.
 Circular failure

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 Circular failure analysis

Assumptions of the limit equilibrium methods:

• Rock mass shear strength is characterized by
cohesion and friction angle;
• Failure occurs on circular slide surface;
• A vertical tension crack occurs in the upper
surface or in the face of the slope;
• Fully saturated or dry rock mass.
 Circular failure analysis

Analysis are generally done by

classical soil mechanic analysis
methods, e.g., limit equilibrium
methods (Jambu, Bishop).

GEO5 – Slope stability

 Modes of Failure

• Toppling - in the GEO5 Rock Slope release 20

Occurs in rocks with columnar or block structures
separated by steeply dipping joints.
 Toppling failure

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 Slope Support and Protection

No Support:
Scaling
Protection:
Toe buttres
Fences (at toe or on slope)
Nets (over the slope face)
Reinforcement:
Anchors
 Slope Support and Protection

Concreting:
Shotcrete
Dental concrete
Toe walls
Drainage:
Surface
Deep
Re‐excavation
 Slope protection with meshes reinforced
with rock bolts and shotcrete

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 Rock bolts

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 Drained rock buttres at the toe

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 Hand scaling

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 The development of Rock slope

1) Markland analysis - kinematic approach v. 19

- is used to evaluate the potential for failures due to
sliding along joints, fractures, or bedding planes
 The development of Rock slope

2) Polygonal slip plane – version 19

New method of calculation – Friction cone method by
Goodman
 The development of Rock slope

3) Toppling - version 20
The prime joint set dips steeply and in opposite
direction to the slope
Limit Equilibrium Analysis

Forces on base: normal and shear (Rn , Sn)

Interface forces: (Pn , Qn, Pn‐1 ,Qn‐1)
 The development of Rock slope

4) Statistical measurenment
• Statistics of all the discontinuities based on the field data,
usually, two kinds of map will be abtained according to
these field data: rose map of dip, dip angle and strike;
contour map of pole of dicontinuities.

• According to the contour map of pole of dicontinuities,

we can read a few center orientations of these
dicontinuities which shows the main discontinuities that
we call them as center orientation. Project these
discontinuities into stereographic projection map, we can
tell the potential failure pattern which can help engineers
to analyze the slope before any calculation.
 Examples

Example 1 – Plane failure

Simple slope 60 degrees, bedding 30 degrees, tensile
crack 10m behind the end of slope, horizontal terrain.
Investigate the influence of water in tension crack, suggest
stabilization (if needed) when crack is full of water
(accidental situation, floods)

Example 2 – Earth wedge

Compute FS of the wedge
- without crack and water
- with tensile crack
- with planes filled half with water
 Orientation of planes forming wedge
Dip Dip Shear Shear
a [°] direction strength strength
j [°] f [°] C [kPa]

1 (plane) 60 360 30 50

2 (plane) 54 118 30 50

4 (slope 76 060
face)
3 (upper 15 070
surface)

5 (tension 80 060
crack)

Wedge height 28m

Distance of tension crack 9m
Rock density gr 26kN/m3
 Geometry 1

320 /
/ ff'

31/
300/
f
290!
•
280
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: I

260. . f 100
'
250\, ; llO
Legenda
Skalnistena
---- Horni stena
- - - - smykova plocha 1
------ Smykova plocha 2

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 Geometry 2 - tension crack

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