New Perspective on Seismic Slope Stability Analysis

This article proposes a graphical method associated with the g line to evaluate seismic slope stability. The g line depicts the combinations of c/γH and tanφ that are necessary to maintain slope stability at the critical limit state. Correlations of c/γH and tanφ are established based on the work-rate balance equation. Under a kinematic analysis, the pseudostatic upper-bound solution of c/γH is sought with an optimization procedure. After having determined the g line, the factor of safety for a specific slope can be easily estimated without the need for iterative calculations. For ease of practical use, a set of stability charts is presented. This approach also permits determination of the critical failure mode, including toe or below the toe.