Stability analysis of rock slopes subjected to seepage forces using the modified Hoek-Brown criterion

Zied Saada (1) , Samir Maghous (2) , Denis Garnier (3)

1 UTM - Université de Tunis El Manar
2 Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil
3 multi-échelle - Modélisation et expérimentation multi-échelle pour les solides hétérogènes

The paper deals with the stability analysis of a water-saturated rock slope by means of the kinematic approach of limit analysis theory. Particular emphasis is first given to the effects of pore water pressure on the global stability of geotechnical structures. The rock strength properties being formulated in terms of effective stresses, it is shown how the effect of seepage flow may be accounted for such an analysis through driving body forces derived from the gradient of excess pore pressure distribution is shown. The latter is obtained as the solution to a hydraulic boundary value problem, and then incorporated as external loading in the subsequent stability analysis. The rock strength properties are modeled by a modified Hoek-Brown failure criterion, for which closed-form expressions of the support functions have been derived in a previous paper. The approach is then applied to investigate the stability of rock slopes. Computational results are given, providing ample evidence of the destablizing effects induced by the seepage forces. The influence of relevant geometrical, strength and loading parameters is also discussed.

Domains: Civil Engineering

Zied Saada, Samir Maghous, Denis Garnier. Stability analysis of rock slopes subjected to seepage forces using the modified Hoek-Brown criterion. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 2012, 55, pp.45-54. ⟨10.1016/j.ijrmms.2012.06.010⟩. ⟨hal-01157363⟩