Rock slopes processes and recommended methods for analysis

Abstract

The stability of rock slopes is of great concern in many engineering projects, for example; road cuts, foundations, retaining walls, and dam excavation. Generally, rock slopes susceptible to instability could be divided into two main categories, the structurally controlled slopes, and the complex rock slopes. In the later, rock slope instability would involve intact material fracturing to allow for rupture surface to be formed. Kinematics of a landslide or the type of movement or instability associated with the landsides is one of the principal criteria for classifying a landslide. In this paper, the modes of instabilities that have been observed in the field are discussed and examples are given. The most widely used methods of analysis of rock slopes such as, limit equilibrium, finite element, discrete element; boundary elements are discussed to highlight their advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, the classification and the methods of analysis are discussed to provide researches as well as engineers with the tools required to analyze and design rock slopes. In complex rock slopes, in civil or mining engineering, hybrid numerical methods must be adapted to better understand the behavior of rock slope. In the case of simple sliding slopes, Limit Equilibrium Techniques can be easily utilized.