THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF LOCALLY LOADED SLOPES

A three-dimensional slope stability analysis for drained frictional-cohesive material based on the upper-bound technique of limit analysis is presented. A rigid-block toe or above-the-toe collapse mechanism is considered, with energy dissipation taking place along planar velocity discontinuities. The technique is appropriate for slope analysis when question arises as to the level of permissible loads on slopes where the load is confined to a limited area (local load). The results in terms of limit loads are compared with those available in the literature for a particular case of a frictionless material. It was found that, for a wide variety of parameters (especially for large safety margins), the present analysis yields lower values of limit loads. Since they are rigorous upper bounds to the true limit load, these results should be considered as closer to the actual limit load. Une analyse a trois dimension de la stabilite d'une pente pour un materiaux draine et basee sur la technique de la limite superie...