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Engineering Geology
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a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Previously, quasi-rigorous limit equilibrium methods were applied to analyze the stability of three-dimensional
Received 6 June 2012 slopes or landslides, which only satisfy three direction force equilibrium, and one or two direction moment equi-
Received in revised form 18 March 2013 librium. In this paper, the rigorous limit equilibrium column method, in which inter-column forces are taken into
Accepted 30 March 2013
account, is established based on six equilibrium conditions which include three direction force equilibrium con-
Available online 16 April 2013
ditions along coordinate axes and three direction moment equilibrium conditions around three coordinate axes.
Keywords:
The relationship between the width of sliding body and factor of safety is determined using trust-region-
Three-dimensional slope reective iterative algorithm. The value of the factor of safety is obtained using LevenbergMarquardt least
Stability square method. Moreover, the present method can be applied to automatically search slip surface of three-
Limit equilibrium method dimensional landslides and to determine the factor of safety of three-dimensional landslides with the known
Factor of safety arbitrary slip surface. Three examples are discussed to verify the robustness and precision of the present method
Least square tting in detail. Comparing with quasi-rigorous limit equilibrium methods which only considered four or ve equilib-
rium conditions, the present method is more accurate and rigorous.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
0013-7952/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2013.03.027
22 X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133
works (Zheng, 2007; Zhu and Qian, 2007). Actually, inter-column (b) The assumptions of the present method, in which inclinations
forces signicantly affect the factor of safety. In this paper, rigorous of inter-column forces are not constant, are different from the
limit equilibrium method for three-dimensional slopes or landslides Spencer method (Spencer, 1967) in which inclinations of inter-
is proposed based on the principle of nonnegative normal force over column forces are constant. In this paper, it is assumed that incli-
slip surface, in which inter-column forces are considered. The rela- nations of inter-column forces in row direction and column direc-
tionship between the factor of safety and widths of sliding body can tion are equal to and , respectively. The value of and
be determined using LevenbergMarquardt least squares method. can strictly be obtained by numerical calculation. The values of
The factor of safety of three-dimensional slopes or landslides can be and represent comprehensive and average effects of the sliding
obtained using trust-region-reective iterative algorithm. body.
Characteristics of the present method are summarized as follows: (c) Numerical characteristics. According to Duncan's (1996)
works, non-convergence points exist in almost all examples of rig-
(a) Six equilibrium conditions are strictly satised. Sum of forces orous limit equilibrium methods. In this paper, the non-linear re-
along three axes are zero, and all the moments of the entire sliding lationship between the factor of safety and the width of sliding
body around three axes are less than 1 10 6 N m. The present body is obtained using LevenbergMarquardt least square meth-
method can be referred to as rigorous limit equilibrium method. od. Factor of safety in arbitrary intervals can be obtained by the
X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133 23
The column methods are indeterminate, in which the number of Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the forces acting on a column.
unknowns is much more than the number of equations. So it is neces-
sary to make various assumptions regarding inter-column forces to
render the problem determinate. more than 90; the inclination of Gi,j is - when the angle between
Gi,j and the direction of z-axis is less than 90).
(a) It is assumed that the base of a column is plane, and the point of (c) Assume that the direction of movement or the possibility of a
the normal force Ni,j, the shear force Si,j and the pore water pressure change in the direction of sliding body is opposite to the direction
Ui,j act on the center (I) of the plane. Moreover, the weight Wi,j acts of x-axis.
on the centroid (H) of the column, which is point to (I), as shown in (d) Assume that there are no supporting structures in the three-
Fig. 3. dimensional slope, such as retaining wall.
(b) Assume that the inter-column forces of Qi,j and Gi,j are parallel to (e) Assume that tensile strength of soil is zero.
the yz plane and the xz plane, respectively. According to the geomet-
rical features of slip surface, the inclinations of inter-column forces 2.3. Geometrical model
of Qi,j are , as shown in Fig. 3 (the inclination of Qi,j is when
the angle between Qi,j and the direction of z-axis is more than 90; As shown in Fig. 2, the coordinate system o-xyz is established, where
the inclination of Qi,j is when the angle between Qi,j and the di- x-axis is opposite to the direction of movement of the sliding body,
rection of z-axis is less than 90). Similarly, the inclinations of y-axis is parallel to the direction of the width of the sliding body and
inter-column forces of Gi,j are , as shown in Fig. 3 (the inclination z-axis is parallel to the direction of the height of the sliding body. The
of G i,j is when the angle between Gi,j and the direction of z-axis is entire sliding body is placed into the rst quadrant. The ground
surface and the slip surface are described by equations z1 = g(x, y)
and z2 = f(x, y), respectively. The direction cosines of normal forces
over the slip surface are denoted as (nxi, j,nyi, j,nzi, j), and the direction
cosines of shear forces over the slip surface are denoted as (lxi, j,lyi, j,lzi, j).
Since the angle between normal forces and z-axis is less than 90,
the value of nzi,j must be positive. Therefore, the direction cosines of
normal forces over the slip surface are described by
1 f 1 f 1
i; j i; j i; j
nx ; ny ; nz ; ; 1
x y
where
s
2 2
f f
1 : 2
x y
i; j i; j
W A gx; yf x; y 5
s
2
f where the average unit weight of sliding body is denoted as and the
1 : 4
x cross sectional area of the column is denoted as A i,j.
According to the assumption (d), there are no supporting structures in the sliding body. Therefore, the boundary conditions of inter-column
force can be described as G0; j 0, Gm1; j 1jn1 0, Q i;0 1im1 0, and Q i;n1 1im1 0. Because of the relationship of action and reaction
1jn1
among other inter-column forces, the moments of inter-column forces around the axes are equal to 0. The moment equilibrium equations can be
obtained as follows.
Moment around the x-axis is
n h
m X
X i i; j i; j h i i; j i; j
i; j i; j y i; j y G =Q i; j i; j z i; j z G =Q i; j H
N U ni; j S li; j z N U ni; j S li; j y W yi; j 0: 9
i1 j1
where
i; j
=Q i; j
xG is x coordinate of the forces point of G i,j or Q i,j (G i,j is the different value of inter-column force on the plane ABBA and the plane
CDDC in Fig. 3. Q i,j is the different value of inter-column force on the plane BCCB and the plane ADDA in Figure 3), which is equal
to the x coordinate of point H;
i; j i; j
yG =Q is the y coordinate of the force point of G i,j or Q i,j, which is equal to the y coordinate of point H;
i; j i; j
zG =Q is the z coordinate of the force point of G i,j or Q i,j, which is equal to the z coordinate of point H;
H
xi, j is the x coordinate of point H;
yi,Hj is the y coordinate of point H.
The factor of safety is dened as that factor by which the shear strength components must be reduced to bring the soil mass into a state of limiting
equilibrium along a selected slip surface. Furthermore, it is assumed that the factor of safety of the cohesive component of shear strength and the
friction component of shear strength are equal, and the shear force over the slip surface is determined by MohrCoulomb criterion. One obtains
i; j
Ni; j U i; j tan cAi; j
S 12
Fs
where and c are the effective internal friction angle and cohesion of soil, and factor of safety is denoted as Fs.
X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133 25
The different value of inter-column force on the plane ABBA and the plane CDDC in Fig. 3 is denoted as G i,j, then the following expression
can be written as
i; j i1; j i; j
G G G : 13
Similarly, the different value of inter-column force on the plane BCCB and the plane ADDA in Fig. 3 is denoted as Q i,j, then the following
expression can be written as
i; j i; j1 i; j
Q Q Q : 14
Substituting Eqs. (13) and (14) into Eqs. (6), (7) and (8) yields
i; j i; j i; j i; j
N U nx S lx G cos 0 15
i; j i; j i; j i; j
N U ny S ly Q cos 0 16
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
N U nz S lz G sin Q sin W 0: 17
Substituting Eq. (12) into Eqs. (15), (16) and (17), and eliminating Q i,j and G i,j, the following expressions can be obtained as
cos sin cAi; j li;x j Fsni;x j U i; j li;x j U i; j tan cos sin cAi; j li;y j Fsni;y j U i; j li;y j U i; j tan
i; j
N
cos sin Fsni;x j li;x j tan cos sin Fsni;y j li;y j tan cos cos Fsni;z j li;z j tan
18
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
cos cos cA lz Fsnz U lz U tan cos cos FsW
cos sin Fsni;x j li;x j tan cos sin Fsni;y j li;y j tan cos cos Fsni;z j li;z j tan
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
nx cos sin cA 2U tan ny sin cos cA 2U tan
i;j
S
cos sin Fsni;x j li;x j tan cos sin Fsni;y j li;y j tan cos cos Fsni;z j li;z j tan
19
ni;z j cos cos cAi; j 2U i; j tan cos cos W i; j tan
:
cos sin Fsni;x j li;x j tan cos sin Fsni;y j li;y j tan cos cos Fsni;z j li;z j tan
i; j i; j i; j i; j
i; j C x C y C z D2
S 21
Ai;x j Ai;y j Ai;z j
where
i; j i; j i; j
Ax cos sin Fsnx lx tan 22
i; j i; j i; j
Ay cos sin Fsny ly tan 23
i; j i; j i; j
Az cos cos Fsnz lz tan 24
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
Bx cos sin cA lx Fsnx U lx U tan 25
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
By cos sin cA ly Fsny U ly U tan 26
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
Bz cos cos cA lz Fsnz U lz U tan 27
i; j i; j i; j i; j
C x nx cos sin cA 2U tan 28
i; j i; j i; j i; j
C y ny sin cos cA 2U tan 29
i; j i; j i; j i; j
C z nz cos cos cA 2U tan 30
26 X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133
i; j i; j
D1 cos cos FsW 31
i; j i; j
D2 cos cos W tan : 32
(a) Axi, j, Ayi, j and Azi, j are inuential parameters of the directions of the inter-column forces and the geometrical features of slip surface on the
normal forces and the shear forces in the x, y and z directions, respectively.
(b) Bxi, j, Byi, j and Bzi, j are inuential parameters of the direction of shear forces and pore water pressure on the normal forces in the x, y and z
directions, respectively.
(c) Cxi, j, Cyi, j and Czi, j are inuential parameters of the direction of normal forces and pore water pressure on the shear forces in the x, y and z
directions, respectively.
(d) D1i, j and D2i, j are inuential parameters of the weight of columns on the normal forces and the shear forces, respectively.
On the boundary of sliding body, there may exist negative normal forces. Therefore, negative normal forces should be modied to satisfy the
assumption (e). It is shown from the study cases that the number of the columns on which normal forces are negative is few. The numerical
result will only be affected slightly if these columns are neglected (Yang and Zhen, 2002), which is within practical tolerance.
Substituting Eqs. (20) and (21) into Eqs. (9), (10) and (11) yields
( " i; j ! #
X m X n
B1 Bi;2 j Bi;3 j Di;1 j i; j y i; j y
i; j
G =Q
i; j
M x i; j i; j i; j
U ni; j S li; j z
i1 j1 A1 A2 A3
" i; j ! # ) 33
B1 B2 Bi;3 j Di;1 j
i; j
i; j z i; j z
i; j
G =Q
i; j
i; j H
U ni; j S li; j y W yi; j 0
Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j
(" i; j ! #
X m X n i; j
B1 B2 B3 D1
i; j i; j
i; j x
i; j i; j i; j i; j
C 1 C 2 C 3 D2 x Gi; j =Q i; j
M y U ni; j li; j z
i1 j1 Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j
" i; j ! # ) 34
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i;j
B1 B2 B3 D1 i; j z C 1 C 2 C 3 D2 z Gi; j =Q i; j i; j H
U ni; j l i; j x W x i; j 0
Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j
( " i; j ! #
X m X n
B1 Bi;2 j Bi;3 j Di;1 j i; j x C i;1 j C i;2 j C i;3 j Di;2 j x Gi; j =Q i; j
M z i; j i; j i; j
U ni; j i; j i; j i; j
li; j y
i1 j1 A1 A2 A3 A1 A2 A3
" i; j ! # ) 35
i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j i; j
B1 B2 B3 D1 i; j y C 1 C 2 C 3 D2 y Gi; j =Q i; j
U n i; j l i; j x 0:
Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j Ai;1 j Ai;2 j Ai;3 j
There are three unknown parameters , and Fs in the above three equations. Therefore, Eqs. (33), (34) and (35) can be rewritten as a set of
non-linear equations:
8
< F 1 ; ; Fs 0
F ; ; Fs 0 36
: 2
F 3 ; ; Fs 0
where
F 1 ; ; Fs M x 37
F 2 ; ; Fs M y 38
F 3 ; ; Fs M z : 39
The set of non-linear Eq. (36) can be solved using trust-region-reective iterative algorithm. The initial value is set as = 0, = 0, and
Fs = 1. Then the local optimal solutions can be obtained by iterating about 1020 times. The solutions can make the set of non-linear
Eq. (36) satisfy
8
> 6
< F 1 ; ; Fs10 Nm
F 2 ; ; Fs106 Nm 40
>
:
F 3 ; ; Fs106 Nm:
Therefore, the solutions can be regarded as satisfying the overall moment equilibrium conditions around three coordinate axes. The factor of
safety for this three-dimensional slope is the value of Fs.
X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133 27
4. Computation of the factor of safety of three dimensional slopes Substituting Eqs. (44) and (45) into Eq. (42) yields
or landslide with the known ellipsoidal slip surface
2 2 2
x a0 x0 yb z b0 z0
1: 47
4.1. Coordinate system a2 b2 a2
xx0 2
yy0 2
zz0 2 s
2 2
1: 42 f f
a2 b2 a2 1
x y
To simplify the computation, the entire sliding body is placed into
the rst quadrant. A coordinate system o-xyz is established by f x a0 x0
z0 b q
transforming the coordinate system o xyz. x a x a x 2 a yb2
2 2
0 0 b2
In the coordinate system o-xyz, y-axis coincides with y-axis, and
let y 0 = b. Therefore, it is sure that y coordinates of the entire sliding
f a2 yb
body are positive. q :
In order that the slip surface is tangential to the xy plane and the y b2 a2 x a x 2 a2 yb2
0 0 b2
z-axis is through the point A, as shown in Fig. 4. The coordinate sys-
tem is transformed as From Eqs. (3), (4) and (47), the direction cosines of shear forces
over the slip surface are obtained as
x xa0
43
z zb0 1 1 f
l ; 0; 49
x
where
q Where
a0 x0 a2 z0 44
f x a0 x0
z0 b q
b0 z0 a: 45 x a2 x a x 2 a yb2
2
0 0 b2
s
2
Substituting Eqs. (44) and (45) into Eq. (41) yields
f
1 :
8 x
> b0 ; x ba0
<
H
z b0 x a0 ; a0 x la0 : 46
>
: l
b0 H; x > la0
4.3. Assumption of inclinations of inter-column forces
a3 ba4
Fig. 4. Prole of calculation model. Fsb a1 a2 e : 50
28 X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133
z'
The searching zone
x'
20 7 0 0.4926 1.4248
30 6 0 0.5277 1.3005
Table 1 40 6 0 0.5493 1.2475
The partial results of searching slip surface for Example 1. 50 6 0 0.5585 1.2223
60 6 0 0.5660 1.2069
The four parameters Number of iterations /rad /rad Fs
80 6 0 0.5729 1.1914
(x0, z0, a, b)
100 6 0 0.5765 1.1840
(0, 40, 40,40) 6 0 0.5493 1.2475 120 6 0 0.5788 1.1797
(5, 50, 53,40) 7 0.0549 0.5659 1.4286 140 6 0 0.5806 1.1769
(3, 42, 47,40) 9 0.1161 0.6620 1.4221 160 6 0 0.5817 1.1751
(3, 43, 51,40) 9 0.1926 0.7704 1.5614 180 6 0 0.5826 1.1739
(3, 40, 48,40) 14 0.3402 0.8969 1.5804 200 6 0 0.5831 1.1729
(3, 45, 50,40) 9 0.1050 0.6533 1.4352 240 7 0 0.5834 1.1721
(3, 40, 43,40) 7 0.1535 0.7156 1.3557 260 7 0 0.5837 1.1717
(6, 46, 57,40) 14 0.1826 0.7688 1.7765 280 7 0 0.5839 1.1714
(7, 40, 46,40) 9 0.1578 0.6974 1.5122 300 7 0 0.5840 1.1711
(8, 46, 55,40) 9 0.1500 0.7069 1.7170 350 7 0 0.5837 1.1709
X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133 29
the following searching approach is proposed in this paper. According optimal equations. The searching process of location of ellipsoidal slip
to Eq. (42), four parameters (x 0 ; z 0 ; a; b) should be determined to lo- surface of three-dimensional slopes is plotted in Fig. 5.
cate an ellipsoidal slip surface because y 0 does not affect the location For slopes or landslides with the known arbitrary slip surface not
of an ellipsoidal slip surface. Therefore, the location of ellipsoidal slip limited to the ellipsoidal one, the determination of the factor of safety
surface can be regarded as an optimization problem, and the optimal will be discussed in Section 6.3.
equations are
6. Examples
8
< F 1 x0 ; z0 ; a; b; ; ; Fs 0
Constrains : F 2 x0 ; z0 ; a; b; ; ; Fs 0 52 6.1. Example 1: The automatic search of the most critical failure surface
:
F 3 x0 ; z0 ; a; b; ; ; Fs 0 of three-dimensional slopes
Table 3
Comparison between the present results and the previous results for example 1.
Factor of safety Zhang's result Chen's result Zheng's result The present result
In order to compare between the present results and previous
Fs 2.122 2.262 2.140 2.092
ones, the factors of safety of the three-dimensional slope are respec-
tively calculated using different methods including General column
method, 3D Bishop simplied method, 3D Janbu's method, 3D
factor of safety for the three-dimensional slope is minimum when
Spencer's method and Li's method (Li et al., 2003.). It is observed
b = 40 m.
from Table 3 that the present results are more conservative than the
Equation of the ellipsoidal slip surface is obtained using the pres-
previous ones.
ent method as:
6.2. Example 2: The determination of the factor of safety for
x2 y402 z402
1: 54 three-dimensional slopes with an ellipsoidal slip surface
402 402 402
Example 2 is a homogeneous, cohesive three-dimensional slope
According to Eq. (54), Example 1 becomes a homogeneous, cohesive with an ellipsoidal slip surface. As shown in Fig. 8, equations of
three-dimensional slope with an ellipsoidal slip surface. Equations of ground and slip surface have already known. The slip surface is ellip-
ground and slip are depicted in Fig. 6. The corresponding factor of safety soidal. The following computation parameters are used (Zhang, 1988;
is 1.2534. Chen et al., 2001a, 2001b): the strength parameters of soil are: c =
In addition, the present method can be applied to study effects of b 29 kPa, = 20 and = 18.8 KN/m 3, parameters of ground surface
on the factor of safety of three-dimensional slopes. When slip surface (H, l) = (12.2, 24.4), parameters of slip surface (a, b, x0 , z0) =
(x0 ; z0 ; a) remains unchanged, equation of the ellipsoidal slip surface (24.4, 78.35, 5.11, 19.16).
can be written as: As shown in Table 4, the stability of this three-dimensional slope
had been studied by Zhang (1988), Chen et al. (2001a, 2001b), and
x2 yb2 z402 Zheng (2007) and factors of safety are 2.122, 2.262 and 2.140,
1: 55
402 b2 402 respectively.
The present method is applied to study the stability of this slope When parameters of the ground and slip surface (a; x 0 ; z 0 ) remain
for verifying the robustness and precision. The entire sliding body is unchanged, the corresponding two-dimensional factor of safety Fsmin
divided into a number of columns with vertical interfaces. There are is
50 columns in the x direction and 50 columns in the y direction. The
h i
results are listed in Table 5. 1:231b0:7146
Fs min lim 2:092 0:004794e 2:092: 59
Eq. (50) can be determined using LevenbergMarquardt least b
97 56
(m)
465
460
455
450
445
440
435
430
425
The slip surface of the
420 lower sliding mass c o l+ d l
Q4
415
410
The slip surface of the Z- 1 3 - 1 0
406. 00 J 1z
405
400
upper sliding mass J 1z
T3x j 6
8. 60
395 del
Q4
10
390 T 8
17. 70
385
379. 60
380
Q4
del
11. 00
J 1z
375
33. 70
370 368. 00 J 1z
12. 02( 367. 58)
13. 80( 365. 80)
365 14. 00( 365. 60) 40. 80
359. 60
360
del
Q4 11. 29( 356. 71)
12. 80( 355. 20)
22. 80( 356. 80)
355
6. 58( 353. 02)
7. 80( 351. 80)
350
20. 80( 347. 20) 32. 80( 346. 80)
c o l+ d l
340 Q 4 20. 30( 339. 30) 39. 80( 339. 80)
J 1z 29. 80( 338. 20)
335
330
32. 80( 326. 80)
found from Table 5 that the values of factor of safety from the present (Feng et al., 2006; Yin et al., 2007) had ever done a large number of
method are more conservative than those from other methods. works on Xiangjiahsan landslide. According to Feng's works, shear
strength parameters of rock-soil are listed in Table 6. Moreover, the
6.3. Example 3: A study case-determination of the factor of safety for factors of safety for Xiangjiashan landslide were calculated by Feng
Xiangjiashan landslide with the known arbitrary slip surface et al. (2006) based on the unbalanced thrust transmission method.
The factors of safety for upper and lower sliding body from the unbal-
In order to analyze the stability of three-dimensional slopes with anced thrust transmission method are 1.11 and 1.65, respectively
the known arbitrary slip surface, a practical landslide-Xiangjiashan (Feng et al., 2006).
landslide is taken into account, as shown in Fig. 10. Before the slope stability of Xiangjiashan landslide is analyzed
The Xiangjiashan landside is located on one side of Chongqing using the present method, the equations of the ground surface and
Guizhou Expressway at the Nanping district in Chongqing. The land- slip surface of Xiangjiashan landslide must rstly be obtained by
slide occurred on March 1998 following rainfalls and articial distur- tting the geometric datum of the ground surface and slip surface,
bance which appear during the period of roadway excavation for which are used to determine the direction cosines of normal forces
ChongqingGuizhou Expressway. It is observed from Fig. 11 that the over the slip surface. The upper and lower sliding masses are divided
strike of the landslide is in northsouth direction and the plan view into a number of columns with vertical interfaces. The upper sliding
of the landslide is an irregular shape of horseshoe. Moreover, the body is divided into 50 columns in the x direction and 50 columns
width and longitudinal length of the landslide are about 200360 m in the y direction. The lower sliding body is divided into 150 columns
and 230 m, respectively. The slope angle of the landslide is about in the x direction and 150 columns in the y direction. The factors of
7080. The area of the sliding region is approximately 70,000 m 2, safety for the upper and lower sliding bodies from the present meth-
and the volume of the sliding body is estimated to be 1,400,000 m 3. od are 0.9738 and 1.4571, respectively. Moreover, 10 iterations are
Therefore, Xiangjiashan landslide is in the framework of large-scale needed to arrive at convergence.
landslides. The factors of safety for Xiangjiashan landslide from the present
According to the geological exploration for Xiangjiashan landslide, method and the unbalanced thrust transmission method are com-
there exist two sliding bodies (upper sliding body and lower sliding pared in Table 7. It is found from Table 7 that the values of the factor
body), which can be observed in Figs. 11 and 12. The upper sliding of safety from present methods are smaller than those from the un-
body contains sandstone and weathered mudstone. The lower sliding balanced thrust transmission method. The differences of the factors
body also contains sandstone and weathered mudstone. Feng et al. of safety for the upper and lower sliding bodies obtained by the
above two methods are 12.27% and 11.69%, respectively.
Table 6
Calculation parameters of the Xiangjiashan landslide.
Table 7
Masses Unit weight Effective cohesion of Effective internal friction Comparison of factors of safety with different calculation methods.
/KN/m3 geomaterials c/KPa angle of geomaterials /
Landslide masses The previous results from unbalanced The present
The upper sliding 24.92 55.0 26.0
thrust transmission method results
mass
The lower sliding 24.92 60.0 25.0 The upper sliding mass 1.11 0.9738
mass The lower sliding mass 1.65 1.4571
X.P. Zhou, H. Cheng / Engineering Geology 160 (2013) 2133 33
7. Conclusions Chen, Z.Y., Wang, X.G., Habereld, C., et al., 2001b. A three-dimensional slope stability
analysis method using the upper bound theorem part I: theory and methods. Inter-
national Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 38 (3), 369378.
The previous limit equilibrium methods applied to analyze the Cheng, Y.M., Zhu, L.J., Gu, Z.Q., 2002. Rotational failure of 3D non-symmetric slope pre-
stability of three-dimensional slopes or landslides only satised dicted by Bishop's method. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 24 (6),
706709.
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tion of China (Nos. 51078371 and 51279218). ity analysis. Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering 24 (19),
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