Effects of nonlinear failure criterion on the three-dimensional stability analysis of uniform slopes

Determination of Mohr–Coulomb Parameters from Nonlinear Strength Criteria for 3D Slopes

“…Method. Since the nonlinear PL failure criterion was firstly proposed by Zhang & Chen [9] to express the failure envelopes of cohesive soils, numerous researchers have applied this nonlinear criterion into the slope stability analysis [11,[14][15][16][17]. For the PL failure criterion, the shear stress on the slope slip surface is expressed in the form of normal stress , as follows:…”

“…To implement the use of nonlinear strength criteria for slope engineering, the tangential method was originally proposed by Drescher & Christopoulos [29] to conduct the limit analysis of slope stability. Then, many researchers employed the proposed tangential method to evaluate the slope safety in the 2D or 3D conditions [11,[14][15][16][17]28]. Their studies could demonstrate the validity of stability results obtained from the tangential method for slope engineering applications.…”

“…To establish the 3D limit analysis method, Michalowski & Drescher [30] and Gao et al [31] have conducted some researches on the 3D rotational failure mechanisms for soil slopes considering toe failure, face failure, and base failure. Afterwards, Gao et al [31] and Gao et al [14,15] adopted the 3D failure mechanisms for face failure and base failure to present the 3D limit analysis of slope stability based on the MC strength criterion and nonlinear PL strength criterion, respectively. Hence, this study utilized the 3D limit analysis method of Gao et al [14] to derive the equivalent MC parameters for soil slopes with the PL strength criterion.…”

“…Hence, many researchers then utilized some presented nonlinear strength criteria to conduct slope stability analysis (e.g., Charles & Soares [8]; Zhang & Chen [9]; Dawson et al [10]; Yang & Yin. [11]; Li et al [12]; Shen & Karakus [13]; Gao et al [14,15]; Zhao et al [16]; Xu & Yang [17]). However, these nonlinear failure criteria are not presented in forms of MC strength parameters and they cannot be directly used in practice for slope design.…”

“…For slopes in soils, a number of researchers have used a Power-Law (PL) type of nonlinear strength envelope for the evaluation of slope safety (e.g., Charles & Soares [8]; Zhang & Chen [9]; Yang & Yin [11]; Gao et al [14,15]; Zhao et al [16]; Xu & Yang [17]). To determine the MC strength parameters of soil slopes with the PL failure criterion, this study adopted the tangential method to carry out the 3D limit analysis method for slope stability assessment.…”