Effects on slope stability for different soils in various seismic zones

Abstract

Failure of slopes, both natural and man-made, include slope instability as well as failures and in the seismic active zones, these slopes can become a real danger to the mankind. The failure consequences can range from the direct cost of failed rock mass to possibly indirect cost which includes the damage to vehicles and livelihood injury on the highways. The slope stability is dependent on various factors such as structural geological characteristics of the region, the local sub-soil conditions of the location, the groundwater conditions, structural loads, surcharge, the discontinuities, active faults in the region and most importantly the seismic zone of the region. These parameters have a critical role in governing the stability of the slope. From the type of soils such as clayey soil to cohesionless soil such as sandy soils to some of the stable rock mass. This paper deals with the parametric study of these cases which involves the assessment of slope stability through Strength Reduction Factor (SRF) analysis for different soil types with different slopes angles and in different seismic zones. The overall stability of the slopes in terms of the Factor of Safety (FoS), displacements as well as shear strain has been discussed and sheds light on the instrumentation of these slopes so that in case of the movements, the corrective measures can be taken at the initial stage so that it doesn’t evolve to become fatal and endanger several lives.