APPLICABILITY OF DISTINCT ELEMENT METHOD TO FAILURE PREDICTION OF DISCONTINUOUS ROCK SLOPE BASED ON AN ACTUAL SLOPE FAILURE

Abstract

The failure of a large discontinuous rock slope causes severe damage not only to economic but to social, thus the stability evaluation of such slopes is a very serious engineering problem. This paper discusses the methods to evaluate the stability using the Base Friction Model Test (BFMT) and the Distinct Element Method (DEM) based on the field measurement data of the large-scale failure caused in a limestone quarry. The results of this study have revealed that both methods are useful ways to perform failure prediction, and also confirmed that the use of both methods at the same time is indispensable when evaluating the stability of discontinuous rock slopes.