Abstract
This paper proposes a numerical procedure to determine the location of the critical noncircular slip surface giving the minimum factor of safety. The slope subjected to analysis is divided into slices, each of which has a finite width. The simplified Janbu's method is employed as the method of stability analysis based on the general slip surfaces. By the use of mathematical programming technique, the procedure allows the location of slip surface to migrate so as to make the factor of safety converges to a sufficiently small value. Due to the assumption that the slip surface intersects the ground surface only on the interslice surface, the procedure requires some trials in which the boundary condition of the intersection is sought methodically. The procedure can be applied to a slope including layered soil or pore pressure. The results of some case studies by using the procedure are also reported.
