Nature of Shear Strength Mobilization and Initiation of Progressive Failure Along Shear Plane of Soil Slope
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64862/Keywords:
Progressive failure, Failure plane, Shear strength mobilization, SlopeAbstract
Several cases of failed soil slopes have been analyzed using a method of progressive failure to identify the nature of shear strength mobilization at failure. The failure analysis used method of slices within the limit equilibrium technique with a closed form solution. The study found maximum shear strength was mobilized towards the places where local failure was supposed to occur. The numerical calculations also showed that shear strength in several local places along shear planes were readjusted to retain local factors of safety more than unity. Failures eventually occurred (F closes to unity) where strength mobilization failed to retain local factor of safety as unity for most of the places along the shear plane. Shear strength and its readjusted distribution along the entire shear plane was found to be non-uniform.
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