A Numerical Study on the Behavior of Convex and Concave Slopes in Plan View

볼록 및 오목 사면 형상에 따른 거동에 대한 수치해석 모형 연구

Numerical modeling of cut slope has some limits in simulating the real slopes. In the case of 2D analysis of slope stability, it is assumed that slope is simply straight even when it is concave or convex in plan view. In this study, 3D analysis in curved shape slopes has been conducted for the comparison with 2D analysis in terms of failure mode and factor of safety. For this, 3D analysis by FLAC3D was compared with 2D analysis in plane strain condition and axi-symmetric model condition by FLAC. It was also observed how safety factors of slopes were affected by the variation of the tensile strength and cohesion, which are important variables to decide whether the slope fails or not. 2D analysis of concave slopes under plane strain condition showed much smaller safety factors by 16-40 % errors depending on the radius of curvature of slopes, compared to the more realistic values from 3D analysis. In case of convex slopes, the lower values by 7-10 % has been reported. 2D analysis of axi-symmetric model showed also smaller safety factors by 6-10 % and by 2-4 %, in case of concave and convex slopes, respectively. Such results are expected to contribute to the better understanding of failure process and could be applied for improved design of slopes.