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A stress-based limit method for three-dimensional soil slope stability analysis

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Abstract

A stress-based limit method for the stability analysis of three-dimensional (3D) soil slopes is developed. The method allows the use of soil stresses obtained from a finite element model in a limit equilibrium analysis. An extended ellipsoidal surface is proposed as the potential 3D critical slip surface of slopes. Thus, the solution can proceed with slope failures where notably different widths exist between upper and lower ends of slip surfaces. The surface discretization is based on a novel octahedral mapping strategy, and the corresponding discretized surface points are located via a background grid scheme. The slope factor of safety is calculated using the algebraic summation of forces acting on the slip surface, which has been proved to be essentially consistent with the strength reduction method. Additionally, a self-adaptive differential evolution optimization algorithm with the opposite-movement scheme is also introduced to search for the 3D critical slip surface. The adoption of the strategies yields a robust and efficient algorithm. Representative examples indicate that the factor of safety obtained using the ellipsoidal slip surface may be up to 15% greater than that obtained by the extended ellipsoidal slip surface in complex soil slopes. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis implies that an unreasonable Poisson’s ratio value may lead to an absolute error of at least 0.25 in the calculation of the factor of safety.

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Data Availability

The data used in the representative examples are provided in the paper and can also be obtained from relevant references as mentioned in our study.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 201906230076) and the scholarship of Shanghai Jiao Tong University oversea study grants (WF 630160310). These supports are gratefully acknowledged.

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Author notes

  1. Jia-Xuan Zhang

    Present address: China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Corp., Ltd, Shanghai, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean, and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Kun Zhang

  2. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu Province, China

    Ze-Nian Wang

Authors
  1. Kun Zhang
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  2. Ze-Nian Wang
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  3. Jia-Xuan Zhang
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Contributions

Kun Zhang: investigation, methodology, writing—original draft preparation. Ze-Nian Wang: conceptualization, visualization, reviewing, and editing. Jia-Xuan Zhang: conceptualization, visualization, reviewing, and editing.

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Correspondence to Ze-Nian Wang or Jia-Xuan Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Zhang, K., Wang, ZN. & Zhang, JX. A stress-based limit method for three-dimensional soil slope stability analysis. Arab J Geosci 16, 206 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-11172-5

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