Abstract
Despite improvements in recognition, prediction and mitigation, rock slope instabilities still exact a heavy social, economic and environmental toll in mountainous regions. This is largely due to the complexity of the processes driving slope failure and our inadequate knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. Ever increasingly, experts are called upon to analyse and predict the stability of a given slope - assessing its risk, potential mode of failure and possible preventive/remedial measures. To do so, it has become essential for the practitioner to be cognisant of the slope analysis tools that are available and to fully understand their strengths and limitations. This paper examines the use of numerical modelling and its role in aiding rock slope stability analyses by providing key insights into potential stability problems, failure mechanisms and mitigative solutions. Several examples will be presented to demonstrate the cause and effect relationships shaped by geological conditions (e.g. rock mass structure, strength degradation through weathering), coupled hydro-mechanical processes, interactions with engineered structures, and aspects of progressive failure as they apply to massive natural rock slopes.
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EBERHARDT, E. (2006). FROM CAUSE TO EFFECT: USING NUMERICAL MODELLING TO UNDERSTAND ROCK SLOPE INSTABILITY MECHANISMS. In: Evans, S.G., Mugnozza, G.S., Strom, A., Hermanns, R.L. (eds) Landslides from Massive Rock Slope Failure. NATO Science Series, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4037-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4037-5_4
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