Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering
>> 2019,
Volume 13,
Issue 4
doi:
10.1007/s11709-019-0529-3
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Seismic stability of earth slopes with tension crack
. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.. Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structure of China Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Accepted: 2019-04-26
Available online: 2019-04-26
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Abstract
Cracks at the crest of slopes frequently occur during earthquakes. Such cracks result from limited tension strength of the soil. A tension cut-off in Mohr-Coulomb shear strength can represent this limited strength. Presented is an extension of variational analysis of slope stability with a tension crack considering seismicity. Both translational and rotational failure mechanisms are included in a pseudo-static analysis of slope stability. Developed is a closed-form to assess the seismic stability of slopes with zero tensile strength. The results indicate that the presence of the tension crack has significant effects on the seismic stability of slopes, i.e. leading to small value of the yield acceleration. Considering soil tension strength in seismic slope analysis may lead to overestimation on the stability, as much as 50% for vertical slopes. Imposing tension crack results in transit of the critical failure mode to a straight line from a log-spiral, except for flat slopes with small soil cohesion. Under seismic conditions, large cohesion may increase the depth of crack, moving it closer to the slope.
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