Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-1

Slope Design with Eurocode 7

Eurocode 7 is a design document that establishes rules and standards for
geotechnical engineering design across Europe (BSI, 2004). Eurocode 7
represents a major change in design philosophy. Traditionally a single,
lumped factor of safety accounts for all of the uncertainties in the
problem. With Eurocode 7, partial factors of safety are applied to different
components of the analysis. The partial factors are applied prior to the
analysis to give design values that are used in the calculation. The final
result is an over-design factor, which must be greater than 1 to ensure
the serviceability limit state requirement is satisfied. For more
information on using Eurocode 7 in geotechnical design, see Smith (2006)
and Bond and Harris (2008).

This tutorial describes how to design a slope to Eurocode 7 specifications

using RocTopple. The focus will be on how different design combinations
are applied in the computation and what they mean.

The finished model can be found in the Tutorial 03 Eurocode

Design.rtop data file. Tutorial files installed with RocTopple can be
accessed by selecting File > Recent Folders > Tutorials Folder from the
RocTopple main menu.

Topics Covered

Example for Design Approach 1, Combination 2

Example for Design Approach 2
Single Source Principle

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-2

Model

Start the RocTopple program. Once the program is open, maximize the
view if it is not already maximized.

Project Settings
Open the Project Settings dialog from the Analysis menu or the
toolbar.

Select: Analysis Project Settings

Under the General tab, set the Units to Metric, stress as kPa.

Go to the Design Standard tab. Youll see that the current Design
Standard is None. Well leave this setting as is, and come back later to
assign different design standards.

Click on View Partial Factors. With no design standard applied, you

should see that all partial factors are set to a default of 1, which means
all values used in the calculation are the exact input values.

Click Cancel to exit the Partial Factors dialog.

Click OK in the Project Settings dialog to finalize the settings.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-3

Input Data
Lets first construct the basic model. Go to the Input Data dialog through
the Analysis menu or the toolbar.

Select: Analysis Input Data

Under the Geometry tab, enter the values as shown in the figure below.

Under the Strength tab, enter the values as shown in the figure below.

Click OK to exit the dialog.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-4

The model should now have a factor of safety of 0.444, with blocks 1 6
toppling, and blocks 7 12 stable (at point of failure).

Lets add a bolt to the toe block, using the Bolt Dialog.

Select: Support Add Bolt

Enter the following bolt specifications:

Select OK.

Add another bolt with the same specifications, but with the following
changes:

Height Above Toe = 39m

Length = 40m

The Factor of Safety should now be 0.708.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-6

Design Approach 1, Combination 2

Without changing the current input data, lets go back to the Project
Settings dialog to apply a design standard.

Under the Design Standard tab, select Eurocode 7 Design Approach

1, Combination 2 for the Design Standard.

Lets view the Partial Factors for this Design Standard.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-7

Applying this set of partial factors means to enlarge unfavorable variable

actions while to ignore favorable variable actions, and to reduce the shear
strength parameters. If bolts are present, then their capacity or the
resistance they provide to stabilize the slope is also reduced.

Click OK in the Partial Factors dialog. Click OK in the Project

Settings dialog.

The model should now have a factor of safety of 0.53. At the point of
failure, blocks 1 6 are toppling, and 7 12 are stable.

Equivalent Model
We can reproduce the results from Design Standard Approach 1,
Combination 2, without having to use the Design Standard.

Lets first turn off the Design Standard. Go to the Project Settings
dialog, and under the Design Standard tab, change the Design
Standard to None. The Factor of Safety should now have reverted to
0.708.

To simulate the design approach, we need to apply a factor to the

following parameters:

1. Increase variable unfavorable actions by a factor of 1.3 we do

not need to change anything because there are no external
variable loads.

2. Reduce the effective cohesion and the friction angle (tan()) by a

factor of 1.25. We should go to the Input Data dialog, and under
the Strength tab, change the Base Joints Friction Angle to
33.87 and the Toppling Joints Friction Angle to 27.45.

Base Joints Friction Angle:

Tan-1(Tan(40)/1.25) = 33.87

Toppling Joints Friction Angle:

Tan-1(Tan(33)/1.25) = 27.45

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-8

Click OK to close the Input Data Dialog.

3. Reduce the Tensile Capacity of all bolts. To edit a bolt, right-click

on the bolt, select Edit Bolt The Edit Spot Bolt dialog should
appear. Change the Capacity to 454kN (500kN/1.1 = 454kN).

Remember to edit both bolts (there are 2).

The Factor of Safety should now be 0.53, which is exactly the

same as that for Design Approach 1, Combination 2. You should
also see that at the point of failure, blocks 1 6 are toppling,
while 7 12 are stable.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-9

Design Approach 2

For constructing the basic model, lets keep the existing geometry, but
delete the two bolts.

Select: Support Delete Bolt

The cursor should now be a square. Left-click on both bolts (they should
change to being highlighted), then right-click and select Done.

Also make sure that the Base Joints Friction Angle is 40, and the
Toppling Joints Friction Angle is 33, and the Design Standard is set to
None. The Factor of Safety should be 0.444.

For this basic model, lets add a Line Load to the toe block.

Select: Loading Add Line Load

Enter the following data in the Add Line Load dialog:

Select OK.

The Factor of Safety should have increased to 0.472. This is because the
line load on the toe block provides a resisting moment to the block.

Lets now go to the Project Settings dialog. Under the Design

Standard tab, set the Design Standard to Eurocode - Design
Approach 2.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-10

Click View Partial Factors, and you should see the following dialog.

For this design standard, a partial factor would be applied to the driving
force of the slope weight (permanent unfavorable action), any unfavorable
external force that is set to be variable, the joint shear strength, and the
tensile capacity of any bolts.

Click OK in the Partial Factors dialog, and then also click OK in the
Project Settings dialog.

The Factor of Safety should now have decreased to 0.404. Blocks 1 6

should be toppling at the point of failure, while blocks 7 12 should be
stable.

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-11

Equivalent Model
We can construct a model that has the same effects and would produce
the same results as when partial factors are applied in Eurocode 7 -
Design Approach 2.

Make sure the Design Standard is set to None. The Factor of Safety
should revert to 0.472.

To simulate the design approach, we need to apply changes to the

following parameters:

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 Slope Design with Eurocode 7 3-12

1. Under the Geometry tab in the Input Data dialog, multiply

the Rock Unit Weight by 1.35, to get 36.45kN/m3. This has
the same effect as applying a factor of 1.35 to any permanent
unfavorable actions, which in this case is the driving force due
to the slope weight. However, remember that the weight has
both a favorable and unfavorable action component
(stabilizing and driving). We have to adhere to the Single
Source Principle and apply only 1 factor to any actions
that comes from the same source. The Factor of Safety should
now be 0.464.

2. Under the Strength tab in the Input Data dialog, we need

to reduce the overall joint shear strength by a factor of 1.1.
This is the equivalent to reducing the Earth Resistance by a
factor of 1.1.

a. Base Joints Friction Angle:

Tan-1(Tan(40)/1.1) = 37.34

b. Toppling Joints Friction Angle:

Tan-1(Tan(33)/1.1) = 30.56

Keep in mind that this is different from reducing individual

shear strength parameters. If cohesion is present, then a
factor of 1.1 is applied to the overall shear strength:

Factored Shear Strength =

(Normal Force x Tan() + cohesion)/1.1

Click OK in the Input Data dialog. The Factor of Safety

should now be 0.422.

3. We need to delete the Line Load. This is because a partial

factor of 0 is applied to any favorable variable action in
Approach 2. The current Line Load is a favorable action
because it provides a resisting moment on the toe block. Also,
Line Loads by default are set to be variable actions
whenever a design standard is applied (you have the option to
change a Line Load to be a permanent action in the
Add/Edit Line Load dialog).

To delete the Line Load, right-click on the Line Load and

select Delete.

The Factor of Safety is now 0.404, the same as for Eurocode Design
Approach 2.

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You may access the Help system for more information on Eurocode
design. To do so, click the ? button on the top-right corner of the Design
Standard tab in the Project Settings dialog.

References

Bond, A. J. and Harris, A. J., 2008. Decoding Eurocode 7, Taylor &

Francis.

British Standards Institution, 2004. Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design

Part 1: General rules, BS EN 1997-1, London, UK.

Smith, 2006. Smiths Elements of Soil Mechanics, 8th Edition, Blackwell

Publishing.

RocTopple v.1.0 Tutorial Manual