Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

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Journal of Rock Mechanics and

Geotechnical Engineering
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Full Length Article

Factor of safety of strain-softening slopes

Hossein Rafiei Renani a, *, C. Derek Martin b
a
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., Vancouver, Canada
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Stability analysis of strain-softening slopes is carried out using the shear strength reduction method and
Received 17 June 2019 Mohr-Coulomb model with degrading cohesion and friction angle. The effect of strain-softening behavior
Received in revised form on the slope factor of safety is investigated by performing a series of analyses for various slope geom-
24 September 2019
etries and strength properties. Stability charts and equations are developed to estimate the factor of
Accepted 12 November 2019
Available online 8 April 2020
safety of strain-softening slopes from the results of traditional stability analysis based on perfectly-plastic
behavior. Two example applications including an open pit mine in weak rock and clay shale slope with
daylighting bedding planes are presented. The results of limit equilibrium analysis and shear strength
Keywords:
Slope stability analysis
reduction method with perfectly-plastic models were in close agreement. Using perfectly-plastic models
Factor of safety ratio with peak strength properties led to overly optimistic results while adopting residual strength properties
Shear strength reduction gave excessively conservative outcomes. The shear strength reduction method with a strain-softening
Perfectly-plastic behavior model gave realistic factors of safety while accounting for the process of strength degradation.
Open pit slope Ó 2020 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by
Clay shale slope Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction distribution of stresses can lead to progressive failure of slopes

(Terzaghi and Peck, 1948; Skempton, 1964). Strain-softening
Stability of soil and rock slopes has long been a subject of study behavior can be incorporated in stress analysis of slopes using the
in geotechnical engineering with applications in civil and mining finite difference method (FDM) or finite element method (FEM).
projects. The most common indicator of slope stability is the factor Adopting the shear strength reduction (SSR) method, the slope FOS
of safety (FOS) defined as the value by which the shear strength of can be obtained from stress analysis (e.g. Zienkiewicz et al., 1975;
the slope material must be divided in order to bring the slope to the Griffiths, 1980; Smith and Griffiths, 1988; Zhou and Cheng, 2015;
point of failure. Limit equilibrium analysis is a simple and Rafiei Renani et al., 2019).
commonly used method for determination of the FOS from the Despite its significance, the effect of strain-softening behavior
driving and resisting forces and moments acting on a critical sliding on slope stability has been explored in relatively few studies. Early
mass (e.g. Morgenstern and Price, 1965; Fredlund and Krahn, 1977; attempts were made by Lo and Lee (1973) who used the FEM to
Zhou and Cheng, 2013; Rafiei Renani and Martin, 2020). However, explore the effect of strain-softening on slope stability. Nonveiller
displacements are not taken into account in such analysis assuming (1987) discussed the impact of strain-softening on the progres-
that driving and resisting forces are independent of deformation. sive failure of the Vajont reservoir slope. Griffiths (1989) used the
This corresponds to a perfectly-plastic behavior in which strength von Mises criterion with cohesion softening for stability analysis of
remains unchanged after failure. an undrained clay slope. Chen et al. (1992) used strain-softening
In reality, a wide range of soils and rocks exhibit a reduction in models to back-analyze the progressive failure of the Carsington
strength properties with excessive deformation, damage and fail- Dam. A similar approach was taken by Potts et al. (1997) to inves-
ure. This characteristic is referred to as strain-softening behavior. tigate the delayed collapse of cut slopes in London Clay. Troncone
The combination of strain-softening behavior and non-uniform (2005) implemented a strain-softening model to back-analyze the
Senise landslide. Mohammadi and Taiebat (2016) used the FEM to
investigate the evolution of deformation and failure in strain-
softening slopes. More recently, Zhang and Zhou (2018) incorpo-
* Corresponding author. rated the SSR method in a discrete particle model to study the
E-mail address: rafi[email protected] (H. Rafiei Renani).
behavior of a strain-softening slope. Most of these studies have
Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chi-
nese Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2019.11.004
1674-7755 Ó 2020 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-
NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
474 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

focused on in-depth analysis of specific slopes limiting the rele- Fig. 1b shows the response of Yellow clay from the Carsington Dam
vance of the results to other projects. under shear tests (Skempton, 1985). Similar to many types of rock, a
Explicit incorporation of strain-softening behavior in practical significant decrease in post-peak strength can be observed in
slope design remains rare, largely due to the additional complexity strain-softening soils.
and computation cost involved. In addition, there are no pre- Using a series of triaxial compression or shear tests at different
liminary design tools for strain-softening slopes such as the slope confinement levels, peak and residual strength envelopes can be
stability charts frequently developed based on perfectly-plastic obtained. Fig. 2a shows the peak and residual strength envelopes
behavior (e.g. Hoek and Bray, 1981; Leshchinsky and Mullet, obtained from triaxial compression tests on Buchberg sandstone
1988; Michalowski, 2002; Li et al., 2008; Steward et al., 2011; (Kovari, 1977). It can be observed that residual strength is consis-
Shen et al., 2013). tently and significantly lower than peak strength. However, the
This study aims at providing practical tools for preliminary slopes of peak and residual strength envelopes are similar, indi-
design of slopes in strain-softening material. A comprehensive se- cating that strain-softening behavior of Buchberg sandstone is
ries of slope stability analyses has been carried out on slopes with a mainly due to loss of cohesion while friction angle is largely
wide range of geometries and strength characteristics. The results unaffected.
have been used to develop new stability charts and equations to Peak and residual strength envelopes of Walton’s Wood clay
estimate the impact of strain-softening on the slope FOS. The level obtained from shear tests (Skempton, 1964) are shown in Fig. 2b.
of simplicity maintained in the stability analyses render the find- Similar to the Buchberg sandstone, complete cohesion loss con-
ings useful for a wide range of slope conditions. Two examples are tributes significantly to the strain-softening behavior. However, the
presented to illustrate the application of strain-softening models in slope of residual strength envelope is also lower than that of peak
slope stability analysis. strength envelope, indicating a reduction in friction angle of Wal-
ton’s Wood clay in the residual state due to microstructural reor-
ientations and alignment of clay platelets in the direction of shear
2. Strain-softening behavior in soils and rocks displacement.

The process of deformation and failure of geomaterials under 3. Modeling of strain-softening behavior in slopes
various loading conditions has been well documented. For example,
Wawersik and Fairhurst (1970) investigated the stress-strain Shear strength of soils and rocks is composed of two main
behavior of Tennessee marble using a series of triaxial compres- components; cohesive strength resulting from intergranular bonds
sion tests. Fig. 1a shows the strain-softening behavior of Tennessee and cementation, and frictional strength resulting from frictional
marble especially at lower confinement. resistance during shearing which is directly related to confining
Levels. As effective confining stress increases, the amount of stress. The most common strength criterion for geomaterials is the
post-peak stress drop decreases and perfectly-plastic behavior may Mohr-Coulomb criterion in which frictional strength is a linear
be observed at relatively high confinement levels. However, insta- function of effective normal stress:
bility and failure of geostructures such as slopes and tunnels typi-
cally occur in regions with little to no confinement where strain- s ¼ c þ sn tan4 (1)
softening behavior is most pronounced. This underlines the
importance of considering strain-softening behavior in geotech- where s and sn are the shear stress and effective normal stress on
nical analysis and design. the plane of failure, and c and 4 are the cohesion and friction angle
Strain-softening behavior has also been observed during tests of the material, respectively. It can be observed from Fig. 2b that
on overconsolidated clays and dense sands (Bjerrum, 1954; linear Mohr-Coulomb criteria can adequately describe peak and
Skempton, 1964; Hettler and Vardoulakis, 1984). For example, residual strength envelopes of Walton’s Wood clay. Peak strength

Fig. 1. Stress-strain response of (a) Tennessee marble at various levels of effective confining stress s3 (Wawersik and Fairhurst, 1970), and (b) Yellow clay under different effective
normal stresses, sn (Skempton, 1985).
 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483 475

Fig. 2. Peak and residual strength envelopes of (a) Buchberg sandstone (Kovari, 1977) and (b) Walton’s Wood clay (Skempton, 1964).

envelope of rocks may display some degree of nonlinearity which Table 1

can be better captured by nonlinear failure criteria such as those Material parameters for the slope subjected to displacements at the crest.

suggested by Hoek and Brown (1980) and Rafiai (2011). However, Model g (kN/m3) E (MPa) n cp (kPa) cr (kPa) 4p ( ) 4r ( ) εp* (%)
nonlinear strength envelopes may still be approximated with linear Perfectly-plastic 20 25 0.25 30 30 30 30 e
Mohr-Coulomb envelopes with sufficient accuracy for engineering Strain-softening 20 25 0.25 30 15 30 30 4
purposes (e.g. Hoek et al., 2002; Rafiei Renani and Martin, 2020).
In a perfectly-plastic Mohr-Coulomb model, shear strength pa-
rameters remain constant regardless of the extent of plastic The plastic shear strain threshold εp* controls the rate of strain-
deformation. This causes the strength to remain constant even after softening and may be considered as a measure of material brittle-
failure. In order to capture the post-peak stress drop observed for ness. Results of tests on brittle soils and rocks indicate that post-
strain-softening materials, strength parameters can be degraded as peak strength drop occurs quite rapidly. When possible, the
plastic strain increases. Linear and nonlinear variations of strength stress-strain curves obtained from laboratory experiments may be
parameters have been used for modeling brittle failure of rocks used to estimate this parameter (Skempton, 1985; Chen et al., 1992;
around underground excavations under high confinement Rafiei Renani and Martin, 2018a; b). In other cases, values reported
(Vermeer and de Borst, 1984; Hajiabdolmajid et al., 2002; Rafiei in the literature for similar materials may be used as a first estimate.
Renani and Martin, 2018a; b). For simplicity, linear degradation of In the absence of relevant experimental and empirical evidence, the
cohesion and friction angle is typically assumed in slope stability conservative assumption of instantaneous softening may be
analysis (e.g. Potts et al., 1997; Troncone, 2005; Conte et al., 2010; adopted. It is typically assumed that εp* is independent of confining
Mohammadi and Taiebat, 2013). Hence, the Mohr-Coulomb crite- stress. Although this may be a simplification, the stress-strain
rion with linearly degrading strength parameters was adopted in curves obtained with this assumption can be quite realistic (e.g.
this study to model the strain-softening behavior slope material Vermeer and de Borst, 1984; Skempton, 1985; Chen et al., 1992;
(Fig. 3). Rafiei Renani and Martin, 2018a; b).
In order to illustrate the effect of strain-softening behavior on
slope stability, it is useful to analyze a simple homogeneous slope
with vertical displacements applied over a finite area of its crest.
Although this is not a typical loading, it was chosen to illustrate the
impact of strain-softening behavior on the load-displacement
response of the slope. In this case, a slope with a height, H, of
10 m and slope angle, b, of 60 was analyzed. The material pa-
rameters of the slope including unit weight, g, Young’s modulus, E,
Poisson’s ratio, n, peak and residual cohesion, cp and cr , peak and
residual friction angles, 4p and 4r , and plastic strain threshold, εp* ,
are given in Table 1. Non-associated plasticity with zero dilation
angle was assumed. A perfectly-plastic model with peak strength
parameters and a strain-softening model with partial cohesion loss
and constant friction angle were compared.
The FLAC3D code (Itasca Inc., 2017) based on explicit FDM was
used to analyze the slope response. A uniform mesh with 50
quadrilateral elements across the height of the slope was used to
discretize the slope (Fig. 4). The boundary conditions include hor-
Fig. 3. Linear degradation of effective cohesion and friction angle from peak to residual izontal restraints on the sides and full fixity at the base of the
values in the strain-softening model. model. The initial state of the slope was obtained by bringing the
476 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

drop after reaching the maximum vertical stress while the strain-
softening model captured the post-peak reduction in load bearing
capacity.

4. Application of the shear strength reduction method

The slope FOS is commonly determined using limit equilibrium

analysis. In this approach, the sliding mass is divided into slices, and
equations of force and/or moment equilibrium of slices are satis-
fied. Beside the assumptions regarding the interslice forces and the
necessity of using secondary search algorithms to find the critical
slip surface with the lowest FOS, this approach does not take into
account the interrelationship between stress, strength, and
displacement (Krahn, 2003). One implication of ignoring dis-
placements is the inherent assumption that strength is indepen-
dent of deformation, i.e. perfectly-plastic behavior. As a result, limit
Fig. 4. Homogeneous slope subjected to vertical displacement dv at the crest. equilibrium analysis may not capture the progressive failure of
strain-softening slopes (e.g. Chen et al., 1992).
In order to enhance the method by which the FOS is calculated,
Zienkiewicz et al. (1975) introduced the shear strength reduction
(SSR) method which was later developed by Dawson et al. (1999)
model to equilibrium under gravity and resetting displacements.
and Griffiths and Lane (1999). In this approach, a series of stress
Subsequently a vertical displacement with a rate of 1 mm/s was
analyses are carried out in which shear strength is progressively
applied over a 3 m strip of the crest. Development of failure and
evolution of vertical displacement and induced vertical stress on reduced to bring the slope to the point of failure where numerical
convergence is no longer possible. According to Eq. (1), scaling of
the strip were monitored during loading.
The mechanism of development and final position of the failure shear strength is possible by applying a strength reduction factor
(SRF) to shear strength parameters:
surface in perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models were
similar, starting above the toe and extending upward towards the c
crest. Fig. 5a shows the corresponding vertical displacements when ctrial ¼ (2)
SRF
failure reaches different points along the slip surface obtained us-
ing the strain-softening model. At different stages of analysis, tan4
normalized failure length was calculated as the ratio of the current tan4trial ¼ (3)
SRF
length of failure to the final length of slip surface. Fig. 5b shows the
relationship between the normalized failure length, induced ver- where ctrial and 4trial are the trial values of cohesion and friction
tical stress and vertical displacements at the loading strip. The angle for a given SRF, respectively. Hence, by changing SRF and
failure length in perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models fol- using corresponding trial values of cohesion and friction angle in
lowed a similar trend and accelerated as loading progressed. numerical analysis, it is possible to find the critical SRF which
However, initiation and propagation of failure occurred sooner in corresponds to the state of limiting equilibrium. The critical SRF in
the strain-softening model. In both models, slip surfaces were fully the SSR method has the same definition as the FOS in limit equi-
developed immediately after the maximum vertical stresses were librium analysis. Similar results have been obtained from limit
reached. The perfectly-plastic model showed no meaningful stress equilibrium analysis and SSR method for slopes with simple

Fig. 5. Slope response to applied displacements: (a) Development of failure surface and (b) Vertical stress and normalized failure length in perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain softening
(SS) models.
 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483 477

To illustrate the process of obtaining the FOS using the SSR

method, a 10 m high slope with an angle of 60 and parameters
given in Table 1 was analyzed under gravitational forces. Two
uniform meshes, referred to as the medium and fine meshes, were
used with 50 and 77 elements across the height of the slope,
respectively. A series of analyses with progressively increasing SRF
values was carried out to reach the state of limiting equilibrium.
Fig. 7a shows the relationship between the total displacement at
the crest and SRF using perfectly-plastic and strain-softening
models. As expected, increasing SRF led to increased displace-
ments in all cases. Perfectly-plastic models with medium and fine
meshes showed very similar responses with no numerical
convergence beyond SRF of 1.55. This compares closely with the
FOS of 1.56 obtained from limit equilibrium analysis with the
Morgenstern and Price (1965) method and non-circular slip surface
search using the SLIDE software (Rocscience Inc, 2018a).
Fig. 6. Application of the strength reduction factor to perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain- The critical values of SRF for the strain-softening models were
softening (SS) models. 1.22 and 1.19 using the medium and fine meshes, respectively.
Hence, the effect of element size on the FOS in this range of mesh
resolution is less than 3% which is acceptable in most geotechnical
applications. Fig. 7b shows the slip surface obtained using the
geometry and perfectly-plastic behavior (Dawson et al., 1999;
strain-softening model and the fine mesh.
Griffiths and Lane, 1999; Cheng et al., 2007).
In the shear strength reduction approach, the constitutive
relationship between stress and strain as well as strain compati- 5. Factor of safety of strain-softening slopes
bility of the continuum is satisfied. In addition, the mechanism of
failure and associated slip surface emerge naturally during stress In order to develop practical tools for preliminary design of
analysis. Another benefit is that realistic material models can be slopes in strain-softening materials, a comprehensive series of
incorporated in numerical stress analysis and SSR method. slope stability analyses was carried out using the SSR method with
The strength reduction method was originally applied to perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models. The analyses were
perfectly-plastic models in which strength parameters were inde- based on typical simplified assumptions to keep the findings rele-
pendent of deformations. In this study, application of the strength vant for general slope conditions. Gravity loading of the completed
reduction method was extended to strain-softening models. This slope with horizontal restraints on the sides and full fixity at the
was achieved by applying the SRF to the values of cohesion and base of the model was adopted (e.g. Zienkiewicz et al., 1975;
friction angle which were functions of plastic strain rather than Griffiths, 1989; Griffiths and Lane, 1999; Cheng et al., 2007).
constant value. Fig. 6 illustrates the application of the SRF in Quadratic triangular elements were adopted in numerical analyses
perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models. Original strength with the FEM using the RS2 software (Rocscience Inc, 2018b). The
parameters (SRF ¼ 1) are constant in the perfectly-plastic model height and angle of slope as well as shear strength parameters were
and variable in the strain-softening model. Reduced strength pa- varied to cover a wide range of potential conditions. In stability
rameters (SRF > 1) are obtained by applying the SRF to the original analyses using the perfectly-plastic model, peak shear strength
strength parameters according to Eqs. (2) and (3). These reduced parameters cp and 4p were used.
strength parameters are also constant in the perfectly-plastic In all stability analyses using the strain-softening model,
model and variable in the strain-softening model. instantaneous and complete loss of cohesion after failure was

Fig. 7. (a) Relationship between strength reduction factor and total displacement at the crest using perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain-softening (SS) models and (b) Displacement
vectors indicating the predicted sliding mass using the strain-softening model and medium mesh.
478 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

Fig. 8. FOS ratio for the first scenario (cr ¼ 0, 4r ¼ 4p ) obtained using the shear strength reduction method (data points) and the proposed Eq. (5) (solid lines).

assumed (cr ¼ 0). This is in keeping with the fact that the residual
strength envelopes of most geomaterials pass through the origin FOSSS
(Fig. 2). Two scenarios were considered for the post-peak varia-
k¼ (4)
FOSPP
tion of friction angle. In the first scenario, the friction angle
remained unchanged after failure (4r ¼ 4p ). This may be where FOSPP is obtained using the perfectly-plastic model with
considered as an upper bound for residual strength and is peak strength parameters and FOSSS is obtained from the strain-
consistent with the behavior of materials whose peak and residual softening model with similar peak strength parameters and
strength envelopes are approximately parallel (Fig. 2a). The sec- degraded residual strength parameters.
ond scenario represents a crude lower bound for residual strength Fig. 8 shows the FOS ratios obtained for the first scenario in
in which the friction angle is reduced by half after failure (4r ¼ which cr ¼ 0 and 4r ¼ 4p in the strain-softening model. In this
4p =2). This is consistent with the behavior of materials whose scenario, the difference between perfectly-plastic and strain-
peak strength envelope is significantly steeper that the residual softening models was due to cohesion loss only. For the case of
strength envelope (Fig. 2b). zero peak cohesion, there was no cohesion to be lost and therefore
It is well known that associated flow rule considerably over- the perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models coincided giving
estimates the dilation of frictional materials, resulting in frequent an FOS ratio of unity. By increasing peak cohesion, the amount of
use of non-associated plasticity with zero dilation angle in cohesion loss during strain-softening increased and the FOS ratio
modeling the behavior of geomaterials (e.g. Roscoe, 1970; Griffiths, decreased and approached an asymptotic value. The FOS ratio in
1981, 1989; Vermeer and de Borst, 1984; Griffiths and Lane, 1999; thse first scenario can be approximated using
Troncone, 2005). This was also adopted in all the analyses pre-
sented in this study. However, it has been shown that using higher

 
1 þ cpgH tan4p
values of dilation angle has minimal influence on the slope FOS (e.g. k1 ¼
  (5)
1 þ ðp  0:7sinbÞcp gH tan4p
Zienkiewicz et al., 1975; Chen et al., 1992; Cheng et al., 2007). To
illustrate the effect of strain-softening behavior on the slope FOS, It should be emphasized that k1 is derived from strain-softening
the results of stability analyses were presented in terms of the FOS models with zero residual cohesion and similar peak and residual
ratio defined by friction angles.
 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483 479

Fig. 9 shows the FOS ratios obtained for the second scenario in
which cr ¼ 0 and 4r ¼ 4p =2 in the strain-softening model. In this
case, the perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models differed in
terms of both cohesion and friction angle. In the case of zero peak
cohesion, the FOS was controlled by friction angle alone which was
reduced by half in the strain-softening model, resulting in the FOS
ratios of about 0.5. In cases with peak cohesion of greater than zero,
the results were affected by cohesion loss leading to a brief increase
in the FOS ratio followed by a continuous reduction towards an
asymptotic value. Because cohesion plays a more significant role in
the stability of steeper slope, the observed variation of the FOS ratio
is more pronounced for steeper slopes and is negligible for slopes at
an angle of 30 . The FOS ratio in the second scenario can be esti-
mated using

8  cp 
>
> 0:42 f or b ¼ 30 ;
 0:1
>
< gH Fig. 10. Cross-section of the open pit slope.
k2 ¼
   
>
> 1 þ cp g H tan4p c
>
:
  for b  45 ; p  0:1
1 þ ð2:7 þ cosbÞcp gH tan4p gH
steeper slopes, both FOSPP and FOSSS increased with increasing peak
(6)
strength parameters and FOSSS always remained lower than FOSPP
As indicated earlier, k2 is obtained from strain-softening models due to strain-softening. However, the ratio of FOSSS to FOSPP varied
with zero residual cohesion and residual friction angles that are over such a narrow range which justified approximation with a
half the peak friction angle. Note that for 30 slopes, similar to constant value.

Fig. 9. FOS ratio for the second scenario (cr ¼ 0, 4r ¼ 4p =2) obtained using the shear strength reduction method (data points) and the proposed Eq. (6) (solid lines).
480 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

Table 2 two examples are presented to illustrate the application of strain-

Material parameters for the open pit slope. softening model in slope stability analysis using the SSR approach.
Model g (kN/m3) E (MPa) n cp (kPa) cr (kPa) 4p ( ) 4r ( )

Perfectly-plastic (PP) 24 530 0.25 950 950 19 19

Strain-softening (SS1) 24 530 0.25 950 0 19 19 6.1. Open pit slope in weak rock
Strain-softening (SS2) 24 530 0.25 950 0 19 9.5
To demonstrate the application of the presented FOS ratios, an
open pit slope with a height of 200 m and slope angle of 45
excavated in a weak rock was considered. Stability analyses were
carried out assuming dry condition as well as using three water
tables designated as WT1, WT2 and WT3 in Fig. 10. In addition to a
perfectly-plastic model (PP), two strain-softening models with
instantaneous reduction of cohesion to zero were used. In the first
strain-softening model (SS1), the residual friction angle was equal
to the peak friction angle whereas in the second strain-softening
model (SS2), it was half the peak friction angle (Table 2). Limit
equilibrium analysis of the open pit slope was carried out using the
Morgenstern and Price (1965) method and non-circular slip surface
search in the SLIDE software (Rocscience Inc, 2018a). The SSR
Fig. 11. Factors of safety of the open pit slope obtained using the SSR method with the approach with FEM was also adopted using the RS2 software
perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain-softening (SS) models.
(Rocscience Inc, 2018b). Two uniform meshes, referred to as the
Mesh 1 and Mesh 2, were used with 30 and 50 quadratic triangular
It is worth emphasizing that Figs. 9 and 10 and Eqs. (5) and (6) elements across the slope height, respectively.
were derived to provide a first estimate of the likely range of FOS Fig. 11 shows the results of the SSR method for different sce-
reduction due to strain-softening behavior for a wide range of slope narios using the Mesh 1 and Mesh 2. In all scenarios, the values of
geometries and strength properties. To maintain generality, sim- FOS obtained from the Mesh 1 and Mesh 2 were very similar. This
plifications were made in the analysis such as using idealized and suggests that for the range of mesh resolutions adopted here, the
completed geometry for the slopes. When dealing with a specific slope FOS is not significantly affected by mesh resolution. This is
slope, however, the actual geometry, construction sequence and consistent with the observations of Griffiths (1989) and the results
coupled hydro-mechanical processes may be modeled. In addition, presented in Section 4. The slip surfaces obtained using the Mesh 1
the results were obtained from analysis of dry slopes and, strictly and Mesh 2 were also in close agreement. As an example, Fig. 12
speaking, are only applicable to slopes where the water table is low shows the sliding mass obtained using the strain-softening model
enough, naturally or by using drainage measures, to not interact SS1 and intermediate water table WT2.
with the slip surface. However, if the presence of pore pressure The values of FOS obtained using limit equilibrium analysis and
causes a similar percentage of reduction in the FOS of perfectly- SSR method with the Mesh 2 are given in Table 3. As expected, the
plastic and strain-softening slopes, then by definition, the FOS ra- results of limit equilibrium analysis and SSR method using the
tio will not be affected by the presence of pore pressure and the perfectly-plastic model were similar. In addition, incorporating the
equations remain applicable. strain-softening behavior significantly reduced the FOS. Although
the absolute values of FOS decreased with increasing water table, it
is interesting to note that the ratio of FOS from a given strain-
6. Example applications softening model to that from a perfectly-plastic model remained
almost unchanged. This suggests that increasing pore pressure
Capturing the fundamental characteristics of geomaterials is causes almost the same percentage reduction in calculated values
necessary in engineering design and analysis. As discussed previ- of FOS obtained from perfectly-plastic and strain-softening models.
ously, strain-softening behavior associated with the post-peak The ratios of FOS obtained from the strain-softening models SS1
reduction of load bearing capacity has been observed in a wide and SS2 to those obtained using the perfectly-plastic model varied
range of geomaterials. Yet, such fundamental characteristic is rarely over 0.61e0.63 and 0.51e0.53, respectively. These values compared
accounted for in practical slope stability analyses. In this section, closely with the corresponding FOS ratios of k1 ¼ 0.62 and k2 ¼ 0.53

Fig. 12. Displacement vectors for the open pit slope indicating the predicted sliding mass using the strain-softening model SS1 and water table WT2 with (a) Mesh 1 and (b) Mesh 2.
 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483 481

Table 3 cohesion degradation. Hence, failure mechanism in these bedded

Factor of safety of the open pit slope using the perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain- clay shales is a combination of shearing along weak planes and
softening (SS) models.
failure through strain-softening rock.
Condition Limit Shear Estimated using The clay shale slope analyzed in this study contained two sub-
equilibrium strength Eqs. (5) and (6) horizontal bedding planes daylighting into the slope face. Param-
analysis reduction
eters of the clay shale and bedding plane material typical of river
PP PP SS1 SS2 SS1 SS2 valley clay shales of Western Canada (Cornish and Moore, 1985) are
Dry 1.83 1.84 1.15 0.98 1.15 0.98 given in Table 4.
WT1 1.79 1.81 1.12 0.95 1.13 0.96 Limit equilibrium analysis of the clay shale slope was carried out
WT2 1.72 1.76 1.08 0.91 1.10 0.94
using the Morgenstern and Price (1965) method and non-circular
WT3 1.64 1.67 1.02 0.86 1.04 0.89
slip surface search in the SLIDE software (Rocscience Inc, 2018a).
The SSR approach and FDM were adopted for stability analysis of
the clay shale slope using the FLAC3D code (Itasca Inc., 2017).
Table 4
Material parameters for the clay shale slope.
Mechanical behavior of the clay shale was represented using a
perfectly-plastic model with peak strength, a perfectly-plastic
Material g (kN/m3) E (MPa) n cp (kPa) cr (kPa) 4p ( ) 4r ( ) εp* (%) model with residual strength and a strain-softening model.
Clay shale 25 400 0.25 250 25 35 35 1 The slip surfaces obtained from limit equilibrium analysis and
Bedding plane 25 100 0.25 0 0 9 9 e SSR method are shown in Fig. 13. Failure on the lower bedding
plane was predicted from limit equilibrium analysis. In addition,
the slip surface obtained using residual strength was closer to the
calculated using Eqs. (5) and (6), respectively. Multiplying these slope face than that predicted using peak strength. The SSR method
FOS ratios by the values of FOS from perfectly-plastic models gave with strain-softening model also predicted a slip surface similar to
the estimated FOS values given in Table 3. It can be observed that that obtained from limit equilibrium analysis with peak strength
the values of FOS obtained for strain-softening slopes using Eqs. (5) parameters.
and (6) are in close agreement with those obtained directly from The factors of safety obtained using different approaches are
the SSR method. given in Table 5. It can be observed that the results of limit equi-
This example demonstrated that although FOS ratios given by librium analysis and SSR method with perfectly-plastic models
Eqs. (5) and (6) were based on systematic stability analysis of dry were in close agreement. The FOS obtained using peak strength was
slopes, they remained almost unchanged in the presence of pore quite high and acceptable in most projects. However, the strength
pressures caused by the water levels, as shown in Fig. 10. It also of clay shale along river valleys may fall to residual levels due to
illustrated that Eqs. (5) and (6) can be effectively utilized to find a stress relaxation, moisture uptake and weathering. Therefore, using
likely range for the FOS of strain-softening slopes from traditional peak strength in traditional stability analysis can lead to danger-
slope stability analysis based on perfectly-plastic behavior. ously misleading results. On the other hand, adopting residual
strength in stability analysis led to an alarmingly low FOS. This is
because the peak strength that must be overcome before reaching
6.2. Clay shale slope along Canadian river valley
residual strength is ignored in such analysis. The strain-softening
model, while allowing for the process of strength degradation,
Stability of a slope excavated in the clay shale deposits typically
gave a reasonable FOS which was in between those obtained using
found along river valleys of Western Canada was considered. River
peak and residual strength properties.
down cutting in these formations has caused valley rebound and
subsequent shearing displacement along weak bedding planes. The
process of induced shearing on weak planes was described by Table 5
Ferguson (1967) and Matheson and Thomson (1973) and its impact Factor of safety of the clay shale slope using perfectly-plastic (PP) and strain-
softening (SS) models.
on slope stability was investigated by Soe Moe (2008), Bromhead
(2013) and Rafiei Renani and Martin (2018c). These clay-rich Method PP (Peak) PP (Residual) SS
rocks are susceptible to gradual loss of cohesion due to the mech- Limit equilibrium analysis 1.94 1.00 e
anism of softening first described by Terzaghi (1936). Progressive Shear strength reduction 1.97 1.02 1.55
loosening of the slope due to valley rebound can also contribute to

Fig. 13. (a) Slip surfaces of the clay shale slope obtained using limit equilibrium analysis with peak strength (solid line) and residual strength (dashed line), and (b) Displacement
vectors indicating the predicted sliding mass using the shear strength reduction method with strain-softening model.
482 H. Rafiei Renani, C.D. Martin / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 12 (2020) 473e483

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Declaration of Competing Interest Nonveiller E. The Vajont reservoir slope failure. Engineering Geology 1987;24(1e4):
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The authors wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of Geotechnique 1997;47(5):953e82.
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Rafiei Renani H, Martin CD. Cohesion degradation and friction mobilization in
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Acknowledgments Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 2018b;74:71e81.
Rafiei Renani H, Martin CD. Stability analysis of a bedded weak rock slope. In:
Proceedings of the 52nd US rock mechanics symposium. USA: Seattle; 2018c.
This work was financially supported by the Natural Sciences and
Rafiei Renani H, Martin CD. Slope stability analysis using equivalent Mohr-Coulomb and
Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC: RES0014117). Hoek-Brown criteria. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 2020;53(1):13e21.
Rafiei Renani H, Martin CD, Lorig L, Varona P. Stability analysis of slopes with
spatially variable strength properties. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
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