STABILITY OF ROCK SLOPES

Modes of Slope Instability in Rocks

In general, four types of failure is considered in rock slopes. These

are illustrated in figure on left with corresponding structural geology
condition likely to lead to such failures.

a) Plane (Block) Failure in rock containing persistent joints dipping

out of the slope face, and striking parallel to the face;

b) Wedge Failure on two intersecting discontinuities;

c) Toppling Failure in strong rock containing discontinuities

dipping steeply into the face; and

d) Circular Failure in rock fill, very weak rock or closely fractured

rock with randomly oriented discontinuities.

The diagrams given in the figure is an simplification for the sake of

clarity. In some cases, several types of geological structures may be
present, and this may give rise to coupled type more complicated
rock slope failures. For example, a plane (block) failure could occur
on a certain set of discontinuities in a rock slope, while the another
set of discontinuities could form a toppling failure on the same slope.

Main types of slope failures in rocks, and structural geology

conditions likely to cause these failures (Wyllie and Mah, 2005)
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Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 Kinematic Analysis
Stereographic Projection
The stereographic projection technique is an ideal tool for the
analysis of structural geology data on stereonet. The stereographic
projection allows the three dimensional orientation data to be
represented and analyzed in two dimensions. This technique is
widely used to identify discontinuity sets, and examine their probable
influence on rock slope stability.

The stereographic projection consists of a reference sphere in which

its equatorial plane is horizontal, and its orientation is fixed relative
to North (N). Structural features like planes and lines with a specific
orientation (dip direction, dip angle for planes, and plunge, trend for
lines) are positioned within the reference sphere in an imaginary
sense so that the axis of the feature passes through the center of the
reference sphere as seen in the figures on upper left.
Stereographic representation of plane and line on lower hemisphere
of reference sphere: (a) plane (dip and dip direction), (b) line (plunge The intersection of a plane with the reference hemisphere is a
and trend) (Wyllie and Mah, 2005). circular arc called a great circle. Stereographic projection of the
plane is developed when this great circle is projected down to a
horizontal surface at the base of the sphere. Similarly, the
intersection of a linear feature (i.e., line) with the reference
hemisphere is a point. If this intersection point is projected down to a
horizontal surface at the base of the sphere, that means the
development of the stereographic projection of that line (see figures
on lower left. Projections of the planes and lines have unique
locations on the stereonet which are determined by dip and dip
direction for planes, and, plunge and trend for lines. In slope stability
analysis using stereonets (i.e., kinematic analysis), planes are used
to represent both discontinuities and slope faces.

An alternative means of representing the orientation of a plane is the

pole to the plane (figure a on lower left). The pole is the point on the
Equal area projections of plane and line: (a) plane projected as great surface of the reference sphere that is pierced by a radial line in a
circle and corresponding pole; (b) line projected as pole. (Wyllie and direction normal to the plane. The value of the pole projection is that
Mah, 2005) a single point can represent the complete orientation of a plane.
Thus, the use of poles facilitates the analysis of a large number of
planes compared with the use of great circles. 2
Kayhan Develi, PhD
Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 The two types of stereographic
projections used in structural geology are Procedure for Drawing Great Circle of a Plane on an Equal Area
the polar and equatorial projections as Net
shown in the figure on left. The polar net
can only be used to plot poles, while the (a) with the tracing (transparent) paper located over the stereonet by
equatorial net can be used to plot both
planes and poles. In the case of the
means of the center pin, trace the circumference of the net and
equatorial projection, the most common mark the north point. Measure off the dip direction of 1300
type of stereonet projection is the clockwise from north and mark this position on the circumference
equal area or Lambert (Schmidt) net. of the net;
On this net, any area on the surface of
the reference sphere is projected as an
equal area on the stereonet. This (b) rotate the net about the center pin until the dip direction mark lies
property of the net is used in the on the W–E axis of the net, that is, the net is rotated through 400
contouring of pole plots to find counterclockwise. Measure 500 from the outer circle of the net
concentrations of poles that represent and trace the great circle that corresponds to a plane dipping at
preferred orientations, or sets of
discontinuities. The other type of
this angle.
equatorial projection is the equal angle or
Wulff net; both the Wulff and Lambert The position of the pole, which has a dip of (90–50), is found by
nets can be used to examine angular measuring 500 from the center of the net as shown, or
relationships, but only the Lambert net
alternatively 400 from the outside of the net.
can be used to develop contours of pole
concentrations.
c) the tracing is now rotated back to its original position so that the
Polar and equatorial projections of a Sphere (Wyllie and Mah, 2005).
north mark on the tracing coincides with the north mark of the
net. The final appearance of the great circle and the pole
representing a plane dipping at 500 in a dip direction of 1300 is
as illustrated

Planes and lines with shallow dips have great circles and points that
plot near the circumference of the stereonet, and those with steep
dips plot near the center. In contrast, the pole of a shallow dipping
plane plots close to the center of the circle, and the pole of a steep
plane plots close to the perimeter.

Construction of great circles and a pole representing a plane with

orientation 50 (dip)/130 (dip direction) on an equal area (Lambert or
Schmidt) net (Wyllie and Mah, 2005).

Kayhan Develi, PhD 3

Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 Procedure for Drawing Great Circles and Intersection Lines of
Two Intersecting Planes on an Equal Area Net

(a) the first of these planes has already been drawn in figure on
previous page. The great circle defining the second plane is
obtained by marking the 2500 dip direction on the circumference
of the net, rotating the tracing until the mark lies on the W–E axis
and tracing the great circle corresponding to a dip of 30◦

(b) the tracing is rotated until the intersection of the two great circles
lies along the W–E axis of the stereonet, and the plunge of the
line of intersection is measured as 20.5◦;

(c) the tracing is now rotated until the north mark coincides the north
Determination of orientation (plunge and trend)
point on the stereonet and the trend of the line of intersection is
of line intersection between two planes with
found to be 200.5◦.
orientations 50/130 and 30/250 on an equal
area (Lambert or Schmidt) net (Wyllie and Mah,
2005).

Kayhan Develi, PhD 4

Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 Plane (Block) Failure

General conditions for plane (block) failure

In a rock slope, a rock block on a persistent planar discontinuity

plane may be potentially unstable. In order for this type of failure to
occur, the following geometrical conditions must be satisfied.

The plane on which sliding occurs must strike parallel or

nearly parallel (within approximately ±20◦) to the slope face.

The sliding plane must “daylight” in the slope face, which

Geometry of slope exhibiting plane
means that the dip of the plane must be less than the dip of
(block) failure: (a) cross-section
the slope face, that is, ψp < ψf.
showing planes forming a plane
failure: (b) release surfaces at ends of
The dip of the sliding plane must be greater than the angle of
plane failure: (c) unit thickness slide
friction of this plane, that is, ψp > φ.
used in stability analysis (Wyllie and
Mah, 2005).
The upper end of the sliding surface either intersects the
upper slope, or terminates in a tension crack.

Release surfaces that provide negligible resistance to sliding

must be present in the rock mass to define the lateral
boundaries of the slide. Alternatively, failure can occur on a
sliding plane passing through the convex “nose” of a slope.

Plane (block) failure is Examination of the existence of that conditions on stereonet is called
possible on the discontinuity as kinematic analysis. If the above requirements are supplied that
plane because the dip means plane (block) failure is kinematically feasible. Yet, this is a
vector of the discontinuity probability analysis and does not provide certain information
plane lies within the shaded whether the block will slide or not. In order to draw a certain
area which means the dip of
conclusion on failure, the factor of safety must be calculated.
the discontinuity plane is
flatter than the dip of face,
but steeper than the friction
angle of the discontinuity
plane, that is ψf > ψp > 

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Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 Wedge Failure

Wedge failure is concerned with the slopes containing two

discontinuities striking obliquely to the slope face where sliding of a
wedge of rock takes place along the line of intersection of that
planes (Figure a). Wedge failures can occur over a much wider
range of geologic and geometric conditions than plane failures, so
the study of wedge stability is an important component of rock slope
engineering. The stereonet defines the shape of the wedge, the
orientation of the line of intersection and the direction of sliding. This
information can be used to assess the potential for the wedge to
slide from the cut face. The procedure is termed kinematic
Geometric conditions for wedge failure:
analysis, the purpose of which is to identify potentially unstable
(a) pictorial view of wedge failure; (b)
stereoplot showing the orientation of wedges, although it does not provide precise information on their
factor of safety.
the line of intersection, and the range
of the plunge of the line of intersection
ψi where failure is feasible; (c) view of General conditions for wedge failure
slope at right angles to the line of
intersection (Wyllie and Mah, 2005). Based on the geometry in the figure on left, the general conditions
for wedge failure are as follows:

Two planes will always intersect in a line (see Figure a). On

the stereonet, the line of intersection is represented by the
point where the two great circles of the planes intersect, and
the orientation of the line is defined by its trend (αi) and its
plunge (ψi) (see Figure b).

The plunge of the line of intersection must be flatter than the

dip of the face, and steeper than the average friction angle of
the two slide planes, that is ψfi > ψi > φ (see Figure b and c).

In general, sliding may occur if the intersection point between the

two great circles of the sliding planes lies within the shaded area on
Figure b. That is, the stereonet will show if wedge failure is
kinematically feasible. However, the actual factor of safety of the
wedge cannot be determined from the stereonet, because it
depends on the details of the geometry of the wedge, the shear
Kayhan Develi, PhD strength of each plane and water pressure. 6
Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
 Limit Equilibrium Method

Adapted from Wyllie and Mah (2005)

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Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology
  The Effect of Ground Water on Factor of Safety of Rock Slope

Adapted from Wyllie and Mah (2005)

 The Effect of Ground Water and Bolt Forces on Factor of
Safety of Rock Slope

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Asst. Prof. JEO431E Engineering Geology