IGC 2009, Guntur, INDIA

Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF A JOINTED ROCK SLOPE IN HIMALAYAS

G. Madhavi Latha
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, Bangalore–560 012, India. E-mail: madhavi@civil.iisc.ernet.in

ABSTRACT: This paper presents static and seismic slope stability analysis of the right abutment slope of a railway bridge
proposed at about 350 m above the ground level, crossing a river and connecting two huge hillocks in the Himalayas, India.
The rock slope is composed of highly jointed rock mass and the joint spacing and orientation are varying at different
locations. Static, pseudo static and dynamic analyses of the slope are carried out numerically using program FLAC. The
results obtained from all these analyses confirmed the global stability of the slope as the factors of safety against slope failure
obtained from static and pseudo static analyses are adequate and the displacements observed from dynamic analyses are
within the permissible limits. Kinematics of the slope at different pier locations is also checked using stereographic
projections and recommendations to avoid wedge failures are presented.

1. INTRODUCTION stability proposed by Mononobe and Mononobe & Matsuo

Natural rock slopes are omnipresent on Earth’s surface with
inclinations varying from very flat (as flat as parallel to
Earth’s surface) to very steep (as steep as perpendicular to
the surface of Earth), unlike the man made slopes constructed
for specific purposes like dams, road and railways, water
ways etc. The evaluation of stability of the natural rock
slopes becomes very essential for the safe design especially
when the slopes are situated close to residential areas or
when structures are built on these slopes. The stability of a
natural slope becomes more critical if the slope is situated in
earthquake prone areas. Slope failures and landslides are the
most common natural hazards and are mainly caused due to
the earthquake induced ground shaking and associated
inertial forces. Earthquakes of even a very small magnitude
may trigger failure in slopes in jointed rock masses which are
perfectly stable otherwise. Hence the study of the behaviour
of rock slope in actual dynamic scenarios is promising in
order to have a safe design.
Though the strength of the rock plays an important role in the
slope stability, geological structure of the rock often govern
the stability of slopes in jointed rock masses. Geological
characteristics of rock mass include location and number of
joint sets, joint spacing, joint orientations, joint material and
seepage pressure. There are several tools available at present
to carry out slope stability analyses of jointed rocks and are
well documented by several researchers. Limit equilibrium
method used in conjunction with numerical modelling still
remains the most commonly adopted method in rock slope
engineering, even though most failures involve complex
internal deformation and fracturing which bears little
resemblance to the rigid block assumptions required by most
limit equilibrium back-analyses. Some of the numerical
techniques proposed by the earlier researchers include: the
shear strength reduction technique developed by Matsui and
San (1992); Universal Discrete Element Code (UDEC)
developed by Cundall (1980); Pseudo-static analysis of slope
(1929) and Okabe (1926).
The dynamic analysis of slopes in rock masses is studied by
several earlier researchers using different techniques. Zhang
et al. (1997) carried out studies on the dynamic behaviour of a
120 m high rock slope of the Three Gorges Shiplock using
DEM. Hatzor et al. (2004) carried out dynamic 2D stability
analysis of upper terrace of King Herod’s Palace in Masada,
which is a highly discontinuous rock slope. Bhasin and Kaynia
(2004) performed static and dynamic rock slope stability
analyses for a 700 m high rock slope in western Norway using
a numerical discontinuum modeling technique. Liu et al.
(2004) studied the dynamic response of Huangmail in
Phosphorite rock slope in China under explosion using UDEC.
Crosta et al. (2007) performed dynamic analysis of the
Thurwieser Rock Avalanche, Italian Alps. A comprehensive
study on the stability analysis of a Himalayan rock slope is
carried out in this paper with an emphasis on seismic slope
stability of the natural slope in jointed rock mass using
FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua, Itasca 1995).
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE STUDY
A railway line is being laid in Jammu and Kashmir, India and
this line is crossing the river Chenab at a height of about 359
m. A bridge is being constructed with total 18 piers at this
place connecting two big hillocks and the bridge forms about
350 m deep gorge in a V shaped valley in this area. Among
these piers, 4 piers (P10–P40) are resting on left abutment
and the other 14 piers (P50–P180) are resting on right
abutment. Slope stability analysis of the right abutment is
taken up in the present study. The section of the bridge and
abutments along with the foundations that could affect the
stability of the slope is given in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the
photograph taken at the proposed bridge site.

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Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas

Table 2: Properties of the Intact Rock

Property Value
3
Density (kg/m ) 2762
Young’s modulus (GPa) 65
Poisson’s ratio 0.15
UCS (MPa) 115
‘c’ (MPa) for intact rock 44.44
‘’degrees 35
Fig. 1: Section of the Slope with the Pier Foundations Hoek and Brown parameters ‘m’ and ‘s’ 23.52, 1.0

Table 3: Properties of the Rock Mass

Property Value
3
Density (kg/m ) 2762
Young’s modulus (GPa) 4.34
Poisson’s Ratio 0.15
Hoek and Brown Parameter ‘m’ 0.59
Hoek and Brown Parameter ‘s’ 0.00127
Cohesion ‘c’ (kPa) 1785
Friction angle ‘φ’ (degrees) 23

Fig. 2: Photograph Showing the Proposed Bridge Site Table 4: Details of the Footing Pressures

The rocks present at the bridge site are heavily jointed. The Property P50 P60 P70 P80 P90
subsurface at the extent of the bridge site considered for slope Chainage 51.065 51.13 51.1865 51.2265 51.2765
stability analysis essentially consists of Dolomitic limestone (km)
with different degrees of weathering and fracturing. The main Original 747.829 807.421 838.657 841.476 832.750
discontinuities at the site are one sub-horizontal foliation joint ground level
dipping about 20–30 degrees in North-East (NE) direction and (m)
two sub-vertical joints. Figure 3 shows the rock mass exposed at Ground level 724 784 832 832 832
the bridge site. The figure also depicts the intensity and spacing after
of the prevailing joint sets at the bridge site. The summary of benching (m)
structural features present in the area is given in Table 1. Depth of 3 3 3 3 7
Properties of intact rocks obtained through laboratory testing foundation
of cores collected from boreholes at the site are given in (m)
Table 2. Table 3 presents the rock mass properties used in the Foundation 28  36 11  9.5 11  6.5 11  6.5 11  6.5
analysis. The pier loads applied at their corresponding locations size (m  m)
are given in Table 4.
Footing 374.86 588.00 409.00 415.00 317.00
Pressure
Table 1: Structural Features at the Site (kPa)
Feature Strike Dip Dip direction
Railway line N120–N 300 – – The original slope has to be cut and benches need to be
alignment provided to facilitate the construction of foundations along
the slope. The outline of benching profile selected for the
Foliation joint N 140–N 320 27 N 50 right abutment is shown in Figure 4.
Sub-vertical N 150–N 330 65 N 240 It is impossible to incorporate and model all the dis-
joint -1
continuities in large slope in a numerical model as the joint
Sub-vertical N 75–N 255 80 N 165 spacing is very less (varying between 5 mm to 10 mm).
joint -2 Hence the slope is represented by an equivalent continuum in
which the effect of discontinuities has been considered by

159

reducing the properties and strength of intact rock to those of
the rock mass. Numerical modelling presented in the paper is
done using the equivalent continuum approach in FLAC
along with the generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion.
Fig. 3: Rock Mass Exposed at the Bridge Site
Fig. 4: Profile Selected for the Stability Analysis
3. STATIC SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS
The slope is simulated using FLAC version 5.0 developed by
Itasca consulting group (Itasca 1995). FLAC is a widely used
commercial, explicit finite difference code for applications in
soils and rocks. It is impossible to incorporate and model all
the discontinuities in large slope in a numerical model as the
joint spacing is very less (varying between 5 mm to 10 mm).
Hence the slope is represented by an equivalent continuum in
which the effect of discontinuities has been considered by
reducing the properties and strength of intact rock to those of
the rock mass. The slope is analysed for plane strain condition in
small strain mode. A relatively finer discretization of 100 ×
80 grid size is chosen for modelling the slope. At the base of
the model boundary, both horizontal (x) and vertical (y)
displacements are arrested by fixing the nodes. Along left and
right of the boundary horizontal displacements are arrested.
Initial stresses of magnitude σxx = σyy = σzz = 8 MPa are applied
to all the zones. Stability analysis is carried out using Hoek-
Brown failure criterion in FLAC. FLAC calculates the factor
of safety automatically using the shear strength reduction
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Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas
technique through bracketing (Matsui and San 1992). In this
technique, the values of shear strength parameters ‘c’ and ‘‘
are updated in every trial until the difference between lower
and upper brackets is minimal according to the following
equations.
1
ctrial = �c (1)
Ftrial
�1 �
 trial = tan -1 � tan  � (2)
�Ftrial �
The value of ‘Ftrial’ at which slope will have instability i.e.
failure is calculated by FLAC using the bracketing technique.
Initially upper and lower brackets are established. The initial
lower bracket is any ‘Ftrial’ for which a simulation converges.
The initial upper bracket is any ‘Ftrial’ for which the simulation
does not converge. Next, a point midway between the upper
and lower brackets is tested. If the simulation converges,
lower bracket is replaced by this new value. If the simulation
does not converge, the upper bracket is replaced. The process
is repeated until the difference between the upper and lower
brackets is less than a specific tolerance.
The analysis is carried out with and without pier loads.
Figure 5 shows the finite difference grid generated in FLAC
for using in the stability calculations. The results obtained
from the stability analysis on the cut profile are shown in
Figure 6 in the form of FOS (Factor of Safety) plot. The
value of FOS obtained from the static analysis is 1.88 which
means that the slope is globally stable. Stability analysis was
also carried out on cut profile without pier loads and it was
noticed that the value of factor of safety is not altered greatly
with the pier loads, showing that the effect of pier loads is
insignificant on the overall stability of the slope. The reason
for this is that the magnitude of the pier loads is very less
when compared to the overall weight of the slope.
Fig. 5: FLAC Grid Used for the Stability Analyses
Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas

of ‘kH’ as per the Indian Standard Code IS 1893. The analysis

is carried out for two different cases i.e. considering the
horizontal seismic force component (kH) alone in the first
case and by applying both vertical and horizontal
components (kH and kV) in the second case. The results
obtained from pseudo-static analysis of the slope in FLAC
are shown in Figures 7 and 8.

Fig. 6: FOS Plot for the Cut Profile

4. PSEUDO-STATIC SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS

Slope failure and landslides are mainly caused due to the
earthquake induced ground shaking and associated inertial
forces. Earthquakes with even a very small magnitude may Fig. 7: FOS Plot for the Cut Profile Using Pseudo-Static
trigger failure in slopes which are perfectly stable otherwise. Approach (kH alone is applied)
As the slope under consideration is situated in seismic zone
V of India, where severe earthquakes are expected, it is
mandatory to assess the stability of the slope under seismic
conditions. The seismic slope stability is estimated using
pseudo-static approach.
Pseudo-static analysis involves simulating the ground motion
as constant static horizontal force acting in a direction out of
the face. The analysis represents the effects of earthquake
shaking by pseudo-static accelerations that produce inertial
forces, ‘FH’ and ‘FV’ which act through the centroid of the
failure mass. The magnitude of the pseudo-static force is the
product of seismic coefficient ‘kH’ and the weight of the
sliding block ‘W’. The value of ‘kH’ may be taken as equal to
the design PGA (Peak Ground Acceleration) which is
expressed as a fraction of the gravity acceleration. The
horizontal pseudo-static force decreases the factor of safety
by reducing the resisting force (for  > 0) and increases the
driving force. The vertical pseudo-static force typically has Fig. 8: FOS Plot for the Cut Profile Using Pseudo-Static
less influence on the factor of safety since it reduces (or Approach (kH and kv applied)
increases, depending upon the direction) both the driving
force and the resisting force, as a result the effect of vertical Figure 7 gives the FOS plot for the slope considering only
accelerations are usually neglected in pseudo-static analyses. horizontal seismic force component. The factor of safety
However the effect of vertical acceleration is also considered obtained for this case was 1.11. Figure 8 gives the FOS plot
in the present study. The horizontal pseudo-static forces are for the slope with both horizontal and vertical seismic force
assumed to act in directions that produce positive driving components. The value of FOS for this case was reduced to
moments. Results of the pseudo-static analysis critically 1.02. Factor of safety for the slope without considering
depend upon the horizontal seismic coefficient (kH). earthquake loads was 1.89. By applying the horizontal
Therefore selection of appropriate pseudo-static coefficient is earthquake force alone, the FOS is reduced to 1.11 and with
very important. In the present study the horizontal seismic the application of vertical earthquake force it is further
coefficient ‘kH’ is selected as 0.31g based on the previous reduced to 1.02. Earthquake loads reduced the FOS by 46%.
earthquake history of the region and MCE scenario. The The minimum FOS required for rock slopes considering the
value of ‘kV’ the vertical seismic coefficient is taken as 2/3 rd earthquake loads is 1.2. But the factor of safety obtained
from pseudo-static analysis considering both horizontal and

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 Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas

vertical loads is falling below the required FOS value. However
it is noteworthy to mention that the pseudo-static analysis is a
highly conservative method because it is performed with
continually applied seismic forces in horizontal and vertical
directions, which is not realistic. For this analysis, as FOS
value of 1.0 is acceptable as per NEHRP guidelines for land
sliding hazards. Hence the slope can be considered as
globally stable under seismic loading conditions as well.
the toe. This displacement is the accumulated permanent
displacement due to earthquake. Figure also depicts that the
displacements are more near the toe of the slope. Figure 11
shows the accumulated shear strain contours after the
dynamic event. The maximum strains are concentrated near
the toe and the rest of the slope has zero strain.

5. DYNAMIC SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS

The pseudo-static approach for stability analysis is simple
and straight forward but it can not simulate the transient
dynamic effects of earthquake shaking because it assumes a
constant unidirectional pseudo-static acceleration. To carry
out the real dynamic analysis, the slope is subjected to base
shaking corresponding to the Uttarkashi earthquake recorded
on Oct 20, 1991 in the vicinity of the proposed bridge site.
The total duration of the earthquake was 39.9 sec with a time
step of 0.02 sec. The amax value of the recorded earthquake
was 0.31g. The dynamic stability analysis of the slope for
this earthquake is carried out using FLAC. Fig. 10: Displaced Shape of the Slope after the Dynamic Event
The slope is analysed by applying an earthquake pulse
corresponding to Uttarkashi earthquake. The dynamic input
applied is the transverse component of the acceleration time
history of the Uttarkashi earthquake and is applied at the base
of the slope. Figure 9 shows the acceleration time history
recorded for the Uttarkashi earthquake. The transverse
component of the acceleration time history which is used as
dynamic input in the present study is filtered and then corrected
for base line correction. Both ‘x’ and ‘y’ displacements are
fixed at the base of the grid. Only ‘x’ displacements are fixed
on either side of the grid along y-axis. The grid is solved for
the equilibrium and then for the dynamic conditions. Free field
boundary is used in the present model to minimize the wave
reflection. Rayleigh damping of 5% is chosen in the present
study as suggested by other studies for this kind of problems.

Fig. 11: Shear Strain Contours after the Dynamic Event

Typical variation of horizontal and vertical displacements

Fig. 9: Corrected Transverse Component of Acceleration
Time History of Uttarkashi Earthquake, Oct 20, 1991 02:53 IST
with time at various points along the face of the slope during
the earthquake is shown in Figures 12 and 13. It was observed
that the maximum displacements are occurring at 5.9 sec after
the initiation of the event, corresponding to the PHA (Peak
Horizontal Acceleration) as shown in Figure 9. Figure 14
shows the horizontal displacement at the end of the dynamic
event measured along the slope from toe to the crest. It can
be seen that the displacement is maximum at the toe and it is
slowly diminishing and hitting ‘0’ at a distance of 150 m
from the toe. After 150 m, a constant permanent displacement of
5 mm is observed along the slope.

The deformed shape of the slope after the complete dynamic

event is shown in Figure 10. It can be noted from the figure
that a maximum displacement of 60.8 mm is observed near

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Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas
Fig. 12: Typical Horizontal Displacement Plots along the
Slope Face during the Dynamic Event
Fig. 13: Typical Vertical Displacement Plots along the Slope
Face during the Dynamic Event
Fig. 14: Horizontal Displacement along the Slope Face after
the Dynamic Event
6. WEDGE FAILURE ANALYSIS
In the earlier sections of this paper, global stability of the
slope is examined through static and pseudo static slope
Table 5: Details of Joints at Pier Locations
163
stability analyses and it was found that the slope is stable in
both static and probable seismic conditions. However, the
global failure is a rare possibility for this slope under
consideration. Though the overall stability is understood, it is
very much essential to investigate the possibility of local
wedge failures which might occur due to the intersection of
joint sets daylighting on to the slope. The possibility of
wedge failure at different pier locations is examined by
plotting stereographic projections for the prevailing joint sets
in the bridge site. The geological data of joint sets for the
stereographic projections is obtained from the joint mapping
done by the geologists from the exposed slope surface at
different pier locations is presented in Table 5.
Using the data in Table 5, stereographic projections of joint
sets are plotted for various locations. The average angle of
slope for the right abutment of the bridge is 50°. The method
of plotting stereographic projections is explained by
Goodman (2000). Wedge failure occurs due to sliding along
a combination of discontinuities. The conditions for sliding
require that the friction angle of the rock mass is overcome,
and that the intersection of the discontinuities “daylight” on
the slope surface. On the stereonet plot, these conditions are
indicated by the intersection of two discontinuity great
circles within the shaded crescent formed by the friction
angle and the slope’s great circle.
Based on the stereographic projections with slope angle of
50, it is seen that wedge failure is possible at valley P60 and
P50 locations, as the line of intersection of joint sets J1 and
J3 is falling in the crescent formed by the slope angle and
friction angle. Wedge failure in fact occurred during
excavation of exploratory drift at P50 as shown in Figure 15,
supporting the stereographic interpretations that the wedge
failures are possible in this zone.
Fig. 15: Wedge Failure Observed in Exploratory Drift at P50
It is observed that the friction angle reported from the
laboratory tests is very low (about 20°). However, increase in
the value of friction angle will not arrest the wedge failures
as it could be seen from the stereographic plots that the line
of intersection of joints in the crescent is close to the slope
 Stability Analysis of a Jointed Rock Slope in Himalayas

Joint set J1 Joint set J2 Joint set J3 Joint set J4

Locatio
n Di Dip Di Dip Di Dip Di
Dip direction
p direction p direction p direction p
Valley 42° 049° 52° 238° 72° 151° 15° 336°
P70 67° 047° 47° 244° 70° 131° 51° 263°
P60 40° 049° 56° 240° 69° 153° 39° 308°
P50 40° 054° 48° 234° 71° 153° 08° 032°

rather than the friction cone. Hence to avoid the wedge
failures at the above mentioned locations (Valley, P50 and
P60), the slope needs to be flattened. By plotting the
stereographs for slope angle of 45°, it was observed that the
wedge failure is still possible at P60. By trial, it was
observed that the maximum permissible value for slope is
43° to avoid wedge failures at all the locations and the same
is recommended to avoid wedge failures.
7. CONCLUSIONS
A case study of large slope in Himalayan region of India is
taken up in this paper and numerical analysis of the slope is
carried out using the equivalent continuum approach. The
slope is analyzed for stability under static and seismic loading
conditions. Calculation of factor of safety for the slope in
static and pseudo-static conditions confirmed the global stability
of the slope in static and pseudo static conditions. Dynamic
stability analysis for the maximum credible earthquake for the
area showed that the displacements are well within the
permissible limits. Probability of wedge failure is assessed
through kinematic analysis of the slope by drawing stereo-
graphic projections of joint planes prevailing in the bridge
site and the slope. The kinematic analysis revealed the
possibility of wedge failure at certain locations which
necessitated the flattening of the slope.
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