ISGTI 2018

7-8April2018, IIT Delhi, India

Stability assessment of reinforced rock slope based on two-dimensional finite

element approach: A Himalayan case study
Aswathi CK
Amalesh Jana
Arindam Dey
Sreedeep S
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati – 781039
E-mail: aswathi@iitg.ernet.in; janaaamalesh@gmail.com , arindamdeyiitg16@iitg.ernet.in , srees@iitg.ernet.in

ABSTRACT: Himalayan rock slopes are highly vulnerable to landslides due to geological and tectonic activities. The
study area lies along NH 109 road from Rudraprayag, the only pilgrimage route to holy kedarnath, which experiences
high vehicular traffic. There are many cases of landslides reported due to the unpredictable weather and landslide prone
rocks in this seasonal pilgrimage route. Stability analysis is essential and effort should be given to understand their
failure mechanism which resembles the actual field instability. It is important to take mitigation measurements to
minimize the losses due to slope failure and to ensure the safe transportation along this route. In this case study,
stability analysis of the rock slope, located on National Highway (NH-109) is performed usingPhase2 of Rocscience
software by considering rock mass as continuum. Reinforcement is provided for the protection of vulnerable rock slope.
Two methodologies, equivalent continuum method and combined continuum-interface numerical method, are adopted
for the analysis. Equivalent continuum model considers rock slope as continuum mass without any joints, and the effect
of discontinuity is introducedby reducing the strength and properties of intact rock to that of the jointedrock mass. In the
combined continuum-interface numerical method, the joints are explicitly introduced in the numerical model which
accurately represents the behavior of rock slopes in actual field condition. Based on this analysis, end anchored rock
bolts are given as reinforcement to achieve the target factor of safety against failure.
Keywords: Equivalent continuum method, combined continuum-interface method, Shear strength reduction technique, Finite element
method, End anchored bolts
considers rock slope as continuum mass without any
1. Introduction
joints and the effects of discontinuity are introduced by
Hilly terrains of Himalaya are highly vulnerable due to
reducing strength and properties of intact rock to that of
geological and tectonic activities. The study area lies
the jointed rock mass.
along NH 109 road from Rudraprayag, is the only
Numerical modeling by considering rock mass as a
pilgrimage route to holy kedarnath which experiences
homogenous medium does not resemble the actual field
high vehicular traffic. There are many cases of landslides
conditions in all cases. In case of blocky rock slope
reported due to the unpredictable weather and land slide
failures, the main cause of failure is the anisotropy
prone rocks in this seasonal pilgrimage route. Stability
created by the joints. This anisotropy created by the joints
analysis of rock slopes in this region is essential to
changes the stress-strain distribution in rock mass. For
minimize losses due to landslides and appropriate
such cases, it is important to incorporate to joint
mitigation measures should be taken to achieve the target
properties to study the actual instability. Combined
factor of safety against failure.
continuum-interface numerical method focuses on the
Stability of rock slopes is mainly influenced by the
explicit simulation of interfaces through joint elements
anisotropy induced by the structural discontinuities
(Tiwari et al., 2016). In this method, the joints are
present in the rock such as bedding plane, schistosity,
considered as interface elements with zero thickness.
foliation, joint, cleavage, fracture, fissure, crack, or fault
In the present study numerical modeling is performed in
plane etc.
both equivalent continuum method and combined
In case of a heavily jointed rock slope, the failure
continuum-interface numerical model in Phase2software.
mechanism is guided by a general failure surface which
Factor of safety is calculated using Shear strength
might be developed through intact rock and joints. In
reduction (SSR) technique which is based on finite
order to perform stability analysis of a heavily jointed
element method (FEM). SSR technique has ability to
rock slope, incorporation of all the joints in numerical
predict the stresses and deformation at the support
model requires immense computational efficiency.It is, as
elements at failure and visualize the development of
well, practically impossible to explore orientation of all
failure mechanism.
joints and to find out all the mechanical and geological
Suitable stabilization technique is provided to ensure the
characteristics for implementing them in the numerical
stability of rock slopes. End anchored rock bolts of
model. Under such cases, equivalent continuum model
appropriate mechanical and geometrical properties are
(Hoek et al. 2002) considering isotropic, homogeneous
used for the mitigation purpose to attain target factor of
system of reduced rock mass strength parameter derived
safety in the present case study.
from Geological strength index (GSI) is useful to predict
the stability of rock slope. Equivalent continuum model
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2.Study area 3.1 Equivalent continuum model
The study area lies along NH -109 in Uttarakhand, India, Equivalent continuum model assumes that material is
which runs from Rudraprayag to Kedarnath, and is continuous throughout the body and discontinuities are
situated at the confluence of the Mandakini and the introduced in to the model by reducing the properties and
Alaknanda rivers. The study area between Rudraprayag strength of intact rock to those of rock mass. FEM
and Agastmuni [(N30°17'6.30";E78°58'59") and analysis is carried out in Phase2 (Rocscience 2016b) for
(N30°23'34.5";E79°1'42.4"), respectively]. The highest the selected rock slope in two dimensional plain strain
and lowest elevations in this area are 1650 m and 600m approaches. Phase2 software uses shear strength reduction
respectively. The study area liesin the Garhwal Group of (SSR) technique (Matsui and Sam 1992), which is based
the Lesser Himalaya, which comprises diverse rock types on FEM, used to find the Factor of safety of the rock
of Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic ages (Umrao et slope. The geomechanical properties of intact rock
al. 2011). obtained from the laboratory test (Umrao et al. 2011) are
used to obtain corresponding rock mass properties.
RocLab software program is used to obtain the rock mass
strength parameters, which is based on generalized Hoek
Brown failure criterion. Since there are some difficulties
in applying SSR technique directly to Hoek-Brown
criteria in FEM analysis, the equivalent Mohr-Coulomb
envelope is used to obtain the rock mass properties.
6nodded triangular finite elements, with an average mesh
size of 1.5 m, were used to discretize the model
geometry. Roller type boundary condition is given at the
right boundary and base of the model is restrained against
vertical and horizontal movement.
3.2 Shear strength reduction technique
Figure 1. Location map of study area The shear strength reduction technique is used widely in
numerical modelling which gives better results compared
2.1Description of rock slope to the conventional methods. SSR does not need to
Slope geometry of 25 m height and 80° slope angle is assume failure shape and location, failure mechanism.
used in this case study as shown in the Figure 2. SSR automatically satisfy all the equilibrium conditions
Discontinuities are primarily slightly weathered joints of and the factor of safety of a slope can be computed by
high persistence in the study area. Hariyali quartzite rock reducing the rock shear strength based on the Eqns. 1 and
slope consists of slightly rough, weathered, and three 2, until the failure occurs. Actual shear strength
major joint sets. All three joints have a length of 3m and properties cohesion (c) and internal friction angle (φ) are
spacing 0.6m. The joint dip angle, dip direction and
reduced for each trial using equations.The trial strength
spacing are listed in Table 1.
reduction factor is gradually increased until the slope fails
and the shear strength reduction factor at failure is taken
J1 J2
J3 as the factor of safety value.
C
Cf (1)
SRF
tan
f tan 1 (2)
SRF
An energy convergence criterion with tolerance 0.1% is
used in this study. This convergence criterion is satisfied
when the energy imbalance of the iteration falls below a
specified value. Phase2 stops the iteration when the
energy imbalance of current iteration becomes small
fraction of energy imbalance of initial energy imbalance.
Figure 2. Description of rock slope
3.3 Evaluation of rock mass properties
Table 1. Orientation of joints
RocLab software program is used to obtain the rock mass
Joint set J1 J2 J3 Slope face strength parameters which is based on generalized Hoek-
Dip/Dip Brown failure criterion. A Hoek-Brown criterion
30/315 52/155 56/65 80/180 calculates rock mass strength properties based on the
direction
following equation (Hoek et al. 2002).
3. Methodology (3)
FEM numerical analysis is carried out in
Phase2(Rocscience 2016b) by considering the rock mass where, σ1and σ3are major and minor principal stresses at
as continuum. Two methodologies, equivalent continuum failure, σciis the uniaxial compressive strength of the
method and combined continuum-interface numerical intact rock, is the reduced value of the material
method, are adopted for the analysis. constant and is given as
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Stability assessment of reinforced rock slope based on Two Dimensional Finite element approach: A Himalayan case study

(4)

s and a are constants for the rock mass given as

(5)

(6)

GSI is the Geological strength index, and D is the

disturbance factor which depends upon the degree of
disturbance to which the rock mass has been subjected by
blast damage and stress relaxation. The value of the D
varies from 0 for undisturbed rock mass and 1 for the
disturbed rock mass.
The equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters, cohesion and
friction angle are obtained by fitting a line to the curve
generated by Equation 3 as shown in the Figure 3
Figure 4. Stereographic plot for wedge failure.
3.5Combined continuum-interface method
Combined continuum-interface numerical method has
been attempted in which the discontinuities are
represented as interface elements in between the intact
rocks. Discontinuities are treated as joint elements which
provide a relaxed connectivity between the two adjacent
intact rock portions. The joint element is considered as a
one dimensional four-nodded quadrilateral finite element
of zero thickness. Normal and shear displacement are
simulated in term of relative displacement of nodal pairs
at the edge of interface. The constitutive relation between
force and displacement is derived in terms of normal (kn)
and tangential (ks) stiffness coefficients. kn is estimated
using Barton equation (Barton, 1978) and ks assumed to
be one-tenth of this value. Barton and Bandis(Barton et
al., 1990)failure criteria are used to determine the shear
Figure 3. Mohr-Coulomb fitting curve strength parameters of the joint.
Joint properties used in the analysis are shown in Table 4.
All three joints have a length of 3m and spacing 0.6m is
Table 2. Intact rock properties used in the analysis as shown in the figure.Shear strength
Unit weight Cohesion Friction Tensile reduction (SSR) technique (Matsui and Sam 1992) is
(kN/m3) (kPa) angle (˚) strength (kPa) used to find the Factor of safety value of jointed rock
25.91 132 37 6 slope.

Table 3. Rock mass properties Table 4. Properties of joint sets

UCS (MPa) GSI mi D Ei (MPa) Joint Equivalent Equivalent
Normal
54 35 18 1 22000 Joint shear Joint Joint
stiffness
set stiffness Friction cohesion
(MPa/m)
3.4 Kinematic analysis (MPa/m) Angle(φ) (kPa)
The orientation of a joints relative to slope also controls J1,J2,J3 1244.85 124.485 33˚ 3
the possibility of failure in the rock slopes. Kinematic 4.Results
analysis is performed in DIPS (Rocscience 2016a)which and Discussions
gives the information about most unstable joint Numerical analysis using shear strength reduction (SSR)
orientationand potential for planar, wedge and toppling technique which is based on FEM is conducted for both
failures.The difference between dip direction of slope Equivalent continuum and combined continuum interface
face and Joint sets are more than 20º, the failure due to model. Failure mechanism (as depicted by contours of
planar sliding is not possible for this case. total displacement) predicted by FEM-SSR is shown in
The plunge (44°) of the line of intersection of two Figures5 and 6. Equivalent continuum model considering
intersecting joints J2 (52/155) and J3(56/65) is less than isotropic, homogeneous system of reduced rock mass
the dip of the slope face. This indicates mainly wedge strength predicted a factor of safety value of
type of failure.The critical zone of failure is shown in 1.28,indicating that the slope is marginally stable. The
stereo-graphic plot (Figure 4). factor of safety obtained is less than the limiting value of
1.5 in static condition. A general failure surface is
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developed through intact rock and joints which is nearly
circular.
Figure 5. Failure mechanism (as depicted by contours of
total displacement) predicted by FEM-SSR equivalent
continuum model
Figure 6. Failure mechanismpredicted by FEM-
SSRcombined continuum interface model
The numerical modeling by considering rock mass as a
homogenous medium does not resemble the actual field
conditions in all cases. Discontinuities are highly
persistent in the study area which cannot be capture with
equivalent continuum method. Combined continuum
interface method of analysis is done by explicitly
introducing the joints. This method predicts a factor of
safety value 0.81 that shows the slope to be highly
vulnerable to failure. The SRF value for the equivalent
continuum model is found to be substantially higher than
the combined continuum interface method because it
considers a homogeneous system. The very low factor of
safety value predicted by combined continuum interface
method implies that anisotropy created by the joints
significantly influence the stability of slope. Since the
factor safety is less than limiting value of 1.5 in static
condition, appropriate protection should be adopted to
prevent failure.
5. Design of Reinforcement
From the results obtained from the two-dimensional finite
element analysis, it is well understood that rock slope is
highly unstable. It is essential to provide suitable
stabilization technique to prevent the rock slope failure.In
the present study, end anchored bolts are usedfor rock
slope stabilization. InPhase2,end anchored rock bolts are
modeled as one-dimensional deformable element. The
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bolt transmits the load in terms of relative deformation of
two ends.From the kinematic analysis andtwo-
dimensional finite element analysis, potential sliding is
found to occur along the joint set J3 with dip angle 56°.
The axial force of bolt (T) is resolved in to normal
component (Tn) which acts perpendicular to the joint
plane and the shear component (Ts) of mobilized tension
which acts parallel to the joint plane. When the bolts are
installed flatter than normal to the joint plane (Figure
7),Tncounteract the dilation and TSresists the sliding of the
joint. FOS has been found to be maximum for this
orientation due to the combined effect of these two
components. When the bolt is installed at an angle steeper
than normal to the joint plane (Figure 8), TSresults in an
increment of the driving force along the potential sliding
plane causes the reduction of factor of safety of the rock
slope.
Figure 7. Bolts installed at an angle flatter than normal
A parametric study is conducted to evaluate the influence
of different parameters on rock slope stability by
considering cost effectiveness. The orientation of bolts is
varied between 00 – 450 with the horizontal for different
bolt length, bolt spacing and bolt tensile capacity to
obtain the optimum bolt orientation and SRF is evaluated
for each case. The maximum SRF value is obtained from
the two-dimensional finite element analysis is for 20° bolt
angle as shown in the Figure 9.
Figure 8. Bolts installed at an angle steeper than normal
End anchored rock bolts of 32 mm diameter at 20° angle
with the horizontal is selected from this iterative
procedure. The bolt is of 6 m length and 1 m spacing in
both in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The tensile
capacity of the bolt provided is 0.25 MN. The stability
analysis is done for the reinforced slope and the SRF
value obtained for this bolted system is 1.89 (Figure 10),
which is significantly higher than the limiting value in
static case, and the deformations are within the limit as
Stability assessment of reinforced rock slope based on Two Dimensional Finite element approach: A Himalayan case study

well. The analysis shows that the reinforcement provided

in the study area is adequate to sustain the static loading References
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Figure 9. Variation of SRF with bolt angle. 79-87
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Figure 10. Failure surface predicted by numerical
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Symposium on Rock Joints, 4–6. Loen, Norway, 603–
In the present case study, stability assessment of the rock
610. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
slope, located on National Highway (NH-109), is
performed in two different approaches: equivalent Tiwari, G., Latha, G.M.(2016). “Design of Rock Slope
continuum method and combined continuum interface Reinforcement: An Himalayan Case Study.” Rock
method. Equivalent continuum model considering Mech Rock Eng,49:2075–2097.
isotropic, homogeneous system of reduced rock mass
strength predicted higher factor safety but failed to
capture the anisotropy created by the discontinuities.
Even though it reduces the complexity in implementing
all the joints in a heavily jointed rock slope, it does not
resemble the actual field conditions in all cases. A
general failure surface is developed through intact rock
and joints which is nearly circular. In the second case,for
combined continuum interface method,the joints are
introduced in the model explicitly which resembles the
actual field condition. The lesser factor of safety
predicted from this method implies that the instability of
rock slope is highly influenced by anisotropy created by
the discontinuities. From the numerical modeling, it is
well understood that the combined continuum interface
method, which considers the instability caused by
discontinuities present in the rock slope, predicts more
accurate and better results. End anchored rock bolts are
provided for the stabilization of vulnerable rock slope.
The stability assessment of reinforced rock slopes
showed that designed rock bolts are adequate to attain the
target factor of safety under static condition.

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