Slope Stability Analyses in Stiff Fissured Clays
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 123, Issue 4
Abstract
Results of torsional ring shear, direct shear, and triaxial compression tests on cohesive soils reveal that the fully softened shear strength is stress-dependent and related to the type of clay mineral and quantity of clay-size particles. An empirical relationship for the fully softened friction angle is presented that is a function of liquid limit, clay-size fraction, and effective normal stress. Studies of first-time slides, i.e., slopes that have not undergone previous sliding, in stiff fissured clay with a liquid limit between 41 and 130% suggest that the mobilized shear strength along the failure surface can be lower than the fully softened shear strength. Recommendations are presented for estimating the mobilized shear strength in first-time slides based on soil plasticity. Soils with a liquid limit greater than 30% exhibit a large difference between the fully softened and residual friction angles. In these soils, the presence or absence of a pre-existing shear surface should be clarified.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abdel-Ghaffar, M. E. M. (1990). “The meaning and practical significance of the cohesion intercept in soil mechanics,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
2.
Balasubramaniam, A. S., Munasinghe, N. T. K., Tennekoon, B. L., and Karunaratne, G. P. (1977). “Stability of cut slopes for installation of penstocks.”Proc., Int. Symp. on the Geotechnics of Structurally Complex Formations, Capri, Vol. 1, 29–39.
3.
Baligh, M. M., and Azzouz, A. S.(1975). “End effects on stability of cohesive slopes.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 101(11), 1105–1117.
4.
Bjerrum, L., and Simons, N. E. (1960). “Comparison of shear strength characteristics of normally consolidated clays.”Proc., Conf. on Shear Strength of Cohesive Clays, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 711–726.
5.
Bjerrum, L.(1967). “Progressive failure in slopes of overconsolidated plastic clay and clay shales.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., ASCE, 93(5), 3–49.
6.
Bromhead, E. N.(1979). “A simple ring shear apparatus.”Ground Engrg., 12(5), 40–44.
7.
Cancelli, A.(1981). “Evaluation of slopes in overconsolidated clays.”Proc., 10th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 3, 377–380.
8.
Casagrande, A., and Hirschfield, R. C. (1960). “First progress report on investigation of stress-deformation and strength characteristics of compacted clays.”Soil Mech. Ser. No. 61, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.
9.
Casagrande, A., and Poulos, S. J. (1964). “Fourth progress report on investigation of stress-deformation and strength characteristics of compacted clays.”Soil Mech. Ser. No. 73, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.
10.
Cavounidis, S., and Sotiropoulos, E.(1980). “Hypothesis for progressive failure in a marl.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 106(6), 659–671.
11.
Chandler, R. J.(1972). “Lias clay: weathering processes and their effect on shear strength.”Géotechnique, London, England, 22(3), 403–431.
12.
Chandler, R. J.(1974). “Lias clay: the long-term stability of cutting slopes.”Géotechnique, London, England, 24(1), 21–38.
13.
Chandler, R. J., and Skempton, A. W.(1974). “The design of permanent cutting slopes in stiff fissured clays.”Géotechnique, London, England, 24(4), 457–466.
14.
Chandler, R. J. (1984a). “Recent European experience of landslides in overconsolidated clays and soft rocks.”Proc., 4th Int. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1, 61–81.
15.
Chandler, R. J.(1984b). “Delayed failure and observed strength of first-time slides in stiff clays: a review.”Proc., 4th Int. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2, 19–25.
16.
Eid, H. T. (1996). “Drained shear strength of stiff clays for slope stability analyses,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
17.
Esu, F., Distefano, D., Grisolia, M., and Tancredi, G.(1984). “Stability of a high cut in overconsolidated lacustrine deposits.”Proc., 4th Int. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2, 63–68.
18.
Gibson, R. E., and Henkel, D. J.(1954). “Influence of duration of tests at constant rate of strain on measured `drained' strength.”Géotechnique, London, England, 4(1), 6–15.
19.
Hvorslev, M. J. (1939). “Torsion ring shear tests and their place in the determination of the shearing resistance of soils.”Proc., Symp. of Shear Testing of Soils, ASTM, Conshohocken, Pa., Vol. 39, 999–1022.
20.
Ladd, C. C., Foott, K., Ishikara, K., Poulos, H. G., and Schlosser, F.(1977). “Stress-deformation and strength characteristics.”Proc., 9th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo, Japan, 2, 421–476.
21.
La Gatta, D. P. (1970). “Residual strength of clays and clay-shale by rotation shear tests.”Rep., Harvard Soil Mech. Ser. No. 86, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass., 204.
22.
Lambe, T. W., Silva, F., and Marr, W. A.(1981). “Instability of amuay cliffside.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 107(11), 1505–1520.
23.
Lambe, T. W. (1985). “Amuay landslide.”Proc., 11th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Golden Jubilee Volume, 137–158.
24.
Li, T. D., and Zhao, Z. S.(1984). “A method of back analysis of the shear strength parameters for the first-time slide of the slope of fissured clay.”Proc., 4th Int. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2, 127–129.
25.
Marivoet, L. (1948). “Control of the stability of a sliding slope in a railway cut near Wetteren.”Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Vol. 2, 38–42.
26.
Mesri, G. (1969). “Engineering properties of montmorillonite,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
27.
Mesri, G., and Cepeda-Diaz, A. F.(1986). “Residual shear strength of clays and shales.”Géotechnique, London, England, 36(2), 269–274.
28.
Mesri, G., and Abdel-Ghaffar, M. E. M.(1993). “Cohesion intercept in effective stress-stability analysis.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 119(8), 1229–1249.
29.
Nash, K. L.(1953). “The shearing resistance of a fine closely graded sand.”Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Imprimerie Berichthaus, Zurich, Switzerland, 1, 160–164.
30.
NAVFAC. (1971). Design manual: soil mechanics, foundations, and earth structures, NAVFAC, DM-7. Department of The Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Alexandria, Va.
31.
Pells, P. J. N., Maurenbrecher, P. M., and Elges, H. F. W. K.(1973). “Validity of results from the direct shear test.”Proc., 8th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., The U.S.S.R. National Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Moscow, Russia, 1, 333–338.
32.
Peterson, R., Iverson, N. L., and Rivard, P. J.(1957). “Studies of several dam failures on clay foundations.”Proc., 4th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Butterworths Publications Ltd., London, England, 2, 348–352.
33.
Peterson, R., Jasper J. L., Rivard, P. J., and Iverson, N. L. (1960). “Limitation of laboratory shear strength in evaluating stability of highly plastic clays.”Proc., Conf. on Shear Strength of Cohesive Clays, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 765–791.
34.
Petley, D. J.(1984). “Shear strength of over-consolidated fissured clay.”Proc., 4th Int. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2, 167–172.
35.
Potts, D. M., Dounias, G. T., and Vaughan, P. R.(1990). “Finite element analysis of progressive failure of Carsington embankment.”Géotechnique, London, England, 40(1), 79–101.
36.
Potts, D. M., Kovacevic, N., and Vaughan, P. R. (1994). “The design of slopes for highway cuttings and embankments.”Contract Rep. 5530 Crowthorne: Transport Res. Lab.
37.
Rivard, P. J., and Kohuska, A.(1965). “Shellmouth Dam test fill.”Can. Geotech. J., Ottawa, Canada, 2, 198–211.
38.
Rivard, P. J., and Lu, Y.(1978). “Shear strength of soft fissured clays.”Can. Geotech. J., Ottawa, Canada, 15(3), 382–390.
39.
Rowe, P. W.(1969). “The relation between the shear strength of sands in triaxial compression, plane strain, and direct shear.”Géotechnique, London, England, 19(1), 75–86.
40.
Schultze, E., and Horn, A.(1965). “The shear strength of silts.”Proc., 6th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1, 350–353.
41.
Simons, N. E. (1963). “The influence of stress path on triaxial test results.”Proc., of Am. Soc. for Testing and Mat., ASTM, Conshohocken, Pa., No. 361, 361.
42.
Simons, N. E. (1976). “Field studies of the stability of embankments on clay foundations.” Bjerrum Memorial Volume, NGI, Oslo, Norway, 183–209.
43.
Skempton, A. W.(1964). “Long-term stability of clay slopes.”Géotechnique, London, England, 14(2), 77–101.
44.
Skempton, A. W., Schuster, R. L., and Petley, D. J.(1969). “Joints and fissures in the London clay at Wraysburg and Edgware.”Géotechnique, London, England, 19(2), 205–217.
45.
Skempton, A. W.(1970). “First-time slides in over-consolidated clays.”Géotechnique, London, England, 20(3), 320–324.
46.
Skempton, A. W.(1977). “Slope stability of cuttings in brown London clay.”Proc., 9th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo, Japan, 3, 261–270.
47.
Skempton, A. W.(1985a). “Residual strength of clays in landslides, folded strata and the laboratory.”Géotechnique, London, England, 35(1), 3–18.
48.
Skempton, A. W. (1985b). “Geotechnical aspects of the Carsington Dam failure.”Proc., 11th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2581–2591.
49.
Skempton, A. W., and Vaughan, P. R.(1993). “The failure of Carsington Dam.”Géotechnique, London, England, 43(1), 151–173.
50.
Skempton, A. W., and Vaughan, P. R.(1995). “The failure of Carsington Dam.”Géotechnique, London, England, 45(4), 719–739.
51.
Sotiropoulos, E., and Cavounidis, S.(1980). “A case of minor slope failure in Marly clay, in Epirus, Greece.”J. Civ. Engrg. Des., 2(2), 209–219.
52.
Spencer, E.(1967). “A method of analysis of the stability of embankments assuming parallel inter-slice forces.”Géotechnique, London, England, 17(1), 11–26.
53.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T.(1993). “Modified Bromhead ring shear apparatus.”ASTM Geotech. J., 16(1), 100–107.
54.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T.(1994). “Drained residual strength of cohesive soils.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 120(5), 332–362.
55.
Taylor, D. W. (1939). “A comparison of results of direct shear and cylindrical compression test.”Proc., of Am. Soc. for Testing and Mat., ASTM, Conshohocken, Pa., 1058.
56.
Terzaghi, K., and Peck, R. B. (1967). Soil mechanics in engineering practice, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
57.
Townsend, F. C., and Banks, D. C. (1974). “Preparation effects on clay shale classification indexes.”Proc., of Nat. Meeting on Water Resour. Engrg., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 21–25.
58.
Wright, S. G. (1986). “UTEXAS2: a computer program for slope stability calculations.”Geotechnical engineering software GS86-1. Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex., pp. 109.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 123 • Issue 4 • April 1997
Pages: 335 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Apr 1, 1997
Published in print: Apr 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.