Evaluation Approach of the Slope Stability Based on Deformation Analysis

Once a slope is led to the limit equilibrium state using the strength-reduction method, the displacement contours located near the critical slip surface are quite close. The critical slip surface is composed of the points at which the directional derivative of displacement along the direction perpendicular to the critical slip surface arrives at the maximum in the vertical direction. First, a series of vertical lines are evenly set up along the horizontal direction, and some discrete points are arranged along each vertical line. Then, for each vertical line, the directional derivative of displacement along the direction perpendicular to the critical slip surface of the middle position of any two adjacent discrete points is calculated using the central difference method. Next, the point with the maximum directional derivative of each vertical line is determined, and each point smoothed by the least squares method could characterize the position of the critical slip surface. Finally, two examples are executed to verify the reliability of the proposed method.