Non-Homogeneous Slope
Updated 07/2025
Non-Homogeneous Slope
Created By: Roozbeh Geraili Mikola, PhD, PE
Email: hyrcan4geo@[Link]
Web Page: [Link]
(50,35) (70,35)
Soil 1
(54,31) (70,31)
(50,29)
Soil 2
(20,25) (30,25) (40,27) (52,24) (70,24)
Soil 3
(70,20)
(20,20)
This tutorial will demonstrate some of the basic features of HYRCAN to calculate the factor of
safety for a non-homogeneous three-layer slope as shown above.
Project Settings
Various important modeling and analysis options are set in the Project Settings dialog, including
Failure Direction, Units of Measurement, Analysis Methods and Groundwater property. In this
analysis the default parameters have been selected.
Select: Analysis
Project Settings
Figure 1- Project Settings dialog.
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Create Geometry
External Boundaries
The first boundary that must be defined for every model, is the External Boundary. To add the
External Boundary, select External Boundary from the toolbar or the Boundaries menu.
Select: Geometry
External Boundary
Enter the following coordinates in the prompt line at the bottom right of the main window.
Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 20 25
Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 30 25
Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 50 35
Enter vertex [c=close,esc=cancel]: 70 35
Enter vertex [c=close,esc=cancel]: 70 20
Enter vertex [c=close,esc=cancel]: 20 20
Enter vertex [c=close,esc=cancel]: c
Note that entering c after the last vertex has been entered, automatically connects the first and
last vertices (closes the boundary), and exits the External Boundary option. Your screen should
now look as follows:
Figure 2- External boundary is created.
Material Boundaries
Material boundaries are used in HYRCAN to define the boundaries between different material
regions within the External Boundary. Let’s add two material boundaries.
Select: Geometry
Material Boundary
Enter the following coordinates in the prompt line at the bottom right of the main window.
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Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 30 25
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: 50 29
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: 54 31
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: 70 31
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: d
Repeat the sequence and enter the following coordinates in the prompt line.
Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 40 27
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: 52 24
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: 70 24
Enter vertex [d=done,esc=cancel]: d
Your screen should now look as follows:
Figure 3- External and material boundaries added.
Properties
It’s time to define our material properties. Select Define Materials from the toolbar or the
Properties menu.
Select: Properties
Define Materials
Material c (kN/m2) φ (degrees) γ (kN/m3)
Soil 1 0.0 38.0 19.5
Soil 2 5.3 23.0 19.5
Soil 3 7.2 20.0 19.5
With the first (default) tab selected in the Define Materials dialog, enter the following properties:
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Enter the parameters shown above. When all parameters are entered for the first material, select
the second and third tabs, and enter the properties for each soil layer.
Enter the properties, and press Apply when finished.
Assigning Properties
Since we have defined more than one material, it will be necessary to assign properties to the
correct regions of the model, using the Assign Material dialog. Select Assign Properties from the
toolbar or the Properties menu.
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Select: Properties
Assign Properties
You will see the Assign Materials dialog, shown below.
To assign properties to the soil layers:
1. Use the mouse to select the soil material, in the Assign Materials dialog (notice that the
material names are the names you entered in the Define Material Properties dialog).
2. Now place the cursor anywhere in the soil region and click the left mouse button. Repeat
the same sequence for other soil materials until all the materials are assigned.
Figure 4- Geometry setup after assigning the properties.
Modifying the Slope Limits
The Slope Limits are automatically calculated by HYRCAN as soon as the External Boundary is
created. If you wish to narrow the Slope Search to more specific areas of the model, the Slope
Limits can be customized with the Define Limits dialog.
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Select: Surfaces
Define Slope Limits
In this tutorial in order to cover the crest of the slope the value of “Left x coordinate” of the Second
Limit is modified to 45 as shown in the figure above. Later on, by refining the slope limits you will
be able to estimate more accurate global minimum slip surface. We are now finished creating the
model, and can proceed to run the analysis and interpret the results.
Compute
The model is now ready to run.
Select: Analysis
Compute
The engine will proceed in running the analysis. When completed, you are ready to view the
results in Result Tab.
Results and Discussions
When calculation is completed, you are ready to view the results in Result Tab. By default, when
Result Tab opened, the Global Minimum slip surface, for the Bishop Simplified analysis method
will be shown. This resulted in total of 7500 trial slip surfaces. The result of the factor of safety
calculation is shown in Figure 5. Table 1 summarize the comparisons of calculated factor of safety
for the same model using different commercial programs.
Table 1- Comparison of Minimum Factor of Safety for Non-Homogeneous model
Method Slide2 SVSLOPE HYRCAN
Bishop Simplified 1.405 1.405 1.404
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Figure 5- Result of automatic slope search.
To view ALL valid slip surfaces generated by the analysis, select the “All Surfaces” option from
the toolbar or the Result menu.
Select: Result
All Surfaces
Figure 6- Circular surface search – All surfaces shown.
The Show Slices option can be used to display the actual slices used in the analysis.
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Select: Result
Show Slices
Figure 7- Slice displayed.
The Query Slice Data option allows you to view detailed analysis results for individual slices.
Select: Result
Query Slice Data
After selecting the Query Slice Data, the Slice Data dialog will show up, which prompts you to
“Click on a slice to view slice data”. Click on ant slice, and the data for the slice will be displayed
in the dialog, as shown below:
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Figure 8- Slice Data dialog.
Script
After finishing the model you will be able to save the generated script by HYRCAN in the text file.
Select:
The commands for this tutorial are listed below.
newmodel()
set("failureDir","r2l")
extboundary(20,25,30,25,50,35,70,35,70,20,20,20,20,25)
matboundary(30,25,50,29,54,31,70,31)
matboundary(40,27,52,24,70,24)
definemat("ground","matID",1,"matName","Soil 1","uw",19.5,"cohesion",0,"friction",38)
definemat("ground","matID",2,"matName","Soil 2","uw",19.5,"cohesion",5.3,"friction",23)
definemat("ground","matID",3,"matName","Soil 3","uw",19.5,"cohesion",7.2,"friction",20)
assignsoilmat("matid",1,"atpoint",53.5982,32.8461)
assignsoilmat("matid",2,"atpoint",56.9309,28.517)
assignsoilmat("matid",3,"atpoint",34.2547,22.0234)
definelimits("limit",20,36.665,"limit2",45,70)
compute()