Module -4
Stability of Earth Slopes
Foundation Settlement
Stability of earth slopes
• Types of slopes, causes of failure and type of failure of
finite slopes
• Definition of factor of safety
• Stability of infinite slopes
• Stability of finite slopes – Method of slices, friction circle
method and Taylor’s stability number
Foundation Settlement
• Calculation of settlement, immediate settlement,
consolidation and secondary settlements
• Differential settlement, tilt, permissible settlements and
tilts as per BIS-Matrices.
Introduction
Why?
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Introduction
Why?
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Slopes and its necessity
• An exposed ground surface that stands at an angle (b) with
the horizontal is called slope.
• Construction of highway and
railway
• Embankments
• Earth dams
• levees and canals.
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Construction of highway and railway
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Embankments
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Earth dams
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Levees and Canals
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Types of Slopes
• Natural : Formation due to geological features of the earth
- slopes exist in hilly areas
• Man made: Construction activity like cutting, filling etc
- The sides of cuttings
- The slopes of embankments constructed for roads railway lines, canals
etc.
- The slopes of earth dams constructed for storing water.
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Types of Slopes
• Infinite Slopes
They have dimensions that extend over great distances and the soil mass is
inclined to the horizontal.
• Finite Slopes
• A finite slope is one with a base and top surface, the height being limited.
• The inclined faces of earth dams, embankments and excavation and the like
are all finite slopes.
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Why to understand slopes?
• Failure of natural slopes (landslides) and man-made slopes has
resulted in much death and destruction.
• Civil Engineers are expected to check the safety of natural and slopes
of excavation.
• Slope stability analysis consists of determining and comparing the
shear stress developed along the potential rupture surface with the
shear strength of the soil.
• Attention has to be paid to geology, surface drainage, groundwater,
and the shear strength of soils in assessing slope stability.
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Slope failures Triggering Mechanism
• Intense Rain-Fall
• Water-Level Change
• Seepage Water Flow
• Volcanic Eruption
• Earthquake Shaking
• Human activity
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Gravity
• Seepage
• Earthquake
• Erosion
• Geological features
• Construction activities
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Geological Features: Many failures commonly result from
unidentified geological features.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Erosion: The wind and flowing water causes erosion of top surface of
slope and makes the slope steep and thereby increase the tangential
component of driving force.
• Erosion changes the geometry of the slopes, resulting in a slope failure
or a landslide.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Erosion:
• Rivers and streams continuously scour their banks undermining their
natural or man-made slopes.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Rainfall: Long periods of rainfall saturate, soften, and erode soils.
Water enters into existing cracks and may weaken underlying soil
layers, leading to failure, for example, mud slides.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Steady Seepage: Seepage forces in the sloping direction add to gravity
forces and make the slope susceptible to instability. The pore water
pressure decrease the shear strength. This condition is critical for the
downstream slope.
• Sudden Drawdown: in this case there is reversal in the direction flow
and results in instability of side slope. Due to sudden drawdown the
shear stresses are more due to saturated unit weight while the shearing
resistance decreases due to pore water pressure that does not dissipate
quickly.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Earthquakes: They induce dynamic shear forces. In addition there is
sudden build-up of pore water pressure that reduces available shear
strength.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Earthquakes:
• Pore water pressures in saturated coarse-grained soils could rise to a
value equal to the total mean stress and cause these soils to behave like
viscous fluids. This phenomenon is known as dynamic liquefaction.
Structures founded on these soils would collapse.
• The quickness in which the dynamic forces are induced prevents even
coarse–grained soils from draining the excess pore water pressures.
Thus, failure in a seismic event often occurs under undrained
conditions.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• External Loading: Additional loads placed on top of the slope
increases the gravitational forces that may cause the slope to fail.
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Causes of Slope Failure
• Construction activities at the toe of the slope: Excavation at the
bottom of the sloping surface will make the slopes steep and there by
increase the gravitational forces which may result in slope failure.
• Slope failures due to construction activities is divided into two cases:
• Excavated slopes.
• Fill slopes.
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Definition of Key Terms
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Definition of Key Terms
• Slip or failure zone: It is a thin zone of soil that reaches the critical
state or residual state and results in movement of the upper soil mass.
• Slip plane or failure plane or slip surface or failure surface: It is the
surface of sliding.
• Sliding mass: It is the mass of soil within the slip plane and the ground
surface.
• Slope angle : It is the angle of inclination of a slope to the horizontal.
• The slope angle is sometimes referred to as a ratio, for example, 2:1
(horizontal: vertical).
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Types of Failure
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Types of Failure
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Types of Failure
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Types of Failure
Translational Slide
• Failure of a slope along a weak
zone of a soil
• Sliding mass travels long distances
before coming to rest.
• Common in coarse- grained soils.
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Types of Failure
Rotational slide
• Common in homogenous fine-grained soil
• It has its point of rotation on an imaginary axis parallel to the slope
• There are three types of rotational failure:
– Base slide
– Toe slide
– Slope slide
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Types of Failure
• Broadly slope failures are classified into 3 types as
1. Face (Slope) failure
2. Toe failure
3. Base failure
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Types of Failure
Face (Slope) Failure: This type of failure occurs when the slope angle is
large and when the soil at the toe portion is strong.
The failure surface passes through the slope
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Types of Failure
Toe Failure: In this case the failure surface passes through the
toe.
• This occurs when the slope is steep and homogeneous.
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Types of Failure
Base Failure: In this case the failure surface passes below the toe. This
generally occurs when the soil below the toe is relatively weak and soft.
• Occurs by an arc engulfing the whole slope.
• A soft soil layer resting on a stiff layer of soil is prone to base slide
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Slope Stability
In general you have:
• Driving Force – Weight of Slope
• Resisting Force – Strength of soil along slip surface Buttress at toe
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Slope Stability
• In slope stability analysis we determine the Factor of Safety as a ratio
of resisting forces to driving forces
Fs = Resisting / Driving
• Theoretically, any slope with a Factor of Safety less than one will fail
and any slope with a factor of safety greater than one will not.
• Design focuses on the soil parameters and geometry that will provide
the maximum factor of safety.
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Analysis of Slopes: Factor of Safety
• Factor of safety of a slope is defined as the ratio of average shear
strength (𝛕f ) of a soil to the average shear stress ( 𝛕d) developed
along the potential failure surface.
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Analysis of Slopes: Factor of Safety
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Analysis of Slopes: Factor of Safety
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Stability of Infinite Slopes : Analysis
• Infinite slopes have dimensions that extended over great distances and
the soil mass is inclined to the horizontal.
• If different strata are present strata boundaries are assumed to be
parallel to the surface.
• Failure is assumed to occur along a plane parallel to the surface.
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesionless Soil
• Consider an infinite slope in a cohesionless soil inclined at an angle
to the horizontal as shown.
• Consider an element ‘abcd’ of the soil mass. 42
Infinite Slopes in Cohesionless Soil
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesionless Soil
• Applying the concept of limit equilibrium
• Under the limiting equilibrium FS=1
• “The maximum inclination of an infinite slope in a cohesionless soil
for stability is equal to the angle of internal friction of the soil”.
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesionless Soil
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesive Soils
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesive Soils
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Infinite Slopes in Cohesive Soils
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Finite Slopes: Analysis
• A finite slope is one with a base and top surface, the height being
limited.
• The inclined faces of earth dams, embankments, excavation and the
like are all finite slopes.
• Investigation of the stability of finite slopes involves the following
steps
a) assuming a possible slip surface,
b) studying the equilibrium of the forces acting on this surface, and
c) Repeating the process until the worst slip surface, that is, the one with
minimum margin of safety is found.
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Finite Slopes: Analysis
• Swedish Circle/Arc Method/Method of slices/Standard
method
• Friction circle method
• Taylor’s stability Number
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Method of Slices
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Method of Slices
Procedure
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Method of Slices
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Method of Slices
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Taylor’s Stability Number
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Taylor’s Stability Number
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Friction Circle Method
The friction circle method of slope analysis is a convenient approach for
both graphical and mathematical solutions. 57
Friction Circle Method
The Forces Considered in the Analysis are;
1. The total weight W of the mass above the trial circle acting through the
centre of mass. The centre of mass may be determined by any one of the known
methods.
2. The resultant boundary neutral force U. The vector U may be determined by
a graphical method from flow net construction.
3. The resultant intergranular force, P, acting on the boundary.
4. The resultant cohesive force C.
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Friction Circle Method
Actuating Forces
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Friction Circle Method
Resistant Cohesive Forces
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What to do??
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What to do??
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What to do??
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What to do??
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Foundation Settlement
Foundation Settlement
• Calculation of settlement, immediate settlement,
consolidation and secondary settlements
• Differential settlement, tilt, permissible settlements and
tilts as per BIS-Matrices.
Definition of Foundations
• A structure essentially consists of two parts, namely the super structure
which is above the plinth level and the substructure which is below the
plinth level.
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Definition of Foundations
• The substructure or foundation is the part of a structures that is
usually placed below the surface of the ground to transmit the load
from the superstructure to the underlying soil or rock.
• Generally about 30% of the total construction cost is spent on the
foundation.
• Footings are those parts of the foundation which resting directly on
the soil, support specific portion of building and distributes building
loads directly to the soil.
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Definition of Foundations
• The most efficient footing and foundation system is that transmit
building loads mostly to the soil without exceeding the bearing
capacity of the soil.
• All soil compress noticeably when loaded and cause the supported
structure to settle. If soil of sufficient bearing capacity lies
immediately below the structure then the load can be spread by
footings as shown below.
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Types of Foundations
The two main types of foundation are:
• Shallow foundation
• Deep foundation
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Introduction
• Foundation settlements must be estimated with great care for
buildings, bridges, towers, power plants, and similar high-cost
structures.
• For structures such as fills, earth dams, levees, braced sheeting, and
retaining walls a greater margin of error in the settlements can usually
be tolerated.
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Causes of Foundation Settlement
• Weak Bearing Soils
• Poor Compaction
• Changes in Moisture Content
• Maturing Trees & Vegetation
• Soil Consolidation
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Causes of Foundation Settlement
• Evaporation: Hot dry wind and intense heat will often cause the soil to shrink beneath the
foundation. This settlement may cause cracks to appear throughout the structure.
• Transpiration: Tree roots may desiccate the soil beneath a home causing the soil to shrink and the
home to settle.
• Plumbing Leaks: Water from plumbing leaks is often a cause to foundation problems.
• Drainage: Improper drainage is one of the leading causes to foundation failure. Excess moisture will
erode or consolidate soils and cause settlement.
• Inferior Foundation Construction: Insufficient steel and inferior concrete will contribute to
movement in the slab.
• Inferior Ground Preparation: Soft, low density soils and/or improperly compacted soil beneath a
home is the leading cause of foundation failure. Cut and fill methods are a leading cause of
foundation settlement.
• Poor Soil conditions: Poor soil and its expansion and/or contraction contribute to foundation failure.
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Foundation Settlement
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Foundation Settlement
• The settlement of a shallow foundation can be divided into
two major categories:
(a) elastic, or immediate, settlement and
(b) consolidation settlement.
• Immediate, or elastic, settlement of a foundation takes place
during or immediately after the construction of the structure.
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Immediate Settlement
• Immediate settlement concerns the initial pressure on the soil under and
surrounding the foundation. It is "immediate" because it occurs during and right
after construction. It has nothing to do with water displacement, but is merely
caused by the weight of the structure.
• Immediate settlement takes place as the load is applied or within a time period of
about 7 days.
• Predominates in cohesion less soils and unsaturated clay
• Immediate settlement analysis are used for all fine-grained soils including silts and
clays with a degree of saturation < 90% and for all coarse grained soils with large
co-efficient of permeability (say above 10.2 m/s)
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Foundation Settlement
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Foundation Settlement
• Consolidation settlement or those that are time-dependent and take
months to years to develop. Pore water is extruded from the void
spaces of saturated clayey soils submerged in water. The total
settlement of a foundation is the sum of the elastic settlement and the
consolidation settlement.
• Consolidation settlement comprises two phases: primary and
secondary.
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Consolidation Settlement
• Consolidation settlement is distinguished from immediate settlement both by
the duration of the settlement and by displacement of water.
• Consolidation settlement is the settling of a foundation, over time, due to
pressure exerted by the structure and squeezes out the water content of the soil,
thus compressing it.
• Expulsion of moisture from the soil usually is a long-term process.
• Consolidation settlements are time dependent and take months to years to
develop. The principal settlements for most projects occur in 3 to 10 years.
• Dominates in saturated/nearly saturated fine grained soils where consolidation
theory applies.
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Consolidation Settlement
• Consolidation settlement has two components, primary and secondary.
• The former deals explicitly with the settlement caused by soil moisture
displacement, and the latter deals with the elastic settlement after all movable
water has been squeezed out of the soil.
• Primary consolidation is the most significant and potentially harmful of the
two. Primary consolidation takes quite a bit of time, from weeks to years.
Secondary consolidation is the quicker result of primary consolidation.
• Once primary has been completed, and all movable water has been moved,
secondary kicks in. Secondary consolidation occurs immediately after primary,
and takes far less time to complete.
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Consolidation Settlement
• After secondary consolidation is complete, the structure remains in its
permanent position. As a result, many builders advise residents in new homes
to avoid repairing any settlement damage until secondary consolidation is
complete, which is normally after two years at most.
• Occurs under constant effective stress due to continuous rearrangement of clay
particles into a more stable configuration.
• Predominates in highly plastic clays and organic clays.
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Foundation Settlement
• Secondary consolidation settlement occurs after the completion of
primary consolidation caused by slippage and reorientation of soil
particles under a sustained load.
• Primary consolidation settlement is more significant than secondary
settlement in inorganic clays and silty soils. However, in organic soils,
secondary consolidation settlement is more significant.
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
• The elastic settlement of a shallow foundation can be estimated by
using the theory of elasticity. From Hooke’s law we obtain
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Immediate Settlement
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
• The settlement of the corner of a rectangular base of dimensions B'*L’
on the surface of an elastic half-space can be computed from an
equation from the Theory of Elasticity as follows:
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Immediate Settlement
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
• The influence factors I1 and I2 can be computed using equations given
by Steinbrenner as follows:
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Immediate Settlement
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
• The influence factor If is from the Fox equations, which suggest that
the settlement is reduced when it is placed at some depth in the
ground, depending on Poisson's ratio and L/B.
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Immediate Settlement
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Immediate Settlement
Settlement Based on the Theory of Elasticity
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
• On the basis of the one-dimensional consolidation settlement
equations we write
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
The consolidation settlement Sc due to this average stress increase can be
calculated as follows:
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
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Primary Consolidation Settlement
Primary consolidation settlement calculation
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Secondary Consolidation Settlement
• At the end of primary consolidation (i.e., after the complete dissipation of excess
porewater pressure) some settlement is observed that is due to the plastic adjustment of
soil fabrics. This stage of consolidation is called secondary consolidation.
• A plot of deformation against the logarithm of time during secondary consolidation is
practically linear as shown in Figure.
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Secondary Consolidation Settlement
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Secondary Consolidation Settlement
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Secondary Consolidation Settlement
• Secondary consolidation settlement is more important in the case of
all organic and highly compressible inorganic soils.
• In overconsolidated inorganic clays, the secondary compression
index is very small and of less practical significance.
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Time rate of Consolidation
Degree of consolidation
• The average degree of consolidation for the entire depth of the clay
layer at any time t can be expressed as
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Time rate of Consolidation
Degree of consolidation
• The values of the time factor and their corresponding average degrees
of consolidation for the case presented in may also be approximated
by the following simple relationship:
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Uniform Settlement
• Total settlement refers to the uniform settlement of the entire structure
and occurs due to weight of the structure and imposed loads.
• When all points settle with equal amount, the settlement is called
uniforms
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Differential Settlement
• Differential settlement refers to the the unequal settling of a
building's piers or foundation that can result in damage to the
structure. The damage occurs when the foundation sinks in different
areas at different times.
• Differential or uneven settlement can occur if the loads on the
structure are unevenly distrbuted, variations in the soil properties or
due to construction related variations
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Settlement Limits
• Total settlement is the magnitude of downward movement.
• Differential settlement is non-uniform settlement. It is "the difference of
settlement between various locations of the structure.
• Angular distortion between two points under a structure is equal, to the
differential settlement between the points divided by the distance between
them.
• Theoretically speaking, no damage will be done to a structure if it settles
uniformly as a whole regardless of how large the settlement may be. The
only damage would be to the connections of the underground utility lines.
• However, when the settlement is non-uniform (differential), as is always
the case, damage may be caused to the structure.
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Settlement Limits
• The tolerable, settlements of different structures, vary considerably. Simple-
span frames can take considerably greater distortion than rigid frames. A
fixed-end arch would suffer greatly if the abutments settle or rotate.
• For road embankments, storage silos and tanks a settlement of 300mm -
600mm may be acceptable, but for machine foundations the settlement may
be limited to 5mm -30mm.
• Different types of construction materials can withstand different degrees of
distortion. For example, sheet metal wall panels do not show distress as
readily as brick masonry.
• To reduce differential settlement, the designer may limit the total settlement
and use the following equation for the calculation of the differential
settlement: 110
Settlement Limits
• Guidelines to limiting values are suggested by a number of sources, but following routine
limits appear to be conventionally acceptable (Skempton and Mac Donald, 1956)
• Sands
• Maximum total settlement = 40 mm for isolated footings = 40 to 65 mm for rafts
• Maximum differential settlement between adjacent columns = 25 mm
• Clays
• Maximum total settlement = 65 mm for isolated footings = 65 to 100 mm for rafts
• Maximum differential settlement between adjacent columns = 40 mm.
• The differential settlement may also be evaluated in terms of the angular distortion given
by: (ΔHdiff) = Δ/L
• Where Δ = relative settlement between the two points and L = Horizontal distance between
the two points. Based on a large number of settlement observations and performance of
structures, the suggested limits for tolerable differential settlements are show in table 111
below.
Settlement Limits
Angular distortion Type of limit and structure
1/150 Structure damage of general
buildings expected
1/250 Tilting of high rigid buildings
may be visible
1/300 Cracking in panel walls expected
Difficulties with overhead cranes
1/500 Limit for buildings in which cracking
is not permissible
1/600 Overstressing of structural frames
with diagonals
1/750 Difficulty with machinery sensitive 112
to settlement
Causes
• Differential settlement is primarily due to the condition of
the soil upon which the structure sits.
• Soil has the capacity to expand or contract based upon the
temperature or weather conditions.
• It can also shift or wash away due to poor drainage, heavy
rainfall, soil drying unevenly, or changes in the water table.
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Effects
• The settlement causes cracks in a structure's foundation,
slab or supporting piers. These cracks lead to cracks in
the building's interior walls and uneven settling of the
building's doors, windows and trim.
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Prevention and Solution
• The best way to prevent damage from differential settlement is
to thoroughly analyze the soil and make necessary amendments
before construction begins.
• It may be necessary to reinforce the structure's piers or
foundations if a problem occurs after the building has been
constructed.
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Thank You
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