Strength Reduction Technique in Stability Analysis of Jointed Rock Slopes

Existence of discontinuities causes higher deformability and lower strength in rock masses. thusjoints can change the rock mass behaviour due to the applied loads. for this reason properties andorientation ofthejointsets haveagreateffecton thestability ofrockslopes. in thispaper, afterintroducingsomenumericalmethods forevaluatingthefactor ofsafetyfor the stability ofslopes, stability o/jointed rock slopes in the plane strain condition is investigated with the strength reduction technique; this method is modified and applied in the multilaminate framework. first ofall, stability ofone homogeneous rock slope is investigated and compared with the limit equilibrium method. then stability of a layered rock slope is analyzed with some modifications in the strength reduction technique. effects of orientation, tensile strength and dilationoflayeredjointsets on thefactor ofsafetyandlocation oftheslidingblockare explained