block toppling stability of rock block with rounded edges using sarma approach

In rock slopes, block toppling failure is a prevalent instability. in this instability, rock mass consists of a series of dominant parallel discontinuities that are dipping steeply into the slope face, and a series of cross-joints are located normal to the dominant discontinuities. blocks may slide or rotate due to their weight along the natural cross-joints at their base, and the tensile strength does not significantly affect the stability of the rock slope. the rounding edge of rock columns is a special feature of spheroidal weathering. firstly, a literature review of block toppling instability is presented. next, applying the sarma approach, a new theoretical analysis is proposed for the rock columns with rounded edges. one of the advantages of the proposed approach is that by determining the sign of a parameter called kc, the stability status can be specified. the suggested solution is compared with a pre-existing analytical method through examples and case study. comparisons indicate that the proposed approach has a satisfactory agreement. it can be concluded that with weathering and rounding of the block edges, the safety factor decreases non-linearly. therefore, this solution can be used to evaluate the blocky toppling failure regarding the erosion phenomenon.