• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.620-625
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• 2009

The seismic slope stability is most often evaluated by the pseudo-static limit analysis, in which the earthquake loading is simplified as static inertial loads acting in horizontal and/or vertical directions. The transient loading is represented by constant acceleration via the pseudostatic coefficients. The result of a pseudostatic analysis is governed by the selection of the value of the pseudostatic coefficient. However, selection of the value is very difficult and often done in an ad hoc manner without a sound physical reasoning. In addition, the maximum acceleration is commonly estimated from the design guideline, which cannot accurately estimate the dynamic response of a slope. There is a need to perform a 2D dynamic analysis to properly define the dynamic response characteristics. This paper develops the modified one-dimensional seismic site response analysis. The modified site response analysis adjusts the density of the layers to simulate the change in mass and weight of the layers of the slope with depth. Multiple analyses are performed at various locations within the slope to estimate the change in seismic response of the slope. The calculated peak acceleration profiles with depth from the developed procedure are compared to those by the two-dimensional analyses. Comparisons show that the two methods result in remarkable match.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2009

The seismic slope stability is most often evaluated by the pseudo-static limit analysis, in which the earthquake loading is simplified as static inertial loads acting in horizontal and/or vertical directions. The transient loading is represented by constant acceleration via the pseudostatic coefficients. The result of a pseudostatic analysis is governed by the selection of the value of the pseudostatic coefficient. However, selection of the value is very difficult and often done in an ad hoc manner without a sound physical reasoning. In addition, the maximum acceleration is commonly estimated from the design guideline, which cannot accurately estimate the dynamic response of a slope. There is a need to perform a 2D dynamic analysis to properly define the dynamic response characteristics. This paper develops a new hybrid pseudostatic method that links the modified one-dimensional seismic site response analysis and the pseudostatic algorithm. The modified site response analysis adjusts the density of the layers to simulate the change in mass and weight of the layers of the slope with depth. Multiple analyses were performed at various locations within the slope to estimate the change in seismic response of the slope. The calculated peak acceleration profiles with depth from the developed procedure were compared to those by the two-dimensional analyses. Comparisons show that the two methods result in remarkable match. The calculated profiles are used to perform pseudostatic analysis. The results show that use of peak or a fraction of acceleration at the surface can seriously underestimate or overestimate the factor of safety, and that the proposed procedure significantly enhances the reliability of a standard procedure.