• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 1998

Limit equilibrium method is widely used for the stability analysis of soil slopes. In jointed rock slopes however, the failure of the slope is largely dependent upon the strength and deformability of the joints in the rock mass and quite often failure occurs along the joints. This paper describes the use of ubiquitous joint model for the stability analysis of the jointed rock slopes. This model is essentially an anisotropic elasto-plastic model and can simulate two sets of joint in arbitrary orientations. Validation of the developed with the factor of safety equal to unity was selected when the shape of the failure plane is assumed log spiral. Then the factor of safety of the rock slope having two perpendicular joint sets was calculated while rotating joint orientations. Rusults were compared with limit equilibrium solutions on soil slopes having equivalent soil properties when plane sliding was assumed. Developed model predicted the factor of safety of jointed rock slope in a reasonable accuracy when joint spacing is sufficiently small.