• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.669-676
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• 2018

The "pseudo-wedge" failure is a name for a complex instability occurring at the Sarcheshmeh open-pit mine (Iran). The pseudo-wedge failure contains both the rock bridge failure and sliding along pre-existing discontinuities. In this paper, a cross section of the failure area was first modeled using a bonded-particle method. The results indicated development of tensile cracks at the slope toe which explains the freedom of pseudo-wedge blocks to slide. Then, a three-dimensional discrete element method was used to perform a block analysis of the instability. The technique of shear strength reduction was used to calculate the factor of safety. Finally, the influence of geometrical characteristics of the mine wall on the pseudo-wedge failure was investigated. The safety factor significantly increases as the dip and dip direction of the wall decrease, and reaches an acceptable value with a 10-degree decrease of them.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.287-297
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• 2020

This paper investigates the stability of a three-dimensional (3D) wedge under the pseudo-static action of an earthquake based on the nonlinear Barton-Bandis (B-B) failure criterion. The influences of the mechanical parameters of the discontinuity surface, the geometric parameters of the wedge and the pseudo-static parameters of the earthquake on the stability of the wedge are analyzed, as well as the sensitivity of these parameters. Moreover, a stereographic projection is used to evaluate the influence of pseudo-static direction on instability mode. The parametric analyses show that the stability coefficient and the instability mode of the wedge depend on the mechanical parameter of the rock mass, the geometric form of the wedge and the pseudo-static state of the earthquake. The friction angle of the rock φ_b, the roughness coefficient of the structure surface JRC and the two angles related to strikes of the joints θ₁ and θ₂ are sensitive to stability. Furthermore, the sensitivity of wedge height h, the compressive strength of the rock at the fracture surface JCS and the slope angle α to the stability are insignificant.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2010

Slope stability analysis of the right abutment of a railway bridge proposed at about 350 m above the ground level, crossing a river and connecting two huge hillocks in the Himalayas, India is presented in this paper. The site is located in a highly active seismic zone. The rock slopes are intensely jointed and the joint spacing and orientation are varying at different locations. Static slope stability of the rock slope is studied using equivalent continuum approach through the most commonly used commercial numerical tools like FLAC and SLOPE/W of GEOSTUDIO. The factor of safety for the slope under static conditions was 1.88 and it was reduced by 46% with the application of earthquake loads in pseudo-static analysis. The results obtained from the slope stability analyses confirmed the global stability of the slope. However, it is very likely that there could be possibility of wedge failures at some of the pier locations. This paper also presents the results from kinematics of right abutment slope for the wedge failure analysis based on stereographic projections. Based on the kinematics, it is recommended to flatten the slope from 50o to 43o to avoid wedge failures at all pier locations.