Stability of Uniformly Reinforced Slopes

Abstract

A limit analysis approach is applied to determine the amount of reinforcement necessary to prevent collapse of slopes due to reinforcement rupture, pullout, or direct sliding. The reinforcement is uniformly distributed over the height of the slope, and each layer of the primary reinforcement has the same length. A rigorous lower bound to the required reinforcement strength is calculated. This formulation is equivalent to that where a strict upper bound to the slope failure height is sought. The length of reinforcement is also calculated; both reinforcement pullout and direct sliding are accounted for. Design charts are produced for both the required reinforcement strength and its length. Although the emphasis is on the analytical considerations, the way results can be practically utilized is shown.