Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Ahead of Print.
The stability of slopes is typically evaluated by two-dimensional plane strain analysis. However, many slopes exhibit three-dimensional (3D) geometries, including slope corners. Several researchers have studied the stability of slope corners but found that the factor of safety (FS) was close to the FS for the plane strain case. The results of a new series of 3D finite element method (FEM) simulating slope corners, including slope angle, plan view angle, radius of curvature, and slope height are presented. They confirm that the FS does not vary much for corners compared to the plane strain case. However, 220 cases using an elastic-perfectly plastic soil model together with the FEM shear strength reduction method show that the displacement field is very different at the corners compared to plane strain with differences reaching over 100%. The displacement ratio between corners and plane strain is presented as a function of the plan view angle of the corner. Often failure is defined at a chosen large displacement, as in the ultimate load of foundation elements. If this concept is carried over to slope stability, it would indicate that the FS of corners should be very different from the plane strain case. A possible explanation is discussed.

中文翻译：

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边坡拐角的稳定性：基于位移的有限元研究

加拿大岩土工程杂志，印刷前。
边坡的稳定性通常通过二维平面应变分析来评估。然而，许多斜坡呈现三维 (3D) 几何形状，包括斜坡拐角。一些研究人员研究了边坡拐角的稳定性，但发现安全系数 (FS) 接近平面应变情况下的 FS。介绍了一系列新的 3D 有限元方法 (FEM) 模拟坡角的结果，包括坡度角度、平面视角、曲率半径和坡度。他们证实，与平面应变情况相比，拐角处的 FS 变化不大。然而，使用完美弹塑性土模型和有限元抗剪强度折减法的 220 个案例表明，拐角处的位移场与平面应变相比有很大差异，差异达到 100% 以上。拐角与平面应变之间的位移比表示为拐角平面视角的函数。通常，失效是在选定的大位移下定义的，例如基础元件的极限载荷。如果将此概念延续到边坡稳定性，则表明拐角的 FS 应与平面应变情况有很大不同。讨论了一种可能的解释。