A three-dimensional rotational failure mechanism for earth slope is extended from toe failure to include face failure and base failure. An efficient optimisation method is simultaneously employed to find the least upper bounds to the critical height in order to avoid missing the global minimum. Compared with the results from analysis based on toe failure alone, best estimates of the critical height and the critical failure mechanism are obtained. The calculated results are given in the form of graphs and tables for a wide range of parameters. The critical failure surfaces are also investigated to assess the influences of geometrical constraint and soil property on failure mechanism.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.