Slope Stability Analysis Under Seismic Loads (Comparative Between Numerical and Traditional Pseudo-Static Methods)

Abstract

Slopes are the most geotechnical systems that experience kinetic changes due to the development of human activity and its expansion towards the mountainous areas and to many other reasons. It is necessary to understand the mechanism of its collapse, static balance, and degree of kinetic stability to determine the possibility of establishing projects and predicting displacement that can occur during and after construction. For this purpose, the analysis is varied from traditional to numerical methods. GEOSLOPE is an analytical software. However, PLAXIS Dynamic is a numerical one, so those two programs have been used in the pseudo-static analysis based on Terzaghi Model-ignoring the cyclical loadings that could be developed by an earthquake at Al-Madik Castle in Syria, with many case studies. It has been concluded that numerical methods such as PLAXIS software are more accurate, and it is an effective tool in calculating the static and the dynamic stability coefficient, especially with existence of water, or when estimating the slope response at selected points according to seismic time record.