PROGRESSIVE FAILURE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF NAIL-REINFORCED SLOPES

A limit equilibrium-based method for the stability analysis of slopes considering progressive failure is represented. The characteristic of this method is to define a local safety factor at the base of each slice so as to describe local failure along a slip surface. In this paper, an incremental technique is re-described to solve the equations and an empirical interslice force function is introduced to enhance the efficiency and robustness of the solution procedure. The proposed method is also used to construct a scheme for the analysis and design of nail-reinforced slopes. An optimization procedure is developed to determine tensile resistances of nails that will be required to provide an adequate factor of safety of reinforced zones. The proposed procedure can be used to determine reasonable layout of nails and required tensile strength of reinforcing material. Finally, the method is used to analyze and design a slope reinforced by soil nails and results are presented and discussed.