Model Wedge Tests and Re-assessment of Limiting Equilibrium Methods for Wedge Sliding

摘要

The stability of rock slopes in discontinuous rock mass associated with the construction of power plants, highways and open-pits is always of paramount importance during the lifetime of these structures. One of the likely forms of instability observed in the excavation of rock slopes is wedge sliding and some mathematical methods for the stability analyses for wedge silding are well documented in literature. Since most of the mathematical approaches used are based on the limiting equilibrium concept, there seems a need to check the validity of these approaches under some controlled conditions. In this paper, the authors describe a method for the stability of a wedge and compare the results calculated according to the LEM with those of model experiments.