Li, AJ & Merifield, RS 2007, 'Rock Slope Stability Assessment Based on Limit Analysis', in Y Potvin (ed.), Slope Stability 2007: Proceedings of the 2007 International Symposium on Rock Slope Stability in Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineering, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 527-532, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/708_35
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/708_35_Li/)
Abstract: Predicting the stability of rock slopes presents a significant challenge for geotechnical engineers and plays 
an important role when designing engineering structures such as tunnels and bridges. This arises due to the 
difficulty in evaluating the jointed rock mass strength, because rock masses are inhomogeneous, 
discontinuous media composed of rock material and naturally occurring discontinuities such as joints, 
fractures and bedding planes. In view of these rock mass characteristics, the simple theoretical solutions 
based on limit equilibrium methods (LEM) are very difficult to apply. In this paper, numerical finite element 
limit analysis has been used to evaluate the stability of a rock slope whose strength can be described by the 
generalised Hoek-Brown failure criterion. A range of stability charts for rock slopes will be presented in 
which seismic effects will also be incorporated by assuming a pseudo-static body force.