Effect of hydraulic distribution on the stability of a plane slide rock slope under the nonlinear Barton-Bandis failure criterion

In this paper, stabilities of a plane slide rock slope under different hydraulic distributions were studied based on the nonlinear Barton-Bandis (B-B) failure criterion. The influence of various parameters on the stability of rock slopes was analyzed. Parametric analysis indicated that studying the factor of safety (<i>FS</i>) of planar slide rock slopes using the B-B failure criterion is both simple and effective and that the effects of the basic friction angle of the joint (<i>&#966;_b</i>), the joint roughness coefficient (<i>JRC</i>), and the joint compressive strength (<i>JCS</i>) on the <i>FS</i> of a planar slide rock slope are significant. Qualitatively, the influence of the JCS on the <i>FS</i> of a slope is small, whereas the influences of the <i>&#966;_b</i> and the <i>JRC</i> are significant. The <i>FS</i> of the rock slope decreases as the water in a tension crack becomes deeper. This trend is more significant when the flow outlet is blocked, a situation that is particularly prevalent in regions with permafrost or seasonal frozen soil. Finally, the work is extended to study the reliability of the slope against plane failure according to the uncertainty from physical and mechanics parameters.