Analysis of a Rock Slope with an Infilled Planar Joint Using Deterministic and Probabilistic Approaches

The shear stress response and rock mass deformation are significantly influenced by rock discontinuities. The rock mass becomes more distorted and loses strength as a result of these discontinuities. The orientations of these discontinuities determine the failure pattern of rock mass. These discontinuities can be unfilled or infilled. The shear behaviour of rock mass is largely affected if infill material is present there. The presence of infill material affects the shear behaviour of rock mass. In this paper, a rock slope inclined at an angle of 60°, with a single discontinuity of thickness 1.0 m inclined at an angle varying between 35° and 52° containing a weak soil as infill material is subjected to pseudo-static earthquake load. The horizontal coefficient of the earthquake is taken as 0.1 g. The factor of safety is obtained for each joint inclination. Numerical simulation is performed using FLAC2D and an analytical run is also performed using MATLAB, where reliability analysis using Monte Carlo simulation is carried out by considering uncertainties in rock properties.