Seismic Stability Analysis of Sandy Slopes

Static analysis of slope stability using limit equilibrium method has been studied and different methods have been presented. But in the earthquake it is seen that the slopes undergo with a wide slips. Thus investigation of seismic stability of slopes has special important. In this paper by using numerical method, slopes with different heights and angles were seismic analysis by applying Tabas earthquake accelerogram. According to the results it is seen that during the earthquake and with increasing the time, a plastic zone at the foot of the slope is created and began to propagate into the middle and the crown of slope. Plastic zone created in seismic analysis is deeper and larger than the static analysis and it is because of the large inertia forces that are applied by the earthquake. Also with increasing the height of slopes, areas in which it occurs plastic shear strain increases but at the same time they slip.