Stability analysis for nonhomogeneous slopes subjected to water drawdown

Comparing with the homogeneous slope, the nonhomogeneous slope has more significance in practice. The main purpose of the present study is to provide a preliminary idea that how the nonhomogeneity influences the stability of slopes under four different water drawdown regimes. Two typical categories of nonhomogeneity, identified as layered profile and strength increasing with depth profile, are included in the paper, and a nonhomogeneity coefficient is defined to quantify the degree of soil properties nonhomogeneity. With a modified discretization technique, the safety factors of nonhomogeneous slopes are calculated. On this basis, the variation of safety factor with the nonhomogeneity coefficient of friction angle and the water table level are investigated. In the present example, safety factor correlates linearly with friction angle nonhomogeneity coefficient from a whole view and the influences of the water table level on safety factor is basically similar with that in homogeneous condition.