Seismic Stability and Permanent Displacement of 3D Slopes with Tension Cutoff

Abstract The magnitude of seismic displacement is an important index to evaluate the safety of slopes. The traditional Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion may overestimate the slope stability in seismic displacement calculation. Some analyses under plane-strain (2D) conditions reveal a significant effect of tension cutoff on slope displacement. This paper aims to carry out a three-dimensional (3D) analysis to investigate the seismic displacement of slopes affected by tension cutoff. Within the framework of limit analysis, a 3D rotational failure mechanism is adopted here for homogeneous slopes consisting of c–φ soils. A series of parametric analyses are conducted to explore the influence of the reduction coefficient on the yield acceleration coefficient, displacement coefficient, and seismic displacement. The results are more comprehensive and accurate compared with 2D analysis.