ABSTRACT
Slope stability analysis has been an important issue in the domain of rock and soil engineering, and many analytical methods are proposed (Ducan 1996, Chen 2003). The main purpose of the slope stability analysis is to estimate the safety factor of the slope against sliding, and the primary problem is to define its safety factor. For a same slope different safety factor definition often may yield different safety factor value. Slope stability analytical methods, currently used in geotechnical engineering, could be classified into two groups in terms of their safety factor definitions: one based on the definition of overload safety factor, the other on the definition of shear strength reduction safety factor.
