ABSTRACT
The effect of three faults on the slope stability was studied for the Stage 1 open pit in an open cut mine in Australia. The faults were treated as joints using Barton’s method, and the slope was under dry and partially saturated conditions. A finite element program in RocScience was used in the study, where the generalized Hoek–Brown criterion was employed for rock mass and the Mohr-coulomb criterion for the faults. It is found that the factor of safety of the slope decreased with the introduction of the fault structures. Furthermore, the fault structures created higher stress concentrations zones at the ends of the faults.
