ABSTRACT
METHODS OF STABILITY ANALYSIS OF SLOPES OF FINITE HEIGHT The stability of slopes of infinite extent has been discussed in previous sections. A more common problem is the one in which the failure occurs on curved surfaces. The most widely used method of analysis of homogeneous, isotropic, finite slopes is the Swedish method based on circular failure surfaces. Petterson (1955) first applied the circle method to the analysis of a soil failure in connection with the failure of a quarry wall in Goeteberg, Sweden. A Swedish National Commission, after studying a large number of failures, published a report in 1922 showing that the lines of failure of most such slides roughly approached the circumference of a circle. The failure circle might pass above the toe, through the toe or below it. By investigating the strength along the arc of a large number of such circles, it was possible to locate the circle which gave the lowest resistance to shear. This general method has been quite widely accepted as offering an approximately correct solution for the determination of the factor of safety of a slope of an embankment and of its foundation. Developments in the method of analysis have been made by Fellenius (1947), Terzaghi (1943), Gilboy (1934), Taylor (1937), Bishop (1955), and others, with the result that a satisfactory analysis of the stability of slopes, embankments and foundations by means of the circle method is no longer an unduly tedious procedure.
