Sixth Technical Session: The Stability of Earth

Dam Slopes
Friday, 24 September, 1954

Session 6/ 1

THE STABILITY OF THE SLOPES OF EARTH DAMS

bY
PKOFESSOR ERLING REINIUS

Earth dams usually have a core of impervious material supported on both the upstream
and downstream sides by pervious materials, Fig. 101 (a). Sometimes the watertight seal
consists of a more or less sloping core placed in the upstream part of the dam, Fig. 101 (b),
or of an inclined impervious blanket, Fig. 101 (c). The pervious parts of the dam usually
consist of cohesionless soil (sand, gravel or rock), and the core of cohesive soil.

*.,,*
(a!

>
ib)

,,,,)
cc‘,

Fig. 101. Cross-sections of earth dams with different

location of the earth core

The stability of the slopes of an earth dam depends on a great number of different factors,
the most important of which are the following :
1. The design of the dam in regard to location of the core, if any, distribution
of pervious
and impervious materials, thickness and character of the slope protection,
drainage system, etc.
2. The properties of the soil in regard to permeability, shearing strength and deforma-
tions.
3. The acting forces, especially the weight of the embankment, external water load and
the internal water pressure.
In the following analysis of the stability of the slopes of earth dams only the static problem
181

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 182 E. REINIUS

is treated and the influence of waves, overflow, leakage, settlements, piping, etc., are not con-
sidered. The conditions of stability are different for the upstream and the downstream slopes,
and therefore, they will be treated separately.

THE STABILITY OF THE UPSTREAM SLOPE

Central core
The upstream portion of a dam with a central core consists of pervious material. The
acting forces are the weight of the soil and of the facing, the external water pressure, which
acts as a stabilizing factor, and the internal pore-water pressure, which contributes to a possible
slide by pressing the soil outwards and reducing the friction. The slope has to be designed to
withstand the most dangerous combination of both high internal pore-water pressure and low
water level in the reservoir. This combination is obtained if the water in the reservoir is
first maintained at its highest level for a sufficiently long time for the soil upstream of the core
to become thoroughly saturated with water, and is then drawn down so rapidly that an incon-
siderable quantity of water flows out of the slope during the drawdown-“ rapid drawdown.”
If the permeability of the soil is great, or the lowering of the water takes place slowly, the
level of the ground-water within the embankment will be lowered, and this will result in lower
values for the internal pore-water pressure-“ slow drawdown “.
Flow nets in the upstream part of an earth
dam on an impervious foundation after both a
rapid and a slow drawdown are shown in Figs
102 and 103 respectively.1 Fig. 104 shows the
flow net when the foundation has the same
permeability as the embankment fill. The
equipotential lines cross the surface of the
Fig. 102. Flow net in the upstream part of an
earth dam after a rapid drawdown. Im- slope or the ground-water at the level that
pervious foundation corresponds to the potential of the lines, i.e. to
the piezometric head. The boundary-line
against impervious material, such as the core
and the foundation, if the latter is impervious,
may be approximately assumed to be a flow line.
The flow net at slow drawdown is determined
by dividing the time in intervals and assuming
the reservoir water level to be stationary and
equal to the average value during the interval.
Fig. 103. Flow net and ground-water table in
the upstream part of an earth dam after The friction circle method may be applied
a slow drawdown. Impervious foundation for calculating the stability of the upstream
~___ slope. The acting forces are shown in Fig. 105 :
the weight W, the water load on the face of the
slope P, and the internal pore-water pressure
U. The average value of the angle of internal
friction required to prevent a slide along the
circle is obtained by the equation

M
sin &. = __
RKr
Fig. 104. Flow net in the upstream part of an
earth dam after a rapid drawdown. where M is the moment of all the acting forces
Foundation of the same permeability as
the embankment fill about the centre of the circle, R is the resultant

1 The numbers quoted allude to the References at the end of this Paper.

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 THE STABILITY OF THE SLOPES OF EARTH DAMS 183

of the forces, and Y is the radius of the friction

circle, K is a correction factor slightly above one2
and may, for approximate calculation, be put at
1 *oo.
The lowest value of the required angle of internal
friction is obtained by trial. The most dangerous
circle covers the whole slope if the water level is
drawn down completely, or almost completely. If
the drawdown is less the most dangerous circle may
be situated at the upper part of the slope and
covering the point where the water level of the
reservoir touches the slope. At the latter point
the uplift is greater than the component of the
weight perpendicular to the face of the slope. Thus,
a transposition of the material will take place if no
slope protection is provided.
Great shearing stresses at a drawdown may be
avoided by making the slope flatter or by providing
Fig. 105. Friction circle method for cal-
culating the stability of the upstream the slope with a facing which, besides protecting it
slope after a rapid drawdown against scouring, serves to load the surface of the
slope and increase the total weight above a tentative
sliding surface. The greatest required angle of internal friction during a complete, r@id
drawdown has been calculated for slopes of different inclinations, and for different thick-
nesses of pervious slope protection, and is shown on Fig. 106 for impervious foundation.1 The
fill upstream of the central core is assumed to be homogeneous having a unit wet weight of
2.10 kg/cu. decimetre, which corresponds to a dry weight of about 1.77. The unit dry weight
of the slope protection has been assumed to be 2.0 kg/cu. decimetre. If the slope protection
has another unit weight, the thickness obtained in Fig. 106 should be changed in order to
make the total weight of the protection the same.
The corresponding values of the greatest required angle of internal friction during a com-
plete, slow drawdown for a slope of 1 on 2 and for impervious foundation is shown in
Fig. 107.

In the parameter -$, k is the coefficient of permea-

bility of the fill (m/set), l is the porosity-ratio between

volume of voids and total. volume of soil-and II, is the
velocity of the lowering of the water level in the
Q.

o 0.05n reservoir (m/set).

2
2 Greater stability can be obtained if the pore-water
‘: pressure is reduced, for instance, by construction
E 0
25’ 30” 35’ 40” 4:’ elements located within the upstream part of the dam
Required angle of mternal friction
. and subjected to low water pressure. Such elements
Greatest required angle of
may consist of a material which, in comparison with
Fig. 106.
internal friction during a complete the material in the embankment, is considerably more
rapid drawdown for slopes of pervious, and which extends from the surface of the
different inclinations, and for
different thicknesses of slope slope into the interior of the dam. Fig. 108 (a) shows
protection. Plain lines represent the flow net in a dam with a horizontal pervious drain-
impervious foundation, and dotted age layer at the foundation level, compare Figs 102
lines foundation with the same
permeability as the embankment and 103. The effect of a dam toe of rock fill is shown
fill. H is the height of the dam in Fig. 108 (b).

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 E. REINIUS

. 50’ 55' 400 450

Requlrcd angleof mternal fnctvm
--7--
Fig. 107. Greatest required angle of internal
friction during a complete, slow draw-
down for different thicknesses of slope
protection. Impervious foundation. Slope
1 on 2. H is the height of the dam.
k
- = 0 corresponds to a rapid drawdown
nvw ib)

Fig. 108. Influence of (a) a horizontal pervious

drainage layer, and (b) a toe of rock fill on
the internal pore-water pressure in the up-
stream part of an earth dam

Inclined blanket OYa core with a pat slope

The impervious blanket or core has to be covered by a pervious material, cf. Figs 101 (bj
and (c). If that pervious fill consists of rock the ground-water table within the fill will be
horizontal and equal to the reservoir level, but if the fill consists of sand and gravel an incon-
siderable quantity of water may flow out of the slope during a rapid drawdown. In the fill
the flow net will then be as shown in Fig. 109.
The blanket might have a permeability so low that the effect of compressibility and air
bubbles in the soil will have no time to disappear during a rapid lowering of the reservoir
level.
Fig. 110 shows a dam with an inclined blanket. At full reservoir level and for a sufficiently
long time to establish uniform flow conditions through the blanket, the pore-water pressure
( = the neutral stress) at the point a is hy,, and the effective stress normal to the surface of
the blanket is approximately the component in that direction of the vertical load of the fill
on the blanket (the load should be computed with regard to the uplift). At point b the neutral
stress is zero and the effective stress in the direction of the line a-b is approximately equal
to the sum of the total stress normal to the surface of the blanket in point a and the component
of the weight of the soil from a to b. In Figs 111 and 112 the plain lines show the total
stress$, the effective stress 0, and the neutral stress u along the line a-b through the blanket
at full reservoir level and uniform flow condition.
When the reservoir is lowered rapidly the total stresses decrease. If the soil does not

----

Eig. 109. Flow net in the fill upstream of Fig. 110. Flow net in aninclined blanket
an inclined blanket for uniform flow conditions at full
reservoir level

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 THE STABILITY OF THE SLOPES OF EARTH DBMS 185

contain air bubbles, and the water content remains unchanged, the effective stresses in the
soil also remains unchanged provided that the compressibility of the water is neglected.
Hence the neutral stresses must decrease. In Fig. 111 the clotted lines show the stresses
p,, ‘T~and u1 after a complete rapid drawdown. Tension will occur in the water down to the
vapour pressure if the drawdown is great enough. The effective stresses in the downstream
part of the blanket will then be lowered and the corresponding increase in the volume is made
possible by filling the voids with vapour.

Fig. 111. Stresses along the line a-b in Fig. Fig. 112. Stresses along the line a-b in Fig.
110 before and after a rapid drawdown. 110 before and after a rapid drawdown.
No air bubbles in the soil Great content of air bubbles in the soil

If the soil contains air bubbles, the pressure of the air is equal to the pore-water pressure
provided that the capillary gas pressure in the bubbles is neglected. Therefore decreasing
pore-water pressure leads to an increasing air volume. At a rapid drawdown an inconsiderable
quantity of water flows out of the blanket, and therefore increasing air volume leads to increas-
ing porosity and, consequently, also to decreasing effective stresses. Thus, the lowering of
the total normal stresses leads not only to decreased neutral stresses but also to decreased
effective stresses. The values of the neutral and effective stresses are determined by the
requirement that the sum of the stresses is equal to the total stress and that the volume
change of the soil is equal to that of the air bubbles. The change in volume of the air
entrapped in the pores of the soil follow Boyle’s law if the solubility of air in water is neg-
lected. *
(P, + U)V, = (P, + 24 + W(V, + OV,)
in which
zc = the original pressure
9, = the atmospheric pressure
Au = the change in pressure
V, = the original volume of the air in the pores
AV, = the change in volume of the air.
The change in volume of the soil can be computed from the formula
AVs = cv AUF”,
in which cv = the specific compression
AU = the change in effective stress
V, = the total volume of the soil.
*At great changes of the neutral pressure the variation with pressure of the solubility of air in water
should be taken into account (Henry’s law).

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 186 E. REINIUS

The specific compression depends on the value of the precompression and is different for posi-
tive and negative values of AU.
By putting At’, = AL’, we get

-_~_ PlZ
pa+ % aono
in which zdI = the neutral pressure before the drawdown
us = the neutral pressure after the drawdown
no = the porosity of the soil at atmospheric pressure
a0 = ratio of volume of air entrapped in the pores to total volume of pores at atmos-
pheric pressure (at construction of the dam).

From the requirement that the sum of the stresses is equal to the total stress, is obtained

Au = A$ - (uZ - aI)
in which A$ is the change in the total stress.
By combining the last two equations, a+ and do can be determined.
Fig. 112 shows the total, the effective and the neutral stresses along the line a-b through
the blanket shown in Fig. 110. The condition before and after a rapid complete drawdown
is represented by plain and dotted lines, respectively. For the determination of the dotted
lines the porosity and the air content at atmospheric pressure must be known and also the
coefficient of volume change for effective stresses. As shown in Fig. 112 for a high value of
E, in comparison with the weight of the upstream fill and for a high air content in the blanket
the effective stresses would be tension for the most upstream part of the blanket, but, as ten-
sion cannot be taken by the soil, they will be zero and the porosity increase will be due to the
swelling air voids. In such a case the shearing resistance during a rapid drawdown would
be very low, or even zero.
The calculation of the stability of the upstream slope may be made for a broken sliding
surface ADFC in Fig. 113. The fill within the triangle ADE rests on the surface AD with small
or without shearing forces and is supported by the fill within the area CFDE. A larger angle
BAC will give a greater load and also greater
A
shearing forces along the surface AD. The
effective force P, has a direction approximately
parallel to the slope at E and P, parallel to
the slope at G. The neutral forces along AD,
DE, FG, and CFD may be determined by flow-
nets, as shown in Fig. 109. However, if the fill
is very pervious and the ground-water table
within the fill is horizontal and equal to the
reservoir level, it will be more convenient to cal-
Fig. 113. Stability analysis of the upstream
Neutral forces acting on the sur- culate directly the effective weight in water.
~~~~-, DE, DF, FG and FC are not The most dangerous case has to be found by
calculating the required angle of internal friction
in the tentative sliding surface CFD for different
angles and drawdowns. The complete drawdown will not give the highest value of the re-
quired angle. A slightly higher reservoir level gives less effective weight of the supporting
fill CFDE without appreciably lessening the force PI. The point C does not need to be at the
toe of the dam, but may be situated higher up if the drawdown to be considered is obtained
only in the upper part of the reservoir. For approximate calculations the line CD may be
taken as straight, but for closer calculations other types of sliding surfaces should be investi-
gated. It might be that a straight line CF combined with an upward convex circular arc FD

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 THE STABILITY OF THE SLOPES OF EARTH DAMS 187

gives lower resistance to sliding. The method of calculating such a combined sliding surface
is discussed Iater.
If the drawdown is not very rapid and the dam is large, the time effect of the drawdown
on the neutral and effective stresses and shearing resistance in the blanket should be calcu-
lated. This may be done by step-by-step calculation dividing the time into intervals, and
assuming the pore-water pressure acting on the surface AD of the blanket to be constant
during each interval.

THE STABILITY OF THE DOWNSTREAM SLOPE

Central core
The supporting fill downstream of the core has to withstand the pressure of the core. The
material of the fill is usually pervious to lessen the uplift and the danger of piping, and there-
fore may be considered to be cohesionless. The forces are the driving pressure from the core,
the weight of the fill, and the uplift or pore-water pressure in a tentative sliding surface through
the fill.
The pressure from the core can be determined as shown in Fig. 114. On the upstream face
of the core, the total pressure P, consists of pore-water pressure and active earth pressure
of the submerged fill. The tentative sliding surface EA through the core might be curved
and has to be chosen by trial and error to give
the greatest value of PB. The acting forces

U on EA. The direction of P2 is not known

and may be assumed to be horizontal and act-
ing on the vertical surface AC. At a uniform
flow condition the pore-water pressure in the
core will follow a straight line from full head at
the upstream side to zero at the down-stream
side of the core. However, immediately after
Fig. 114. Determination of the driving force
the first filling of the reservoir no uniform
P, acting on the downstream part of the
dam flow condition is attained, and the pore-water
pressure might be higher if the compaction of
the soil is made with the moisture content on
the wet side of the optimum point of the compaction curve. a During refilling of the reservoir
the soil in the core may be entirely saturated, and if the refilling is rapid the pressure PI
will be transmitted by the pore-water, and the pore-water pressure on the downstream side
of the core will be rather high. If no calculation of the greatest value of the pore-water
pressure is carried out, the following assumption is proposed. At the upstream face of the
core the pore-water pressure is equal to the hydrostatic pressure of the reservoir ; at the down-
stream face the pore-water pressure is equal to the sum of the downstream hydrostatic
pressure, if any, and the difference of the total pressure before and after the filling of the
reservoir.
The stability of the fill downstream of the core has to be determined by calculating the
required angle of internal friction for the most dangerous of different sliding surfaces. In a
paper containing a mathematical analysis of the stresses in the downstream part of an earth
or a rock fill dam,4 Dr. Samsioe has shown that in a triangular fill, as ABC in Fig. 114, on which
a pressure P, of hydrostatic nature is acting, the sliding surface will not be located along a
straight line if the bottom does not consist of weak material, or along an upward concave
circular arc, but along an upward convex curve and a straight line, as shown in Fig. 115.
The mathematical analysis of the stresses is rather complicated and therefore not suitable
for ordinary stability analysis. However, calculation using sliding surfaces gives a fairly
correct result provided that the surfaces are correctly chosen. The calculation may be made

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 188 E. REINIUS

graphical as follows. The force P, acting on the line DE has an inclination equal to the slope
and is determined in order to give the required value of 4 along the sliding plane BE. Along
4
a sliding plane the major principal stress must have an inclination to the plane of 45” - 2.

At the vertical face AC the major principal stress is assumed to be horizontal, and therefore
d
the circular arc AE has a slope of 45” - 2 at A. Further, the arc is tangential to the straight

line BE. The driving force P2 may be determined by use of the friction circle method. If

P, is of hydrostatic nature, the value of P, will be k:.

The importance of choosing the correct type of sliding surface when calculating the
stability is shown in Table 1, which gives the required value of k for failure of a triangular
fill of sand and gravel as in Fig. 115 having an internal friction of tan 4 = 0.80 and a unit
weight of y.
Table 1

Slope 1 : 1.5 Slope 1 : 2 Slope 1 : 2.5

k k k
_____
Straight sliding plane : I
horizontal . . 1.zoy 1.60~ 2.ooy
inclined l.lOy 1.60~ 1.95y
Sliding surface d&sting of a circular
arc and a straight plane . 036y 1.38y 1.79y

In handbooks a stability calculation using

a horizontal straight sliding plane is recom-
mended. As shown in the table, that partic-
ular method gives values of the stability which
are too high, i.e., 40% too high for slope 1 on
1.5, 16/, too high for slope 1 on 2, and 12%
d:!ii too higDhfor slope 1 on 2.5.
\ If the flow of water through and below the
S
8 core is great, and no drainage below the fill
has been provided, the fill might be partly fill-
Fig. 115. Stability analysis of the downstream
slope ed by ground-water. In such a case the uplift
of the pore-water pressure along a tentative
sliding surface must be considered.
When calculating the factor of safety to sliding, the passive force P2, required for failure
according to Fig. 115 should be compared with the active force P, according to Fig. 114. How-
ever, in these calculations the assumption is made that P2 is horizontal. This assumption
is not verified by tests. According to the direction of the sliding surfaces the soil on the left
side of the vertical line AC is moving downwards and the soil on the right side upwards.
Therefore, it is possible that P, is slightly inclined. The assumption of a horizontal direction
of P, gives the lowest factor of safety and thus is on the safe side.
If an inclination of P, is to be taken into account, the passive sliding surface should cross
the core and the active and passive forces PI be calculated (cf. Fig. 114).

HYDRAULIC FILL DAMS

The core of a hydraulic fill dam is also central but the material in the core is not compacted,
and for a stability analysis it should be considered to be a fluid with great density and having

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 THE S TABILITY OF HE SLOPES OF EARTH DAMS 189

no shearing strength. The ratio of lateral to

verticalload may for clayish material be as high
as 0.7 during construction. The stability cal-
culations are usually made by assuming straight
sliding planes as proposed by Gilboy, cf. dotted
lines in Fig. 116. However, sliding surfaces
consisting of an upwards convex circular arc
and a straight line, plain lines in Fig. 116, give
Fig. 116. Stability analysis of a hydraulic fill
lower values of the stability, and should be
dam during construction
investigated. The method of calculation is
the same as described for Fig. 115. At a slope of the core of 2 on 1 the required value of k
of the hydrostatic pressure for failure of a fill having an internal friction of tan 4 = 0.80 and
a unit weight of y is obtained in Table 2.

Table 2
( ’
/
Slope 1: 2 Slope 1 : 2.5 Slope 1 : 3
k k k
I
Straight sliding plane . . .. 0.85y l.OSy I.277
Sliding surface consisting of a circular
arc and a straight plane .. .. 0.68~ 1 0%3y 1.06~
~__ I

As shown the method with straight planes gives values of the stability which are 20 to
25% too high.
As shown by the Tables, the conventional methods for calculating the stability of the
downstream slope of earth dams give values of the required forces for failure and thus
safety factors which are higher than calculations using a sliding surface consisting of an
upward concave circular arc and a straight plane. These theoretical considerations need
confirmation by laboratory tests. Such tests have been started by the Author at the
Hydraulic Laboratory of Chalmers University of Technology, and so far tests have shown
good agreement with the new method of calculation.

REFERENCES

1. REINIUS, E., 1949. The Stability of the Upstream Slope of Earth Dams. Swed. Stale Comm. Build.
Res. No. 12 (also Bul. Instn ofHydraulics.), Roy. Sued. Inst. ofTechnology, H. No. 18.
TAYLOR, D. W., 1937. Stability of Earth Slopes. J. Boston Sot. Civ. Engrs., 24 : 3 : 197.
Z: DAEHN, W. W., and HILF, J. W., 1951. Implications of Pore Pressure in Design and Construction of
Rolled Earth Dams. Trans. Fourth Congr. Large Dams. Vol. 1. Report No. 39, p. 259.
4. SAMSIOE, A. F., 1954. Stresses in Downstream Part of an Earth or a Rock Fill Dam. GCotechnique
See p. 200.

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