Introduction

Though the limit equilibrium formulation is a commonly accepted method for determining slope stability, its formulation has some limitations. These limitations are primarily because it does not include a constitutive stress-strain law and therefore, does not address displacements or strains within the domain. These shortcomings can be overcome by using stresses computed in a finite element program (e.g., SIGMA/W) in a stability analysis. This example demonstrates the use of FE stresses in SLOPE/W and compares the results to a LE stability analyses to illustrate the implications.