Slope Stability Analysis of an Earthen Dam Using GEOSTUDIO 2007 Software

Analysis of an earthen dam, especially its slopes, is very important these days as its failure may cause huge loss of lives and properties. These days numerical models are used to check the stability of an earthen dam. Numerical models simulate all the parameters, which affect the safety of an earthen dam. The most important parameters are properties of the soils used for the construction of an earthen dam. For the numerical modeling in this study, a finite element analysis software is used, i.e. GEOSTUDIO 2007 (SEEP/W and SLOPE/W). The parameters considered in this analysis are the site and its foundation conditions, soil material characteristics and hazard potential associated with the particular site. To find the factor of safety, a numerical model of SLOPE/W and SEEP/W program of GEOSTUDIO software is tested for steady-state condition and sudden drawdown. The Morgenstern-Price method, based on limit equilibrium, which is incorporated in SLOPE/W to analyse the model for four cases, namely earth dam without berm and without a toe drain, earth dam with berm without a toe drain, earth dam without berm with a toe drain and earth dam with berm with a toe drain. The results showed that out of four cases, the best case to improve the factor of safety of the slope is the fourth case, i.e. earth dam with berm with a toe drain.