Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia

Dam failure can occur due to foundation instability, downstream and upstream slopes instabilities. This study assesses the stability of upstream and downstream slope cuts at Khalid-Dijo irrigation dam project, which is located in Southern Ethiopia, 3 ​km south of Werabe town. Limit equilibrium and f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Demeke Wendim, Mamaru Genetu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. 2025-06-01
Series:Natural Hazards Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666592124000775
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849435401491578880
author Demeke Wendim
Mamaru Genetu
author_facet Demeke Wendim
Mamaru Genetu
author_sort Demeke Wendim
collection DOAJ
description Dam failure can occur due to foundation instability, downstream and upstream slopes instabilities. This study assesses the stability of upstream and downstream slope cuts at Khalid-Dijo irrigation dam project, which is located in Southern Ethiopia, 3 ​km south of Werabe town. Limit equilibrium and finite element shear strength reduction methods are adopted. Validation of results and comparisons between those methods are carried out. The analysis considers anticipated site conditions, including static dry, static saturated, dynamic dry and dynamic saturated conditions. Slope material properties are measured from insitu, laboratory tests and used as input parameters for the analysis to obtain factor of safety and critical strength reduction factors. The properties considered in the analysis include unit weight, cohesion, angle of internal friction, poison's ratio, dilation angle and Young's modulus. The analysis indicates that the factor of safety values for limit equilibrium methods and the critical strength reduction factor for finite element method are very similar across the three slope cuts under all anticipated conditions. The lowest factor of safety and critical strength reduction factor is 1.56 and 2.07 respectively. Generally, the proposed dam project is safe against upstream and downstream slope failures. These studies suggest that maintained the average safety factor values of both methods during the design stage are crucial to avoid unnecessary risk.
format Article
id doaj-art-56c8ce062e2f48b2a7a3f56e0030f6ca
institution Kabale University
issn 2666-5921
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
record_format Article
series Natural Hazards Research
spelling doaj-art-56c8ce062e2f48b2a7a3f56e0030f6ca2025-08-20T03:26:20ZengKeAi Communications Co. Ltd.Natural Hazards Research2666-59212025-06-015227628610.1016/j.nhres.2024.10.005Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern EthiopiaDemeke Wendim0Mamaru Genetu1School of Earth Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, EthiopiaMineral Industry Development Institute, Ministry of Mines, P.O. Box 486, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Dam failure can occur due to foundation instability, downstream and upstream slopes instabilities. This study assesses the stability of upstream and downstream slope cuts at Khalid-Dijo irrigation dam project, which is located in Southern Ethiopia, 3 ​km south of Werabe town. Limit equilibrium and finite element shear strength reduction methods are adopted. Validation of results and comparisons between those methods are carried out. The analysis considers anticipated site conditions, including static dry, static saturated, dynamic dry and dynamic saturated conditions. Slope material properties are measured from insitu, laboratory tests and used as input parameters for the analysis to obtain factor of safety and critical strength reduction factors. The properties considered in the analysis include unit weight, cohesion, angle of internal friction, poison's ratio, dilation angle and Young's modulus. The analysis indicates that the factor of safety values for limit equilibrium methods and the critical strength reduction factor for finite element method are very similar across the three slope cuts under all anticipated conditions. The lowest factor of safety and critical strength reduction factor is 1.56 and 2.07 respectively. Generally, the proposed dam project is safe against upstream and downstream slope failures. These studies suggest that maintained the average safety factor values of both methods during the design stage are crucial to avoid unnecessary risk.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666592124000775Critical strengthSafetySlip surfaceKhalid-DijoLEMFEM
spellingShingle Demeke Wendim
Mamaru Genetu
Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
Natural Hazards Research
Critical strength
Safety
Slip surface
Khalid-Dijo
LEM
FEM
title Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
title_full Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
title_short Application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts- a case study of khalid-Dijo dam project, southern Ethiopia
title_sort application of limit equilibrium and shear strength reduction techniques for stability assessment of slope cuts a case study of khalid dijo dam project southern ethiopia
topic Critical strength
Safety
Slip surface
Khalid-Dijo
LEM
FEM
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666592124000775
work_keys_str_mv AT demekewendim applicationoflimitequilibriumandshearstrengthreductiontechniquesforstabilityassessmentofslopecutsacasestudyofkhaliddijodamprojectsouthernethiopia
AT mamarugenetu applicationoflimitequilibriumandshearstrengthreductiontechniquesforstabilityassessmentofslopecutsacasestudyofkhaliddijodamprojectsouthernethiopia