| Abstract: | Slopes composed of stratified and poorly cemented rocks that fail during heavy rainfalls are typical in the outer zone of Taiwan's Western Foothills. This study investigates how hydraulic conductivity anisotropy influences pore water pressure (PWP) distributed in stratified, poorly cemented rock slopes and related slope stability through numerical simulation. The notion of representing thin alternating beds of stratified, poorly cemented rocks as an equivalent anisotropic medium for ground‐water flow analysis in finite slopes was validated. PWP was then derived in a modelled slope comprising an anisotropic medium with suitable boundary conditions. Simulation results indicate the significance of the principal directions of hydraulic conductivity tensor and the anisotropic ratio on PWP estimation for anisotropic finite slopes. For a stratified, poorly cemented rock slope, estimating PWP utilizing a phreatic surface with isotropic and hydrostatic assumptions will yield incorrect results. Stability analysis results demonstrate that hydraulic conductivity anisotropy affects the slope safety factor and slip surface pattern. Consequently, steady‐state groundwater flow analysis is essential for stratified, poorly cemented rock slopes when evaluating PWP distribution and slope stability. This study highlights the importance of hydraulic conductivity anisotropy on the stability of a stratified, poorly cemented rock slope. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
