Stability of earth slopes. Part II: three dimensional analysis in closed‐form

A closed‐form stability analysis of earth slopes performed in 3D is proposed. The sliding surface is assumed spherical and treated as a rigid body allowing the internal state of stress to be ignored. The proposed closed‐formed solution (CFS) can be applied to both homogenous and non‐homogenous slopes of either simple or complex geometry and can also deal with any kind of additional loading. Although it is recognized that the critical failure surface is often non‐spherical, the CFS methodology for spheres described herein provides an objective tool for the evaluation of the assumptions made by other limit equilibrium methods including the role of intercolumn forces. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.