The effect of rock mass characterization on slope stability assessment

Abstract

Slope stability is an important topic that researchers continue to study, related to human safety, equipment, and building around the slope. Failure on slopes occur due to several factors such as physical and mechanical properties of rocks, characteristics of discontinuities, slope geometry, and external factors such as rainfall and seismic activity. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of rock mass characterization on slope stability through an empirical approach. Characterization of rock mass using the RMR (Rock mass rating) method, and slope stability assessment using the SMR (Slope mass rating) method. The results showed the slope at location 1 had class II rock (Good), through the SMR method the slope was found to be very stable. While for location 2, the rock class was III (fair) and the slope at location 2 was in a stable condition. The results obtained through an empirical approach can be used as an initial justification for slope stability assessment. The effect of rock mass characterization on slope stability and future research directions will be discussed further in this paper.