Stability analysis of embankment dam and forecast of failure scope based on point safety factor

Abstract

In the context of verification of civil engineering structures stability and determination of sliding surface and safety factor, a careful analysis of several parameters was carried out to guarantee their safety against failure. To quantitatively forecast failure scope, the embankment dam located on Oued Rhiss in the province of Hocemia is chosen as the model of this study. A static stability analysis is performed by using the Slope/W software. A parametric study performed to evaluate the influence of dam's height, the height of water in the reservoir and the length of drains on the safety coefficient and pore pressures. Reliability analysis elaborated by using the Comrel application, and it allows to statistically quantifying the probability of failure by employing the Monte Carlo distribution. Results show that the dam structure has some weak zones and not strong enough as the safety factor is less than one, it is related to structure's parameters and the drainage system.