Discontinuous deformation analysis for the slope stability in Jinping first stage hydropower station, Southwestern China

Application of numerical modeling techniques for dealing with continuum and discontinuum domains individually has increased rapidly and proved valuable in analysis of geotechnical engineering problems. This study aims at developing a computational framework that couples finite element method (FEM) and discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) to analyze the slope stability in Jinping first stage hydropower station, southwestern China. The combined continuous–discontinuous model is able to describe the entire failure process. Shear strength reduction finite element method (SSRFEM) is utilized to calculate the safety factor and to analyze the failure mode of the slope and the potential slip surface. The occurrence of slope slide through the critical potential slip surface indicates the transition to discrete failure and the DDA is adopted to analyze the large deformation failure process, from diffuse microcracking to localized macrocracks