Slope stability
Unsaturated soils - Applications to structural design

The problem of slope stability is a classic theme in soil mechanics, which has mainly been developed on the assumption of saturated slopes, even though we know that the influence of unsaturation can often be decisive, even in temperate countries. The most common methods, well established by experience feedback, are based on the definition of failure surfaces along which it is assumed that the maximum shear strength properties of the soil are mobilized: these are the kinematic, limit analysis or fracture calculation approaches. It is now well known that the factors influencing slope stability are mainly the following:

• soil type: a soil with a high shear strength (defined by its angle of internal friction ϕ ′ and its effective cohesion c ′ ) provides greater stability, if we consider a slope with a given geometry ;

• climatic conditions: these depend in particular...