Stability analysis for footings on reinforced sand slopes

The results of a series of plane strain model tests of unreinforced and reinforced sand slopes loaded with a 10 cm-wide strip footing are analyzed by limit equilibrium methods. A statically rigorous method (Janbu's method) is modified in order to incorporate the reinforcement force acting on the potential failure surface and the inter-slice faces in the force equilibrium formulation. The results of the stability analysis using a composite failure surface can predict rather accurately the stability and the location of failure surface for both unreinforced and reinforced slopes.