XSLOPE for Windows
Category Slope stability (soil)
Publisher  University of Sydney 
Platform Win3x, Win95/98
Status Commercial
Description XSLOPE for Windows computes the stability of an earth slope using Bishop's (1955) simplified method for circular failure surfaces or Morgenstern and Price's (1965, 1967) analysis for non-circular failure surfaces. The slope may be divided into a number of different soil layers with different properties. In the Bishop analysis a circular surface of rupture is assumed and then the equilibrium of the sliding mass of soil is considered by dividing this mass into a number of slices. This process is repeated for a large number of circles and the minimum factor of safety determined. Failure by clockwise or anticlockwise rotation can be considered. The effort in locating the critical circle is reduced by employing the option to automatically generate the centres and radii for a specified number of circles. The algorithm used provides a good estimate of the location of the critical centre for a wide variety of problems. This initial estimate can then be used to size and locate a rectangular grid of circle centres. Pore pressures within each soil layer can be calculated by a number of different methods, viz. from the depth below a piezometric surface, by using a pore pressure coefficient ru, from a user specified grid of pore pressures, or from a grid of pore pressures generated by program FESEEP. External normal and shear tractions can be applied to segments along the surface of the slope. The effect of an earthquake is modelled by applying a set of horizontal and vertical forces at the centroid of each slice. These forces are calculated using the horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients which are assumed to vary with depth. The circles are sorted into ascending order of factor of safety before being written to the solution file. A summary table may be generated for a circle, which lists for each slice the values used in computing the factor of safety. This provides the last essential step in design, in which the values of weight, normal force, pore pressure for each slice in the critical circle are checked before reporting this circle's factor of safety. Interactive analysis can be performed and a record kept of the circle analysed with the minimum factor of safety. This circle is plotted in red and its factor of safety value is tabulated in red. Non-circular failure surfaces can be analysed interactively using the Morgenstern and Price analysis. The non-circular failure surface is defined and modified by using the mouse. As the surface is updated the analysis is performed and the results continually updated and tabulated on the screen. Four side force functions are considered and the lines of thrust from each of these assumptions can be plotted. A demonstration version and a reduced capability free student version for academic use are available on the WWW.
Cost Australian Dollars 1,100
Data formats supported None stated
Supplier in Australia  University of Sydney 

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