Stability Analysis for Loosened Rock Slope of Jinyang Grand Buddha in Taiyuan, China

On the basis of the status quo of Jinyang Grand Buddha in Taiyuan, some factors such as topography, geological structures, climate, hydrology, and engineering geology that influence the stability of the Buddha slope are considered, and several working situations of the slope that possibly suffered are presented in this article. The Buddha slope stands upright and the rock masses are composed of thick Permian sandstone, which dips slightly inward to the slope. Affected by both the incision of regional joints and the load relief to the free surface, the rock mass of the Buddha slope has turned into loosened blocks. Numerical stability analysis by FLAC-2D on the basis of the strength reduction method reveals that the localized deformation of the rock masses near the vertical surface of the slope may trigger reversing of rock beddings making the back dip slope convert into a dip slope with the possibility of plane sliding failure. Furthermore, the pseudostatic method for the dynamic process and limit equilibrium method for the static process are applied to different working situations of the Buddha slope. The analytical results illustrate that plane sliding failure will not occur when the slope is affected only by seism. However, water filling in the cracks of the loosened rock mass may greatly contribute to the potential plane sliding failure. When horizontal seism-force and hydrostatic pressure are coupled, the Buddha slope can hardly keep stable. Additionally, the loosened rock masses are prone to block toppling failure when influenced by the seism force.