ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Geotechnical Engineering
Fast Calculation Method for Safety Factor of Sliding Blocks Based on Finite Element Stress Analysis of Slopes
Provisionally accepted
- 1China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd, WuHan, China
- 2Hubei Technology Innovation Center for Smart Hydropower, Wuhan, China
- 3Institute of Engineering Safety and Disaster Prevention，Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan, China
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Aiming at the challenge of balancing computational efficiency and accuracy in slope stability analysis, this study proposes a rapid calculation method for determining the safety factor of potential sliding blocks in slopes based on the stress results from 3D finite element analysis (FEA) of slopes. In the slope FEA model, the method first inputs information regarding the type and location of sliding surfaces, then performs geometric calculations between the sliding surfaces and the finite element mesh to obtain mesh information of the sliding surfaces at their intersection with the finite element mesh. Through an interpolation algorithm, the stress distribution of each element on the sliding surface is calculated under its local coordinate system. Subsequently, stress integration is conducted over the sliding surfaces to compute the sliding force and anti-sliding force on each boundary surface, and the wedge method is employed to calculate the stability factor of the potential sliding blocks. The results show that this method can significantly improve computational efficiency, meet the requirements of slope stability evaluation in complex engineering scenarios, and provide technical support for slope engineering design and disaster prevention.
Keywords: 3D finite element analysis2, element cutting3, rapid calculation method5, slope stability factor1, wedge method4
Received: 04 Nov 2025; Accepted: 18 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yuan, Mao, Du, Li, Yin and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Desheng Yin
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