Tutorial 28 Seismic Analysis

• Pseudo-static seismic loading

• Critical seismic coefficient (ky) analysis
• Newmark displacement analysis
• Multi Scenario modeling
Slide v.7.0 Tutorial Manual Tutorial 28: Seismic Analysis

Introduction
This tutorial will demonstrate how to model a multi-material slope with seismic loading in a
multiple scenario model. We will demonstrate three different seismic analysis options
including displacement analysis using the Newmark method.
The finished product of this tutorial can be found in the Tutorial 28 Seismic Analysis.slmd
data file. All tutorial files installed with Slide 7.0 can be accessed by selecting File > Recent
Folders > Tutorials Folder from the Slide main menu.

Model 1 – No seismic loading

If you have not already done so, run the Slide Model program by double-clicking on the Slide
icon in your installation folder. Or from the Start menu, select Programs → Rocscience →
Slide 7.0 → Slide.
If the Slide application window is not already maximized, maximize it now, so that the full
screen is available for viewing the model.

From the Slide main menu, select File → Recent Folders → Tutorials Folder and read in the
Tutorial 28 Seismic (initial).slim file. This model is based on the non-homogeneous, three
layer slope found in Slide Verification Problem #4.

Project Settings
The file we have read in is a regular “Single Scenario” model file. For this tutorial we will be
using the Multi Scenario option, so we need to select this in Project Settings.
Select: Analysis → Project Settings

Select the Scenarios page and select the Multiple Scenarios option. Select OK.

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The Document Viewer pane, which is used to manage and summarize Scenarios and
Groups, is now visible in the sidebar. See Tutorial 24 for more information on multi scenario
modeling, groups and scenarios.
In the Document Viewer:
• right-click on “Group 1” select Rename, and change the name to “Seismic Analysis”.
• right-click on “Scenario 1”, select Rename and change the name to “No Seismic”.
Now return to the Project Settings dialog.

Select: Analysis → Project Settings

Select the Methods page from the list at the left of the dialog.

Make sure that only the Spencer checkbox is selected in the Methods list. This is the
method used for this slope stability analysis.
Do not change any settings in the dialog. Select OK.

Material Properties
Let’s examine the material properties of the model. Select Define Material from the toolbar
or the Properties menu.
Select: Properties → Define Materials
With the first (default) material selected in the Define Materials dialog, notice the following
properties:

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• Name = soil 1
• Unit Weight = 19.5
• Strength Type = Mohr-Coulomb
• Cohesion = 0
• Phi = 38

Select the second material, and notice the following properties:

• Name = soil 2
• Unit Weight = 19.5
• Strength Type = Mohr-Coulomb
• Cohesion = 5.3
• Phi = 23

Select the third material, and notice the following properties:

• Name = soil 3
• Unit Weight = 19.5
• Strength Type = Mohr-Coulomb
• Cohesion = 7.2
• Phi = 20

Select Cancel to close the Define Material Properties dialog when finished.

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Slide v.7.0 Tutorial Manual Tutorial 28: Seismic Analysis

Surface Options
For this tutorial, we will be performing a circular surface Grid Search, to attempt to locate
the critical slip surface (i.e. the slip surface with the lowest safety factor).
Select the Surfaces workflow tab.
Let’s take a look at the Surface Options dialog.
Select: Surfaces → Surface Options

You will see the Surface Type is set to Circular and the Search Method is set to Grid Search,
with the Radius Increment = 10.
Select Cancel to close the Surface Options dialog when finished.

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Slide v.7.0 Tutorial Manual Tutorial 28: Seismic Analysis

Compute
Before you analyze your model, save it as a file called Seismic Tutorial.slmd.
Select: File → Save
Use the Save As dialog to save the file. You are now ready to run the analysis.

Select: Analysis → Compute

Select the current scenario, No Seismic, to Compute. Select OK. The Slide Compute engine
will proceed in running the analysis. When completed, you are ready to view the results in
Interpret.

Interpret
To view the results of the analysis:
Select: Analysis → Interpret
This will start the Slide Interpret program. You should see the following critical slip surface
with FS = 1.373.

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Slide v.7.0 Tutorial Manual Tutorial 28: Seismic Analysis

Model 2 – Pseudostatic seismic loading

We will now duplicate the scenario, add a pseudostatic seismic load to the new model and
re-run the analysis to determine its effect on the Safety Factor.
Return to the Slide Model program.
In the Document Viewer, right-click on No Seismic and select Duplicate Scenario. Right-click
on this new scenario, Scenario 2, and select Rename. Enter Seismic = 0.15 as the scenario
name.
NOTE: since we created the second scenario by duplicating the first scenario, all settings in
the second scenario are initially the same as the first scenario by default. However, any
subsequent changes made to a scenario, will only apply to that scenario, unless Lock
Scenarios is activated. Only changes made to the geometry (External Boundary and Material
Boundary) of one scenario are automatically applied to all scenarios within that group. For a
more in-depth explanation of the features of multiple model scenarios, refer to Tutorial 24.

Pseudo-Static Seismic Load

In Slide, pseudo-static seismic loads can be applied in the horizontal and vertical directions
by specifying the corresponding Seismic load coefficient. The Seismic load coefficient is used
to determine the seismic force applied to the slope.
Select: Loading → Seismic Load

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In the dialog, enter a Horizontal Seismic load coefficient = 0.15. Notice that this value is
positive in the direction of failure. Select OK when finished.
We are now finished creating this scenario, and can proceed to run the analysis and
interpret the results.

Compute
Before you analyze your model, hover the cursor over Seismic = 0.15 in the Document
Viewer. In the Document Viewer Legend, notice that Seismic = 0.15 is “Unsaved: Scenario
needs to be saved.”

Select: File → Save

You are now ready to run the analysis.
Select: Analysis → Compute

Select the current scenario, Seismic = 0.15, to Compute. Select OK. The Slide Compute
engine will proceed in running the analysis. When completed, you are ready to view the
results in Interpret.
NOTE: since we already computed the results of the No Seismic scenario, it is deselected in
the “Select scenarios to compute” dialog by default.

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Interpret
To view the results of the analysis:
Select: Analysis → Interpret
This will start the Slide Interpret program. Select the Seismic = 0.15 scenario in the
Document Viewer. For the Seismic = 0.15 scenario, you should see the following critical slip
surface with FS = 0.988.

With the addition of horizontal seismic loading, the Global Minimum safety factor is now
0.988 compared to 1.373 before adding the seismic load. The seismic load has destabilized
the slope. You may find it useful to tile the views, to view the results of both scenarios
together.
Select: Window → Tile Vertically

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Under the Document Viewer pane, select Synchronize Views. Select the “Sync Zoom/Pan for
all windows” checkbox. Select Done.

Once activated, this feature allows you apply the zoom and pan settings used in one
scenario across all scenarios. Use the Zoom options as necessary to achieve the desired
view of the slopes.

Model 3 – Critical seismic coefficient (ky) analysis

In this tutorial, we have so far considered the effect of a pseudostatic seismic load on the
minimum safety factor, by specifying a horizontal seismic load coefficient. In Slide, we can
also perform an advanced seismic analysis to determine the critical seismic coefficient (ky)
that results in a destabilized slope with FS = 1.
Return to the Slide Model program.
In the Document Viewer, right-click on No Seismic and select Duplicate Scenario. Right-click
on this new scenario, Scenario 3, and select Rename. Enter Critical Acceleration as the
scenario name.

Project Settings
For the Critical Acceleration scenario we will change the Project Settings in order to
determine the critical seismic coefficient.
Select: Analysis → Project Settings

Select the Seismic page from the list at the left of the dialog.

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Select the “Advanced Seismic Analysis” checkbox. Notice that the “Compute Ky for all
failure surfaces” option is selected. This option must be selected in order to compute ky for
all failure surfaces. Keep the Target Factor of Safety as 1.0. Select OK.

Compute
Select: File → Save
You are now ready to run the analysis.
Select: Analysis → Compute
Select the new scenario, Critical Acceleration, to Compute. Select OK.

The Slide Compute engine will proceed in running the analysis. When completed, you are
ready to view the results in Interpret.

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Interpret
To view the results of the analysis:
Select: Analysis → Interpret
Select the Critical Acceleration scenario in the Document Viewer. You should see the
following critical slip surface with the critical seismic coefficient displayed (ky = 0.145).

Now select the All Surfaces option to view all circles generated by the analysis:
Select: Data → All Surfaces
Let’s use the Filter Surfaces option, to display only surfaces with a critical seismic coefficient
(ky) below 0.15, the value we specified in the previous scenario Seismic = 0.15.

Select: Data → Filter Surfaces

In the Filter Surfaces dialog, select the “Surfaces with a Ky below” option, enter a value of
0.15, and select Done.

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Slide v.7.0 Tutorial Manual Tutorial 28: Seismic Analysis

As you can see, there are a number of unstable surfaces for this model, wherein a seismic
coefficient less than 0.15 would result in a destablized slope. This makes sense, since the
Global Minimum factor of safety for the Seismic = 0.15 scenario, is 0.988 (i.e. just below
one).

Model 4 – Newmark displacement analysis

We will now perform a Newmark displacement analysis to determine the critical Newmark
displacement that results from seismic loading.
Return to the Slide Model program.
In the Document Viewer, right-click on the Critical Acceleration scenario and select
Duplicate Scenario. Right-click on this new scenario, Scenario 4, and select Rename. Enter
Newmark Displacement as the scenario name.

Project Settings
We will now change the Project Settings for the new scenario order to determine the
Newmark displacements.

Select: Analysis → Project Settings

Select the Seismic page from the list at the left of the dialog.

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Notice that the “Advanced Seismic Analysis” checkbox is selected, as it was in the Critical
Acceleration scenario. This option must be selected in order to compute Newmark
displacements. The Newmark analysis in Slide is based on the program SLAMMER,
developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The permission to use the SLAMMER code by Dr.
Jibson and Dr. Rathje in Slide is gratefully acknowledged 1.
Select Newmark Analysis Options and then the Define Seismic Record button.
Notice that in Slide there are a number of ways the seismic record can be entered. Time and
acceleration data points can be manually entered into each cell or copied in from a table.
Alternatively, the seismic record can be imported from a Slammer or Slide (.ssr) file, or
chosen from a list of Example Records containing historical data from a selection of
earthquakes.
For this tutorial, we will use data from the Example Record of Mammoth Lakes-1 1980, CVK-
090 with a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.416 g. Select the Example Records… button
and set Earthquake = Mammoth Lakes-1 1980 and Record Name = CVK-090.

1
Reference: Jobson, R.W., Rathje, E.M., Jibson, M.W., and Lee, Y.W., 2013, SLAMMER – Seismic
Landslide Movement Modeled using Eatherquake Records (ver.1.1, November 2014): U.S. Geological
Survey Techniques and Methods, book 12, chap. B1, unpaged.
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Notice that a summary of the Earthquake Properties, which includes the PGA and PGV of
the selected record, is displayed.
Select OK to close the Example Seismic Records dialog.

Notice that once the time and acceleration data points have been entered, an acceleration
vs. time plot is generated in the Define Seismic Record dialog.
Select OK to close the Define Seismic Record dialog when finished reviewing the seismic
record data.

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In the Newmark Analysis dialog, notice the Newmark Analysis Type option. In Slide, we are
able to define the Newmark Analysis Type as either Rigid, Coupled, or Decoupled. Also,
notice that the displacement can be computed by examining the Positive Accelerations,
Negative Accelerations, Mean Accelerations, or the Maximum positive/negative
accelerations of the seismic record.
For this tutorial, we will set Newmark Analysis Type = Rigid and Displacement computed
using = Maximum positive/negative acceleration.
Select OK to close the Newmark Analysis dialog.
Select OK in the Project Settings dialog.

Compute
Select: File → Save
You are now ready to run the analysis.
Select: Analysis → Compute
Select the Newmark Displacement scenario to Compute. Select OK.

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The Slide Compute engine will proceed in running the analysis. When completed, you are
ready to view the results in Interpret.

Interpret
To view the results of the analysis:
Select: Analysis → Interpret
Select the Newmark Displacement scenario in the Document Viewer. You should see the
following critical slip surface with the critical Newmark displacement displayed = 4.426 cm.

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Additional Exercise
From the results in scenarios 1, 3, and 4, the slip center grid was observed to have a blank
(white) area which is not contoured, at the left of the grid. As discussed in Tutorial 4 and
Tutorial 5, you may want to go back to the modeler and modify the grid size or location.
One advantage of having enabled Multiple Scenarios in the Project Settings, is that you are
able to make changes across all scenarios within a group. Here, we want to go back to the
modeler and modify the grid size or location across the 4 scenarios within the group.
Return to No Seismic in the modeler.

1. Under the Document Viewer pane, select Lock Scenarios . When

activated, Lock Scenarios will duplicate all operations performed in one scenario to all
scenarios in that group.

2. Right-click on the EDGE of the grid.

3. A popup menu will appear. Select the Move option. Left-click on the lower RIGHT
corner of the grid and enter the following coordinates in the prompt line at the bottom
right of the screen.
Enter vertex [esc=cancel]: 46 36
Enter vertex [c=close,u=undo,esc=cancel]:press Enter

4. The grid will be redrawn slightly below and to the right of its original location (near the
crest of the slope).
Let’s also increase the Radius Increment, to generate more surfaces at each grid point.
Select Surface Options from the Surfaces menu, enter a new Radius Increment = 20, and
select OK.

Deselect Lock Scenarios.

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Now let’s see how the new grid affects the analysis in the 4 scenarios.

Compute
Before you analyze your model, save it as a file called Seismic Tutorial 2.slmd.

Select: File → Save

Use the Save As dialog to save the file. You are now ready to run the analysis.
Select: Analysis → Compute
Select all scenarios to Compute. Select OK. The Slide Compute engine will proceed in
running the analysis. When completed, you are ready to view the results in Interpret.

Interpret
To view the results of the analysis:
Select: Analysis → Interpret
This will start the Slide Interpret program. Tile the views. As you can see the grid is now fully
contoured with no blank areas for all scenarios.

Compare the results with those computed using the initial grid.
That concludes this tutorial. To exit the program:

Select: File → Exit

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