Transient Analysis - Critical Slip Surface

When evaluating slope stability under a transient condition, why does GeoStudio determine the critical slip surface to always occur the final time step - and not the minimum factor of safety indicated in the range of time steps?

Answers

  • The results seem to automatically show the last time step in the graphic. It is only after reviewing each step, or graphing the FS vs. time that you will discover a lower FS.
  • For transient analyses, GeoStudio determines the factor of safety for every slip surface at every time step. The critical slip surface is automatically selected; however, you can use the Slip Surfaces Window to view all the slip surfaces for a given time step. When a slip surface is selected in this window, the GeoStudio view displays that slice surface on the model domain. 
    The Results Times window is used to select a time step you wish to view. Here you can click through the time steps to see how the factor of safety of the critical slip surface, or any other selected slip surface, changes over time.