Slope Stability Analysis Using Limit Equilibrium and Finite Element Methods for Pit Tsunami Risk Assessment in Cadia Hill Open Pit

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_25How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Slope stability; Limit Equilibrium Method; Finite Element Method; pit tsunami risk; geotechnical risk; wave generation modelling

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive slope stability analysis conducted as a critical input for the pit tsunami induced by rockfall/failure risk assessment at the Cadia Hill Open Pit, a gold-copper mine located in NSW, Australia. The assessment was driven by significant changes in pit tailing and water levels and updated geotechnical data, necessitating a detailed evaluation of slope stability under evolving site conditions. 3D Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) analysis, using the Morgenstern-Price and Spencer approaches, was performed to determine the factor of safety (FOS) under various tailing and water level scenarios. The results indicate that higher tailing and water levels (for conservatism, the modelling utilized water parameter only) enhance stability by providing additional confinement, with FOS values consistently exceeding 2.0. Additionally, 2D Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis, using RS2 software, was employed to identify shallow failure surfaces, primarily influenced by structural discontinuities and blasting effects, with failure depths reaching up to 10 m. This integrated LEM and FEM approach, combined with empirical wave generation modeling, provides critical insights into the behavior of pit slopes and the potential hydrodynamic impacts of slope failure, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of both geotechnical stability and pit tsunami hazards for improved risk management and operational safety.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Fery Cahyo
AU  - Arvic Osorio
AU  - Michael Xin
AU  - Lucia Wilcox
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Slope Stability Analysis Using Limit Equilibrium and Finite Element Methods for Pit Tsunami Risk Assessment in Cadia Hill Open Pit
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 261
EP  - 271
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_25
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_25
ID  - Cahyo2025
ER  -