Toppling, Planar and Wedge Sliding

Based on kinematic considerations and frictional properties of joint planes, it is possible to perform stability analyses such as toppling, planar sliding and wedge sliding on a stereonet. This tutorial demonstrates methods of carrying out such analyses using Dips.

Toppling, Planar and Wedge Sliding (click to view PDF file of tutorial)

Topics Covered in this Tutorial

Wedge sliding stability analysis using mean joint set planes

Version 5 Tutorial

In Dips version 5 you could carry out kinematic analysis by manually adding friction cones, planes, variability cones etc. It is still instructive to learn how to do this. To view the old version 5 tutorial click here. The instructions in this tutorial apply to Dips version 5, and have not been updated for version 6. Note that the method of defining lateral limits for flexural toppling is different in the version 5 tutorial compared to version 6, but this has very little effect on the results of the analysis.