Effect of the number of coplanar rock bridges on the shear strength and stability of slopes with the same discontinuity persistence

Analyzing the shear resistance of a potential sliding surface based on discontinuity persistence usually does not consider the number of coplanar rock bridges. To examine the effect of the dispersion/number of rock bridges on the shear strength and rock slope stability, direct shear tests and large-scale rockslide simulations were conducted employing the 2D particle flow code (PFC2D). The shear strength of rock bridges under different...