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SLOPE STABILITY 52 E&MJ; • OCTOBER 2017 www.e-mj.com sis spline." Next, the literature continues, "Surface Altering Optimization continues to search for a general failure surface with a lower safety factor." Yacoub elaborated. "Using a non-linear optimization method, we modify the dimension and location of the control points," he said. "By modify- ing these points, we modify the surface shape, and with this change of geometry, the FoS of the failure surface is being changed, helping to find the lowest FoS." Contributing to ease-of-use, the soft- ware automatically determines failure di- rection in 3-D, the company reported. "It is not necessary for the user to specify a fail- ure direction," the literature stated. Yacoub explained that "this feature is built right into the tool, which has the same function- ality regardless of your license type." By not being limited to two slip directions, the customer attains actionable technical data, he said. "As soon as the user constrains a failure direction, it reduces the capacity for a most-accurate safety factor," he said. "There is a naturally higher tendency for a slip surface to slide along a particular di- rection, and Slide 3 uses the available input parameters in the equation to help deter- mine this direction." Findings present in the Results section. "A slip surface vector can be added to the model to understand the direction of failure," Yacoub said. Because of its relative low price, the software provides a unique opportunity for consultants and smaller operations to conduct 3-D slope analysis, Yacoub said. Better modeling can mean, among other things, cost savings and improved safety. "2-D models of open-pit mines are intrin- sically conservative, whereas 3-D models allow for increased accuracy," he said. For example, "3-D models illustrate the likely extent of a slip surface and account for the curvature of the slopes," Roc- science reported. That simply "cannot be fully represented as a 2-D slope, since these are non-extruded models and vary significantly through each cross-section," Yacoub said. "A 3-D tool will allow you to have the full picture of this type of failure surface, which is particularly valuable in open-pit mine models." Since launch, the software has gener- ated "great interest from clients around the world looking to enhance their mod- eling and analysis capability," Yacoub said. "Mining customers that are already using Slide 3 are finding that the tool allows them to deploy a broader range of solutions." Above, a 3-D model of an open-pit mine with 2-D cross-section designed in Slide 3 . (Photo: Rocscience)