Abstract: The factor of safety of soil slopes is studied in finite difference analysis (FDA) based on the strength reduction approach. This paper introduces a new finite difference method and a strength reduction approach in a soil slope stability analyses. In a verification analysis, the effect of the dilatant angle, cohesion and the internal friction angle of soils on the stability of the soil slopes are studied. The results indicate that the factor of safety increases with the increase of dilatant angle, cohesion and internal friction angle, respectively.

Key words: Slope Stability, Factor of Safety, Finite Difference Analysis, Strength Reduction Method