Loading Overview

External loads and ground support let you represent surcharges, structural loads, earthquake shaking, and reinforcement acting on the slope. They are added from the Loading tab and enter the limit-equilibrium solution as additional forces on the affected slices.

Where loading lives

All loading tools are grouped under the Loading tab in the geometry sidebar. From there you can open:

• Distributed Load — a pressure (constant or varying) applied over a span of the model boundary. See Distributed Loads.
• Line Load — a concentrated load applied at a single point. See Line Loads.
• Seismic Load — pseudo-static horizontal and vertical coefficients applied to the whole model. See Seismic Loading.
• Ground support — anchors, tiebacks, soil nails, geosynthetics, and piles drawn as reinforcement lines. See Ground Support.

How loads enter the analysis

JW Slope uses the method of slices. Once a slip surface is divided into slices, each load contributes force to the slices it acts on:

• Distributed and line loads apply a force at the boundary, resolved into horizontal and vertical components according to the load's orientation. These components are added to the slice equilibrium as applied boundary forces.
• Seismic loading applies a horizontal force proportional to each slice weight (in the failure direction) and a vertical force proportional to slice weight. See the seismic page for the sign convention.
• Ground support contributes a reinforcement force where the support line crosses the slip surface. The magnitude is governed by the support material's capacities, and the direction depends on the force orientation and on whether the force is applied as active or passive (see Ground Support).

All loads are carried through every analysis method (Bishop, Janbu, Spencer, GLE / Morgenstern-Price) and through the slip-surface search, so the critical surface reported already accounts for the loading you have defined.

Note Loads and support must lie on or cross the model so they intersect candidate slip surfaces. A load placed entirely outside the failure mass has no effect on the factor of safety.