ORIGINAL ARTICLE Analysis of spalling failure in marble rock slope: a case study of Neyriz marble mine, Iran H. M. Doghozlou 1 • M. Goodarzi 2 • H. Rafiei Renani 3 • E. F. Salmi 4 Received: 29 March 2016 / Accepted: 16 November 2016 / Published online: 26 November 2016 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract The expansion of the Neyriz marble mine into deeper levels caused an unexpected failure particularly in the toes of lower benches. This phenomenon can impact the overall stability of the quarry and results in undesirable environmental and technical consequences. To understand the failure mechanism, a comprehensive study including— laboratory testing, in situ field testing and theoretical analyses are carried out. The theory of the brittle failure which was mainly developed based on the experiences gained during excavation in granite rocks is adopted and augmented in this study to explain the governing mecha- nism of failure. Mechanical properties of the marble are determined using conventional rock mechanics tests, and the in situ stress field was evaluated using a modified under coring test. Analyzing the laboratory and field data with the available empirical criteria for brittle failure shows that the level of stress in the lower bench is high enough to initiate the brittle failure. Finally, constitutive models developed for this failure mode are adopted in conjunction with numerical modeling to investigate the observed failure in the quarry. Two modeling strategies, based on elastic and elastic–plastic analyses, are considered. Comparing the predicted failure surface with the observed failure profile, it can be concluded that the brittle failure criteria can very well capture the failure mechanism in this marble quarry. This shows that the criteria proposed to describe spalling failure around underground excavation in granite can be effectively employed for assessing the brittle failure in deep open cast and quarry mines in good quality rocks such as marble. Keywords Brittle rock Á Spalling failure Á Marble Á Numerical modeling Á Under coring test Á Quarry mine Introduction Rock slopes stability analysis is a very common problem in civil, mining and geological engineering (Bell and Maud 1999; Tokashiki and Aydan 2011). Landslides and slope failures may result in catastrophic incidents such as lives lost and environmental damages. There are numerous effective parameters controlling the stability of slopes; some of these parameters, include but are not limited to, the geometry of the slope, the composition of the materials, the spatial geometry of discontinuities, the in situ stress state, the regime of underground water, the intensity of deteriorating factors such as weathering and the earthquake applied loads (Aydan and Ulusay 2002; Salmi and Hos- seinzadeh 2015). A profound understanding of the effective factors and the mode of failure is highly required to prevent slope instabilities or to reduce the adverse consequences of such incidents. Optimum design of slope angle or support system not only is useful to minimize the chance of any deadly and costly failure in the slope, but also to reduce the expenses and the disturbed land. Majority of previous studies on rock slope stability have been dedicated to investigate the mode of slope failure in either jointed hard & M. Goodarzi majid.g101@gmail.com; m.goodarzi@ncl.ac.uk 1 Department of Mining Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 2 School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, 2/F, Drummond Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK 3 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 4 Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran 123 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:1478 DOI 10.1007/s12665-016-6276-z