The adaptive finite element method is used to analyze the stress fields in slopes. Based on the stress fields
a global optimization method to search the critical slip surface in slopes is proposed by parallel recombination simulated annealing algorithm. The method can be applied to slopes with any configuration
different layering and external load distribution. The parallel recombination simulated annealing algorithm is an effective combination of simulated annealing algorithm and genetic algorithm. The algorithm displays inherent parallelism
iterates a population of solutions rather than a single solution
and consistently converges to global optimum. The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method are finally demonstrated with the stability analysis of a real landslide case.