Numerical Analysis

Critical slip field of slope under the condition of transient unsaturated seepage

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  • 1. School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China; 2. Anhui Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Materials, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China; 3. Architecture Design Institute, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China

Received date: 2014-01-09

  Online published: 2018-06-14

Abstract

Seasonal rainfall and reservoir operation can cause the fluctuation of reservoir water level and the change of pore water pressure distribution in the slope body, which is detrimental to slope stability. Based on the theory of shear strength of unsaturated soils and pore water pressure field obtained with finite element method for the transient unsaturated seepage, an improved numerical procedure for critical slip field of slope is proposed. In this procedure, the combined effect of water level fluctuation and transient unsaturated seepage on the behaviors of slopes can be taken into account. First, the transient unsaturated seepage fields of a clay/ silt slope are calculated using SEEP/W module in Geostudio to obtain pore-water pressure fields, which are imported into the improved procedure of critical slip field of slope method to evaluate changes in the factor of safety with changing water level. In addition, the influence of fluctuation velocity of water level and matric suction on the slope stability are also analyzed emphatically; and the slope stability changing course with water level fluctuation is revealed, so as to show the feasibility and reliability of the improved procedure. Moreover, the results not only show that the slope stability changing course is affected by fluctuation velocity of water level, matric suction, and so on, but also reveal that the more reasonable slope stability changing rules and essences are obtained by considering matric suction.

Cite this article

JIANG Ze-feng ,ZHU Da-yong ,SHEN Yin-bin ,WANG Bao-cun , . Critical slip field of slope under the condition of transient unsaturated seepage[J]. Rock and Soil Mechanics, 2015 , 36(6) : 1815 -1823 . DOI: 10.16285/j.rsm.2015.06.037

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