Block reinforcement behavior and mechanism of soil slopes

In recent years, blocks created by pressure grouting of cement into soil were used to reinforce slopes by targeting specific weak areas. A clear understanding of the block reinforcement mechanism is essential for the accurate evaluation of the stability of block-reinforced slopes and reasonable design of block layouts. A series of centrifuge model tests was conducted to investigate the bearing capacity and the full deformation and failure behavior of block-reinforced slopes, with a focus on the influence of block layouts on the reinforcement effect. A block reinforcement with a reasonable layout was confirmed to increase the stiffness and the ultimate bearing capacity of the slope. The block reinforcement significantly changed the failure mode to the complex disturbance and destruction from slippage failure in an unreinforced slope. The block reinforcement restrained the deformation localization around the blocks and thus prevented the development of the coupling effect between the deformation localization process and the failure process in an unreinforced slope during loading. Such a reinforcement mechanism could be used to explain why the block reinforcement increased the bearing capacity and changed the failure mode of the slope. The blocks exhibited significant motion along with the development of deformation localization in the slope during loading. The block reinforcement effect was significantly affected by the rotation of blocks, which was determined by the block layout.