Progressive failure analysis of shallow foundations on soils with strain-softening behaviour

This paper presents a finite element approach to analyse the response of shallow foundations on soils with strain-softening behaviour. In these soils, a progressive failure can occur owing to a reduction of strength with increasing the plastic strains induced by loading. The present approach allows this failure process to be properly simulated by using a non-local elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model in conjunction with a Mohr–Coulomb yield function in which the shear strength parameters are reduced with the accumulated deviatoric plastic strain. Another significant advantage of the method is that it requires few material parameters as input data, with most of these parameters that can be readily obtained from conventional geotechnical tests. To assess the reliability of the proposed approach, some comparisons with experimental results from physical model tests are shown. A fairly good agreement is found between simulated and observed results. Finally, the progressive failure process that occurs in a dense sand layer owing to loading is analysed in details, and the main aspects concerning the associated failure mechanism are highlighted.     

Progressive failure mechanism in one-dimensional stability analysis of shallow slope failures

In many slopes, overstressed zones can develop where the shear stress is larger than the available shear strength. Along a shear surface within a soil exhibiting a strain-softening behavior, the shear displacement increases while the available shear strength decreases. The excess shear stress is transferred from the overstressed zone to the adjacent zones, providing more shear strength. This stress-transferring mechanism induces stress redistribution within the slope and could enlarge the overstress zone. A one-dimensional model that satisfies the strain compatibility and force equilibrium is proposed for the stability analysis of a slope of strain-softening behavior. This paper’s objective is to facilitate the application of this model to estimate stress distribution along the failure surface of a strain-softening slope and thereafter the stability status. The study presents a set of specific solutions to this model by describing and demonstrating procedures to identify the pattern of a stress state and to calculate stress distribution within a one-dimensional, strain-softening slope. The progressive failure mechanism is also investigated by using the proposed approach. As the magnitude of released stress gets large enough, it induces an overstressed zone adjacent to the initial unstable zone and progressive failure develops. The proposed approach is also applied to study the pattern of stress redistribution. It is found that the pattern of stress redistribution is affected by the magnitude of released stress. It is too complex to be reasonably expressed by simple models. Though some limitations exist, the proposed approach serves as a simple tool for a better understanding of the progressive failure mechanism.     

Stability analysis of seismic slopes with cracks

Earthquakes can trigger slope instability, especially in the case of slopes with cracks. Studies of slope stability rarely account for the presence of cracks. In this study, the upper bound limit analysis technique and the pseudo-static method were used to examine the stability of homogeneous slopes with cracks subjected to seismic loading. A series of stability charts for slope inclinations of 2:1 (β = 63.4°), 1:1 (β = 45°), 2:3 (β = 33.7°), and 1:2 (β = 26.6°) (vertical to horizontal) and internal friction angles, φ, of 10°, 20°, 30°, and 40° are presented. These charts should be useful for readily determining the stability number (critical slope height), the critical crack depth, and the region affected by cracks for cracks of known depth but unknown location, cracks of known location but unspecified depth, and cracks of unspecified depth and location.     

Numerical simulation of the undrained stability of slopes in anisotropic fine-grained soils

The undrained stability of slopes in anisotropic fine-grained soils is studied in this paper using the finite element method (FEM). A constitutive model is presented, able to account for the observed variation of undrained strength with loading direction. The model is able to encompass the different strength distributions observed in normally, slightly overconsolidated and heavily overconsolidated soils. A series of stability analyses have been performed to explore the effect of the type of undrained strength anisotropy on the stability and failure mechanisms of slopes of different inclinations. In addition, a real case study of the failure of an underwater slope is analysed with the numerical approach presented. It suggests that, by considering undrained strength anisotropy, the failure can be satisfactorily explained.     

简单边坡的稳定性分析

提出了一种新方法用于分析边坡的稳定性,对土条间作用力作了如下假定：认为土条侧面作用力平行于条底,但其大小并不相等。依据平衡条件,结合强度破坏准则,求出边坡的安全系数。算例表明,该方法不失为一种合理、有效的边坡稳定分析方法。     

Influence of rainfall-induced wetting on the stability of slopes in weathered soils

Shallow failures of slopes in weathered soil are caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in matric suction induced by the water infiltration. This paper reports trends of rainfall-induced wetting band depth in two types of weathered soils that are commonly found in Korea. Both theoretical and numerical analyses for wetting band depth are presented based on the soil–water characteristic curve obtained using filter paper as well as tensiometer tests. It is found that the magnitude of wetting front suction plays a key role in the stability of slopes in weathered soils. Theoretical analysis based on modified Green and Ampt model tends to underestimate the wetting band depth for typical Korean weathered soils. It was also deduced that for Korean weathered soils, the factor of safety drops rapidly once the wetting band depth of 1.2 m reached.     

Stability analysis of rock slopes with a modified Hoek–Brown failure criterion

The original Hoek–Brown (HB) failure criterion was used to analyse the stability of rock slopes. For highly fractured rock, the original HB failure criterion has been modified, but its effect on the stability of rock slopes has not been studied. Within the framework of the kinematical approach of limit analysis, this paper computes the rigorous upper bounds of stability factors of homogeneous rock slopes with the modified HB failure criterion under the plane strain condition, by employing a ‘generalized tangential’ technique. In such technique, instead of using the modified HB failure criterion, a series of linear failure surfaces tangent to the actual non-linear failure surface are utilized to derive the upper bound solutions, incorporating a new parameter n ranging from 0.5 to 0.65. The numerical results are compared with other published solutions for the case of n=0.5. The effects of the n on the stability factors of rock slopes are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advanced reliability analysis of slopes in spatially variable soils using multivariate adaptive regression splines

This study aims to extend the multivariate adaptive regression splines(MARS)-Monte Carlo simulation(MCS) method for reliability analysis of slopes in spatially variable soils. This approach is used to explore the influences of the multiscale spatial variability of soil properties on the probability of failure(P_f) of the slopes. In the proposed approach, the relationship between the factor of safety and the soil strength parameters characterized with spatial variability is approximated by the MARS, with the aid of Karhunen-Loeve expansion. MCS is subsequently performed on the established MARS model to evaluate Pf.Finally, a nominally homogeneous cohesive-frictional slope and a heterogeneous cohesive slope, which are both characterized with different spatial variabilities, are utilized to illustrate the proposed approach.Results showed that the proposed approach can estimate the P_f of the slopes efficiently in spatially variable soils with sufficient accuracy. Moreover, the approach is relatively robust to the influence of different statistics of soil properties, thereby making it an effective and practical tool for addressing slope reliability problems concerning time-consuming deterministic stability models with low levels of P_f.Furthermore, disregarding the multiscale spatial variability of soil properties can overestimate or underestimate the P_f. Although the difference is small in general, the multiscale spatial variability of the soil properties must still be considered in the reliability analysis of heterogeneous slopes, especially for those highly related to cost effective and accurate designs.     

基于动力学和材料软化特性的边坡渐进破坏特征研究

边坡的失稳是一个从量变到质变的动态渐进破坏过程,此问题也是边坡领域研究的重点与难点之一。在考虑岩土材料软化特性和动力学求解的基础上,建立了边坡渐进破坏仿真的理论框架;利用ABAQUS软件的动力显式求解模块实现了边坡的渐进破坏仿真;根据塑性应变揭露了剪切带的扩展过程,由软化本构确定了滑面材料的分区演化规律,根据等效塑性应变确定了边坡的滑面,通过滑面位置将边坡分为滑体、滑带、滑床,并分别研究了边坡各分区内部特征点运动学变量的发展过程,从而揭示了边坡的渐进破坏过程;基于材料参数沿滑面的时空分布,利用矢量和法得到了边坡不同演化阶段的安全系数。对比该方法与Bishop法确定的滑面位置与安全系数,发现两种方法峰值和残余强度对应的安全系数比较接近,该方法搜索所得滑面位于Bishop法自动搜索的滑面之间,验证了此方法的合理性及可靠性。最后分析了材料软化特征对边坡稳定性的影响,在保持其他参数不变的条件下,增大残余黏聚力,边坡的滑面位置加深,安全系数的初始值减小,安全系数的快速减小阶段有所推迟,并且快速减小阶段经历的时间有所延长,稳定后的安全系数有所增大。保持其他参数不变,增大残余黏聚力对应的等效塑性应变阈值,边坡的滑面位置加深,安全系数的初始值减小,安全系数的快速减小阶段有所推迟,但快速减小阶段经历的时间基本不变,达到稳定的时间有所推迟,同时稳定后的安全系数略微有所增大。     

On viscoplastic regularisation of strain-softening rocks and soils

Constitutive models for rocks and soils typically incorporate some form of strain softening. Moreover, many plasticity models for frictional materials use a nonassociated flow rule. Strain softening and nonassociated flow rules can cause loss of well-posedness of the initial-value problem, which can lead to a severe mesh dependence in simulations and poor convergence of the iterative solution procedure. The inclusion of viscosity, which is a common property of materials, seems a natural way to restore well-posedness, but the mathematical properties of a rate-dependent model, and therefore the effectiveness with respect to the removal of mesh dependence, can depend strongly on how the viscous element is incorporated. Herein, we show that rate-dependent models, which are commonly applied to problems in the Earth's lithosphere, such as plate tectonics, are very different from the approach typically adopted for more shallow geotechnical engineering problems. We analyse the properties of these models under dynamic loadings, using dispersion analyses and one-dimensional finite difference analyses, and complement them with two-dimensional simulations of a typical strain localisation problem under quasi-static loading conditions. Finally, we point out that a combined model, which features two viscous elements, may be the best way forward for modelling time-dependent failure processes in the deeper layers of the Earth, since it not only enables modelling of the creep characteristics typical of long-term behaviour but also regularises the initial/boundary-value problem.     

阶梯状黄土路堑高边坡稳定性分析方法

根据阶梯状黄土路堑高边坡的特点,假定其滑移面下段为圆弧型,中上段为直线型,上段为垂直型的复合面,利用传统稳定系数的概念,导出阶梯状黄土高边坡稳定性分析表达式.经实际检验,比较符合实际.     

Assessing slope protection methods for weak rock slopes in Southwestern Taiwan

Failures of weak-rock slopes adjacent to roadsides in southwestern Taiwan most often occurred during or immediately after heavy rainfall. Field survey of weak rock slopes along the national South-2 Freeway conducted in this study showed that the slope protection methods employed in the study areas mainly included vegetation (82.0%), prestressed rock anchors with vegetation (6.8%), grille beam (5.9%), rock anchors with grille beam (3.6%). The highest failure rate occurred in the slopes that were protected by the vegetation method. The most frequently encountered weak rock formation along the South-2 Freeway is the alternating sandstone–shale formation (36.3%), followed in sequence by sandstone (24.4%), conglomerates (21.9%) and mudstone (17.4%). The field survey also found that the mudstone slopes present the highest failure rate among all rock types, and the most commonly encountered modes of failure were surface erosion and shallow slides. Factors affecting slope failure include inadequate drainage of storm water runoff, disparate rock types and vegetation on slope surfaces, slope angles and heights. This paper presents results of the field survey of the rate of failures of weak rock slopes in Southwestern Taiwan and examines the attributes of slope failures and the effectiveness of commonly used slope protection methods in the region. Requirements or essential features of an effective slope protection method are then presented along with the preliminary results of its field implementation.     

Full probabilistic design of slopes in spatially variable soils using simplified reliability analysis method

ABSTRACT

A simplified reliability analysis method is proposed for efficient full probabilistic design of soil slopes in spatially variable soils. The soil slope is viewed as a series system comprised of numerous potential slip surfaces and the spatial variability of soil properties is modelled by the spatial averaging technique along potential slip surfaces. The proposed approach not only provides sufficiently accurate reliability estimates of slope stability, but also significantly improves the computational efficiency of soil slope design in comparison with simulation-based full probabilistic design. It is found that the spatial variability has considerable effects on the optimal slope design.     

挡墙加固非饱和土边坡整体稳定性分析

在对挡墙加固边坡进行设计和评价时应综合考虑基质吸力和挡墙对边坡整体稳定性的影响。应用可以考虑基质吸力的弹塑性强度折减有限元程序,分析了挡墙加固非饱和土边坡的整体稳定性,揭示了基质吸力对加固边坡整体稳定性的影响程度,同时亦分析了整体潜在滑动面位置的变化情况,并进行了关于吸力摩擦角的敏感性分析。     

用弹性板理论分析顺层岩质边坡的失稳

根据弹性板的稳定理论，利用能量法对缓倾角顺层岩质边坡的弯曲失稳机理进行了探讨，特别考虑了边坡长度的影响，推导了相应的计算公式，并通过计算实例，将文中的方法与用平面应变问题的弹性梁分析得出的结果做了对比，验证了文中方法的可行性。     

Efficient stochastic analysis of unsaturated slopes subjected to various rainfall intensities and patterns

Rainfall infiltration poses a disastrous threat to the slope stability in many regions around the world. This paper proposes an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)-based stochastic analysis framework to estimate the rainfall-induced slope failure probability. An unsaturated slope under rainfall infiltration in spatially varying soils is selected in this study to investigate the influences of the spatial variability of soil properties (including effective cohesion c′, effective friction angle φ′ and saturated hydraulic conductivity k_s), as well as rainfall intensity and rainfall pattern on the slope failure probability. Results show that the proposed framework in this study is capable of computing the failure probability with accuracy and high efficiency. The spatial variability of k_s cannot be overlooked in the reliability analysis. Otherwise, the rainfall-induced slope failure probability will be underestimated. It is found that the rainfall intensity and rainfall pattern have significant effect on the probability of failure. Moreover, the failure probabilities under various rainfall intensities and patterns can be easily obtained with the aid of the proposed framework, which can provide timely guidance for the landslide emergency management departments.     

复杂反倾岩质边坡的稳定性分析方法研究

以坡体内含有多组结构面的复杂反倾岩质边坡为研究对象,考虑结构面未将岩块与母岩彻底分离的情况,建立了复杂反倾岩质边坡的稳定性分析方法。首先,根据岩层的受荷状态和岩层间的接触关系,建立各岩层的挠度计算方法。然后,以岩层的挠度为关联变量建立方程组,通过求解方程组得到各岩层间的层间荷载,进而量化了边坡内各岩块后部结构面受到的荷载,并据此构建了各结构面的断裂力学模型。利用该模型并基于断裂力学建立了各岩块的稳定系数计算方法。最后,通过算例分析表明文中建立的复杂反倾岩质边坡稳定分析方法得到的结果与边坡实际破坏形态基本一致。     

Identification of representative slip surfaces for reliability analysis of soil slopes based on shear strength reduction

Although a slope may have numerous potential slip surfaces, its failure probability is often governed by several representative slip surfaces (RSSs). Previous efforts mainly focus on the identification of circular RSSs based on limit equilibrium methods. In this paper, a method is suggested to identify RSSs of arbitrary shape based on the shear strength reduction method. Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate a large number potential slip surfaces. The RSSs are identified through analyzing the failure domains represented by these samples. A kriging-based response surface model is employed to enhance the computational efficiency. These examples shows that the RSSs may not always be circular, and that the suggested method can effectively locate the RSSs without making prior assumptions about the shape of the slip surfaces. For the examples investigated, the system failure probabilities computed based on the shear strength reduction method are comparable to, but not the same as those computed based on the limit equilibrium methods. The suggested method significantly extends our capability for identifying non-circular RSSs and hence probabilistic slope stability analysis involving non-circular slip surfaces.     

Stability analysis of lateritic waste deposits

In open-pit mines covered with lateritic soil, the sterile ground is stored in specially prepared sites. The waste area must then be enhanced in order to extend storage capacity.

To better understand the effect of an elevated dump, typical laboratory tests (triaxial and oedometer tests) have been performed on the lateritic material. The waste disposal site has been modeled using both limit equilibrium and finite element methods. Different types of finite element models have been run; they take the variation of Young's modulus with depth into account and simulate the effect of construction over various phases. Modeling results are then compared with in situ measurements.     

土工格室用于岩石边坡植被侵蚀防护的稳定性分析

采用在土工格室内植草的方法对岩石边坡进行冲蚀控制 。 基于对格室破坏模式的实践认识和理论分析,提出了格室稳定分析的计算方法,分析了边坡坡度 、铆钉间距 、格室深度以及土工格栅加筋对格室稳定性的影响 。 对格室在铺设过程中的主要问题进行探讨 , 得出了对设计和施工有一定指导意义的结论。