Field investigation of deformation characteristics and stress mobilisation of a soil slope

Stress mobilisation and deformation of a slope are important for engineers to carry out reliable design of retaining systems. However, most case histories reported mainly on the response of pore water pressure (PWP), whereas knowledge about the stress deformation characteristics of slope is limited. In this study, a saprolitic soil slope was instrumented to monitor not only the responses of PWP but also horizontal stress and horizontal displacement. To assist in the interpretation of field data, a series of laboratory tests was conducted to characterise volume change behaviour of the soil taken from the site, under the effects of both net stress and suction. During a rainstorm event when positive PWP built up, a remarkably large displacement of 20 mm was recorded between 5.5- and 6-m depths, and the top 5 m of the slope exhibited translational downslope movement. This caused an increase in Bishop’s effective horizontal stress by 350 %, which reached a peak value close to 40 % of a Bishop’s effective passive stress. During the subsequent dry season when suction was recovered, an upslope rebound of 10 mm was recorded. Comparison of field and laboratory data reveals that the rebound was attributed to suction-induced soil shrinkage. This rebound led to a decrease in the Bishop’s effective horizontal stress previously built up during the storm event.     

Rainfall-induced landslides by deficit field matric suction in unsaturated soil slopes

Landslides are mainly triggered by decrease in the matric suction with deepening the wetting band by rainfall infiltrations. This paper reports rainfall-induced landslides in partially saturated soil slopes through a field study. A comprehensive analysis on Umyeonsan (Mt.) landslides in 2011 was highlighted. The incident involves the collapse of unsaturated soil slopes under extreme-rainfall event. Fundamental studies on the mechanism and the cause of landslides were carried out. A number of technical findings are of interest, including the failure mechanism of a depth of soil and effect of groundwater flow, the downward movement of wetting band and the increase of groundwater level. Based on this, an integrated analysis methodology for a rainfall-induced landslide is proposed in this paper that incorporates the field matric suction for obtaining hydraulic parameters of unsaturated soil. The field matric suction is shown to govern the rate of change in the water infiltration for the landslide analysis with respect to an antecedent rainfall. Special attention was given to a one-dimensional infiltration model to determine the wetting band depth in the absence of the field matric suction. The results indicate that landslide activities were primarily dependent on rainfall infiltration, soil properties, slope geometries, vegetation, and groundwater table positions. The proposed methodology has clearly demonstrated both shallow and deep-seated landslides and shows good agreement with the results of landslide investigations.     

上方来水对坡面降雨入渗及土壤水分再分布的影响

在防止土壤侵蚀和雨后抑制蒸发的条件下,利用室内模拟降雨试验,研究了上方来水对坡面降雨入渗、湿润锋运移以及土壤水分再分布的影响。结果表明:对于初始含水量很低的土壤,与上方无来水相比,上方来水时降雨入渗过程中入渗率有一个上升的阶段,但平均入渗率反而降低;在降雨入渗初期,由于上方来水的沿程入渗,上方来水对坡面湿润锋运移的影响较大,但随后几乎没有影响,湿润锋的运移主要与基质势梯度有关;土壤水分沿坡面呈"波浪形"分布是坡面径流的波动性、上方来水(径流)的沿程入渗以及侧向沿坡向下流等综合作用的结果。     

非饱和土边坡稳定分析方法探讨

在对非饱和土边坡进行稳定分析时,应该全面地考虑基质吸力对边坡稳定的贡献。首先,分别探讨了基于Fredlund非饱和土强度表达式和Bishop非饱和土有效应力强度公式将强度折减有限元法推广到非饱和土边坡稳定分析中的具体方法;然后,开发了可以考虑基质吸力两种处理方法的强度折减有限元计算程序;最后,给出了一个非饱和土边坡稳定分析的对比算例,说明了二者的不同特点。     

非饱和土损伤模型与应用

非饱和土应力状态是采用有效应力( –ua)和基质吸力(ua–uw)作为应力状态变量,相应的Mohr-Coulomb破坏包面是在有效应力、基质吸力和剪应力的三维坐标系中的曲面（通常在应用中假定为平面）。根据应变等效性原理定义损伤变量,由非饱和土给出损伤变量与偏应力的曲线,并得到非饱和土的损伤阈值与基质吸力呈指数函数关系。采用一非饱和土土坡开挖过程的算例,说明基于损伤演化描述的稳定性数值分析方法可行。     

抗滑桩加固非饱和土边坡三维稳定性分析

讨论了抗滑桩加固边坡的稳定分析研究状况,在全面地考虑基质吸力和抗滑桩对边坡稳定性的贡献后,利用所发展的可考虑基质吸力的弹塑性强度折减有限元程序,探讨了抗滑桩加固前后的非饱和土边坡整体稳定性,并且与相应不考虑基质吸力条件下的边坡稳定性进行了对比分析。     

滑坡防治前后滑带土基质吸力特征研究

降雨使坡内地下水位上升,坡体的基质吸力和暂态孔隙水压力会随着降雨过程和时间呈现不同的变化趋势。采用抗滑桩、挡墙等工程防治后,针对滑坡体滑带土的性质变化以及抗滑结构的设置是否会影响到滑坡体的自然排水通道,导致坡体地下水位的抬升,从而影响滑坡防治效果等问题进行了研究。以鹰厦线K290滑坡为主线,通过开展滑坡饱和-非饱和渗流模型试验与数值分析,探讨了降雨入渗及地下水位变化下滑坡体及滑带土体积含水率与基质吸力的变化规律,以及其对滑坡防治前后坡体渗流场的影响。在此基础上,探讨了滑带土基质吸力对抗剪强度的贡献。研究表明：防治前后滑坡体及滑带土基质吸力受降雨强度等条件影响明显,不同深度处滑带土基质吸力变化呈现不同的变化规律,在土质滑坡的防治中应考虑抗滑桩的布置对滑带土性质的影响。     

Partial Saturation and Seismicity on Steep Reclaimed Slopes

While traditional mine reclamation methods emphasize compaction to increase the strength of the materials and ensure stability of the restored slope, high compaction restricts the successful reforestation of reclaimed mine sites. The Forest Reclamation Approach (FRA), which uses low compaction in the uppermost 1.2–1.5 m of the surface has been shown to facilitate the establishment of healthy native forests. Stability analyses of three steep FRA slopes from the southern Appalachian region have shown that the long-term static stability is not compromised, and that the infinite slope method provides a rational method to evaluate the stability of steep FRA slopes. In this article, modifications of the infinite slope equation are utilized to (a) include the effects of matric suction due to unsaturated soil conditions and (b) evaluate the seismic performance of FRA slopes based on spectral accelerations. Monthly variation of the water content at three research sites demonstrated the seasonal stability variation of FRA slopes due to matric suction, while seismic analyses illustrated the conditions under which instability may occur.     

考虑基质吸力作用的土坡稳定性分析

非饱和土基质吸力的有效应力作用,使得土体的抗剪强度得以提高。基于Fredlund的非饱和土抗剪强度理论,在土坡极限平衡分析方法中,同时考虑分条的土条底面与条间的基质吸力分布对土体抗剪强度的贡献,进而构筑考虑基质吸力作用的土坡极限平衡分析方法。构筑基于极限平衡分析方法的目标函数,应用SLP优化方法寻求最危险滑动面。用具体计算实例说明这种分析思路可以评价土坡的稳定性评价的影响。     

湘西陈溪峪滑坡变形机理及稳定性评价

浅层滑坡在我国广泛分布,但在区域范围内分布规律性较差,且具有突发性、隐蔽性和破坏性强等特点。湘西武陵山区地质条件复杂、降雨丰沛、人类工程活动强烈,突发性地质灾害频发,尤以降雨诱发的浅层滑坡为主。文章以湘西地区慈利县陈溪峪滑坡为例,开展了降雨量、基质吸力、地下水位和地表变形等的监测;结合滑坡的现场调查及监测成果,分析滑坡的形成条件和变形机理;在此基础上,考虑基质吸力对边坡稳定性的贡献,将强度折减有限元法推广到非饱和土边坡,计算得到了不同降雨工况下滑坡稳定性。结果表明:当强降雨降落到滑坡体上时,坡内基质吸力值均迅速减小,直至一定值后（9.5 kPa左右）不再变化;坡内地下水位受季节性降雨影响显著,短时强降雨引起地下水变化幅度不如长时间降雨对地下水位造成的影响大;陈溪峪滑坡的地质力学成因为蠕滑推移式土质滑坡,运动形式为沿基覆界面的浅层滑坡;短时强降雨是诱发滑坡变形的最关键因素。陈溪峪滑坡在持续降雨条件下的降雨量预警值约为280 mm,在短时强降雨条件下的降雨强度预警值约为240 mm/d。     

Numerical modeling of rainstorm-induced shallow landslides in saturated and unsaturated soils

For the assessment of shallow landslides triggered by rainfall, the physically based model coupling the infinite slope stability analysis with the hydrological modeling in nearly saturated soil has commonly been used due to its simplicity. However, in that model the rainfall infiltration in unsaturated soil could not be reliably simulated because a linear diffusion-type Richards’ equation rather than the complete Richards’ equation was used. In addition, the effect of matric suction on the shear strength of soil was not actually considered. Therefore, except the shallow landslide in saturated soil due to groundwater table rise, the shallow landslide induced by the loss in unsaturated shear strength due to the dissipation of matric suction could not be reliably assessed. In this study, a physically based model capable of assessing shallow landslides in variably saturated soils is developed by adopting the complete Richards’ equation with the effect of slope angle in the rainfall infiltration modeling and using the extended Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion to describe the unsaturated shear strength in the soil failure modeling. The influence of rainfall intensity and duration on shallow landslide is investigated using the developed model. The result shows that the rainfall intensity and duration seem to have similar influence on shallow landslides respectively triggered by the increase of positive pore water pressure in saturated soil and induced by the dissipation of matric suction in unsaturated soil. The rainfall duration threshold decreases with the increase in rainfall intensity, but remains constant for large rainfall intensity.     

暗穴环境下非饱和黄土边坡稳定性分析

黄土暗穴在水土流失方面作为一种独特的侵蚀方式,往往会威胁到建设在非饱和黄土层之上的公路边坡稳定性。基于考虑基质吸力的强度折减有限元程序,本文通过开展不同位置暗穴、单双暗穴和基质吸力赋存与丧失等条件下边坡稳定性的对比研究,着重对影响边坡稳定性的暗穴、基质吸力等因素进行了研究。研究结果表明,当暗穴接近地表时由于存在一定的减载效应而利于坡体的稳定,而当暗穴接近边坡坡脚时则成为黄土边坡稳定性的不利因素,在边坡底部存在的双暗穴明显削弱了边坡的稳定性,基质吸力使得非饱和黄土边坡安全系数增大,潜在滑动面变深,反之则使安全系数减小,潜在滑动面上移,基质吸力的丧失或减小以及暗穴的削弱作用使得潜在滑动面位置变化较大。     

非饱和土本构模型在预测地表沉降中的应用

地下水位降低将导致非饱和土体中净平均应力和基质吸力发生变化,从而引起土体体积变化。利用GDS非饱和土三轴仪,研究了重塑非饱和黏土在干燥过程中试样含水率变化和总体积变化。针对某一典型基坑,运用大型有限元软件ABAQUS模拟了井点降水而形成的二维饱和-非饱和稳态渗流。饱和土区域和非饱和土区域沉降变形有着本质的区别,基于试验和数值模拟结果,根据Fredlund非饱和土弹性体变本构模型和饱和土有效应力原理,分别估算了饱和土区和非饱和土区沉降变形量。结果表明,在总沉降量中非饱和土区的沉降量是不可忽略的。随着降水深度的增大,非饱和土区域沉降量在总沉降量中所占比例将逐渐增大。     

The role of infiltration processes in steep slope stability of pyroclastic granular soils: laboratory and numerical investigation

Rainfall-induced landslides on steep slopes are a common feature in much of Italy’s mountain areas covered by shallow-pyroclastic deposits. Generally, these deposits are unsaturated and have a slope angle higher than 40°–50°; hence their stability is due to the positive effect of matric suction on soil shear strength. During rainfall, rainwater infiltration causes a decrease in suction, which in turn causes changes in soil mechanical and hydraulic properties, leading towards an instability process. However, the response of pyroclastic soil slopes to rainwater infiltration is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to link slope instability to the infiltration process on the basis of advanced geotechnical characterization, in situ monitoring and numerical analysis calibrated through a back-analysis of well-instrumented flume tests.     

Response parameters for characterization of infiltration

Rainwater infiltration is of particular interest with respect to slope stability hazard management. The process of rainfall infiltration into unsaturated soil is complex due to the number of soil parameters involved and the random nature of moisture flux boundary conditions. In this paper, the effect of rainfall intensity on infiltration is investigated through the use of finite element seepage modeling for a 5 m high soil column subjected to various rainfall intensities. The numerical modeling study identified three response parameters that can be used to describe one-dimensional infiltration into an unsaturated soil. The response parameters are the depth of wetting front, the matric suction reduction depth, and the sectional infiltration rate. The practical application of the rainfall response parameters in slope stability analysis is illustrated.     

黄土坡滑坡滑带土非饱和力学特性试验研究

以三峡库区黄土坡滑坡临江I号崩滑体的滑带土为研究对象,研究基质吸力对非饱和滑带土的强度与变形等力学性质的影响。利用GDS非饱和反压直剪仪对滑带土进行了不同净法向应力和基质吸力组合下的直剪试验。试验结果表明:相同的基质吸力作用下,滑带土抗剪强度随着净法向应力的增大而增大。当滑带土试样中基质吸力较小时(50kPa),试样剪切过程中的应力-应变曲线,随着净法向应力的增大表现为应变硬化型。之后随着基质吸力的增加,当吸力大于净法向应力时,剪切应力-应变曲线表现为较明显的达到峰值后软化。反之,应力-应变曲线表现为应变硬化型。相同净法向应力下,抗剪强度随着吸力的增大而增大,剪切应力-应变曲线由低法向应力下的达到峰值后软化向高法向应力下的应变硬化转变。剪切过程的轴向位移表现为:当吸力大于净法向应力时,表现为剪胀; 反之,表现为剪缩。滑带土固结排水剪切条件下得到的黏聚力随着基质吸力呈线性增长关系。得到了滑带土的吸力摩擦角b为13.7,有效内摩擦角有较小增长,平均有效内摩擦角15.9。     

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。     

非饱和黄土强度参数的试验研究

非饱和土强度理论的研究是非饱和土力学的核心问题。目前公认的非饱和土强度理论是Bishop的单变量理论和Fredlund的双变量理论,二者都引入了基质吸力这一应力参数,只是前者将其归到有效应力中,后者作为独立变量。要得到这两个公式中相关参数需利用控制基质吸力的非饱和土三轴仪或直剪仪测定,控制基质吸力是通过同步增加气压和孔隙水压力保持吸力不变实现的,即所谓的轴平移技术,该项技术一直面临测试周期长的困难和合理性的质疑。鉴于此,本文采用不同含水率的常规三轴CU试验,测定了有效稳态强度参数,得出了吸应力和体积含水率的关系曲线,非饱和强度直接用吸应力函数表达,该强度公式回避了测定基质吸力的问题,便于在工程实际中推广。为了进一步和Bishop及Fredlund的强度公式进行对比,又用张力计测定了同一试样的水土特征曲线,获得了其强度参数。理论上,这3种强度理论对机理的解释不同,但在数学上可以互相转化。从工程应用的角度,基于吸应力的抗剪强度更便于工程应用。     

非饱和土基质吸力对边坡稳定的影响

降雨及浸水往往引起天然土坡及人工土坡的滑坡,其中,土中基质吸力的消失是一个重要原因。通过试验和计算分析,揭示了基质吸力对边坡稳定所起的重要作用。非饱和土边坡稳定计算中的关键参数 的确定,尚有待于进一步研究。     

Water infiltration characteristics of unsaturated soil slope and its effect on suction and stability

Rainfall has been considered the cause of the majority of slope failures and landslides that happened in regions experiencing high seasonal rainfalls. The mechanism of the failures was mainly due to the lost of matric suction of soils by rainwater. This paper presents the results of a laboratory model study on the effect of slope angle and surface cover on water infiltration into soil and soil matric suction. A field infiltration test is carried out for comparison. A parametric study is also done to examine the effect of permeability ratio, development of perched water table and rainfall intensity on the factor of safety against instability of a soil slope. Results of the model study show that different surface covers on slopes have an effect on the water infiltration. Generally the covered surface (grass or geosynthetic net) has a lower infiltration rate compared with the bare (no cover) surface. On the effect of slope angle, it was observed that water infiltration decrease with increase in the slope steepness. With regards to the movement of the wetting front, it appears that water infiltration is more at the toe compared with the top of the model slope. Based on the parametric study, it is found factor of safety of the slope against instability drops for slope with higher ratio of permeability for the permeable and impermeable stratum. As the perched water table is formed, the factor of safety decreased. The rainfall intensity also has a marked effect on the slope factor of safety. The higher the intensity of the rainfall, the higher is the infiltration rate into the soil, hence the lower is the factor of safety against slope instability.