Stability of submarine slopes in the northern South China Sea: a numerical approach

Submarine landslides occur frequently on most continental margins. They are effective mechanisms of sediment transfer but also a geological hazard to seafloor installations. In this paper, submarine slope stability is evaluated using a 2D limit equilibrium method. Considerations of slope, sediment, and triggering force on the factor of safety (FOS) were calculated in drained and undrained (Φ=0) cases. Results show that submarine slopes are stable when the slope is <16° under static conditions and without a weak interlayer. With a weak interlayer, slopes are stable at <18° in the drained case and at <9° in the undrained case. Earthquake loading can drastically reduce the shear strength of sediment with increased pore water pressure. The slope became unstable at >13° with earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.5 g; whereas with a weak layer, a PGA of 0.2 g could trigger instability at slopes >10°, and >3° for PGA of 0.5 g. The northern slope of the South China Sea is geomorphologically stable under static conditions. However, because of the possibility of high PGA at the eastern margin of the South China Sea, submarine slides are likely on the Taiwan Bank slope and eastern part of the Dongsha slope. Therefore, submarine slides recognized in seismic profiles on the Taiwan Bank slope would be triggered by an earthquake, the most important factor for triggering submarine slides on the northern slope of the South China Sea. Considering the distribution of PGA, we consider the northern slope of the South China Sea to be stable, excluding the Taiwan Bank slope, which is tectonically active.     

Practical method and application study for predicting cyclic accumulative deformations of the saturated soft clay

The distribution of saturated soft clay is greatly wide in China. The current main measures adopted to deal with soft soil foundations may lead to environmental pollution, even some engineering accidents may happen on soft soil foundations. In order to solve engineering problems of saturated soft soil foundations well, researches of mechanical properties of them are necessary. One of the most important mechanical characteristics of saturated soft clay is its cyclic accumulative deformation under cyclic loadings. For saturated soft clay, the cyclic accumulative deformation is similar to the creep behavior under static loadings. Therefore, the cyclic accumulative deformation is equivalent to the creep, the number of loading cycles is seen as the time, and this study develops a practical method for predicting the cyclic accumulative deformation of saturated soft clay with the creep theory. The method is a pseudostatic elasto-plastic finite element method implemented by ABAQUS software. A fitted equation between cyclic accumulative strain and number of loading cycles and the empirical relationship of parameters of fitted equation were established with a series of cyclic triaxial compression tests. Then with this empirical relationship of parameters, the method developed by this study was employed to predict the cyclic accumulative deformation under cyclic triaxial tension tests. Predicted results were in good agreement with test results, and the effectiveness of this method was thus validated for different stress states. The method was then applied in analyzing the cyclic accumulative deformation for soft soil foundation of a pile-supported wharf structure.     

强震作用下斜坡表面放大效应的三维离散元模拟

为研究强震作用下斜坡表面的动力放大效应, 以陕西勉县某岩质斜坡为例, 建立了三维模型。运用离散元软件3DEC, 模拟了动力条件下斜坡的变形失稳过程, 分析了斜坡表面的动力响应特征, 研究了不同地震波输入工况条件下坡体表面动力响应差异。研究结果表明: 考虑地震纵波的影响时, 竖向加速度得到显著增强, 坡面的PGA放大系数增强了约1.62倍; 坡面形态强烈影响着斜坡表面的动力响应特征, 强震作用下, 斜坡坡肩及坡形转折处的放大效应均十分强烈, 凸出部位次之, 坡表两侧的放大效应最弱; 不同输入工况下, 斜坡坡形转折处的水平向PGA放大系数均维持较高值, 特别是在仅输入水平向加速度的条件下, 该部位在地震滑坡灾害预防中应特别注意; 强震作用下滑坡的运动过程可概括为滑坡孕育启动阶段—挤压碰撞高速运动阶段—堆积阶段。研究成果可为该地区防灾减灾工作提供一定理论支持。      

Effect of the inclined weak interlayers on the rainfall response of a bedded rock slope

Engineering experience shows that outward dipping bedded rock slopes, especially including weak interlayers, are prone to slide under rainfall conditions. To investigate the effect of inclined weak interlayers at various levels of depth below the surface on the variation of displacements and stresses in bedded rock slopes, four geo-mechanical model tests with artificial rainfall have been conducted. Displacements, water content as well as earth pressure in the model were monitored by means of various FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) sensors. The results showed that the amount of displacement of a slope with a weak interlayer is 2.8 to 6.2 times larger than that of a slope without a weak interlayer during one rainfall event. Furthermore, the position of the weak interlayer in terms of depth below the surface has a significant effect on the zone of deformation in the model. In the slope with a high position weak interlayer, the recorded deformation was larger in the superficial layer of the model and smaller in the frontal portion than in the slope with a low position weak interlayer. The slope with two weak interlayers has the largest deformation at all locations of all test slopes. The slope without a weak interlayer was only saturated in its superficial layer, while the displacement decreased with depth. That was different from all slopes with a weak interlayer in which the largest displacement shifted from the superficial layer to the weak interlayer when rainfall persisted. Plastic deformation of the weak interlayer promoted the formation of cracks which caused more water to flow into the slope, thus causing larger deformation in the slope with weak interlayers. In addition, the slide thrust pressure showed a vibration phenomenon 0.5 to 1 hour ahead of an abrupt increase of the deformation, which was interpreted as a predictor for rainfall-induced failure of bedded rock slopes.     

京广铁路K1219路基土质边坡深层滑移失稳机制与整治对策

为研究土质边坡深层滑移失稳机制, 以京广铁路下行线K1219+000处路基边坡失稳为例, 通过现场调查测绘、工程地质钻探、原位试验和室内试验、深部位移监测和数值模拟等手段, 详细研究了该土质边坡变形破坏特征、地质力学过程和失稳模式。结果表明: 路基边坡表面裂缝宽度及深度呈坡顶至坡脚逐渐变浅变窄, 变形具有一定的旋转性, 牵引式特征明显, 属于深层滑移拉裂式失稳; 土质边坡经历了因坡脚开挖、抽水引起的应力场和渗流场重新分布阶段、雨水入渗软化导致下滑力不断增大而滑面逐渐迁移扩大加深阶段以及支挡结构抗力失效阶段3个地质力学过程, 其失稳模式包括浅层滑移、浅层滑面向深层迁移、动荷载触发深层滑移失稳3个阶段。在此基础上, 综合确定了滑面位置, 并通过反演方法确定了滑面力学参数。研究采用了刚架式双排抗滑桩的整治方案, 通过理论计算和数值分析, 边坡变形与抗滑桩变形基本一致, 且与监测结果整体吻合, 这表明土质边坡深层失稳理论分析准确且计算的力学参数科学, 整治对策稳妥、可靠。      

Hydro-mechanical analysis of rainfall-induced fines migration process within unsaturated soils

Seepage-induced fines migration under rainfall infiltration is a main cause leading to shallow failures in loose colluvial slopes. To describe the full process of fines migration within unsaturated soils during rainfall infiltration and the associated hydro-mechanical behaviors, a seepage-erosion-deformation coupled formulation is proposed in this paper. The governing equations proposed are implemented into a finite element code and used to investigate the influences of skeleton deformation on the rainfall infiltration process through unsaturated soil columns. The numerical results were presented in detail for a better understanding of the rainfall-induced fines migration process within unsaturated soils. Further, the obtained results are integrated into an infinite slope model for slope stability analysis. The results show that, the skeleton deformation will affect the rainfall infiltration rate and hence the timing of slope failures; meanwhile their influences are more evident if the fines deposition process is taken into account. Moreover, the slope stability could be reduced gradually due to the soil strength loss along with loss of fine particles. Therefore, particular attentions should be paid to analyzing the stability of soil slopes susceptible to internal erosion.     

Effect of lithology and structure on seismic response of steep slope in a shaking table test

Studies on landslides by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake showed that topography was of great importance in amplifying the seismic shaking, and among other factors, lithology and slope structure controlled the spatial occurrence of slope failures. The present study carried out experiments on four rock slopes with steep angle of 60° by means of a shaking table. The recorded Wenchuan earthquake waves were scaled to excite the model slopes. Measurements from accelerometers installed on free surface of the model slope were analyzed, with much effort on timedomain acceleration responses to horizontal components of seismic shaking. It was found that the amplification factor of peak horizontal acceleration, RPHA, was increasing with elevation of each model slope, though the upper and lower halves of the slope exhibited different increasing patterns. As excitation intensity was increased, the drastic deterioration of the inner structure of each slope caused the sudden increase of RPHA in the upper slope part. In addition, the model simulating the soft rock slope produced the larger RPHA than the model simulating the hard rock slope by a maximum factor of 2.6. The layered model slope also produced the larger RPHA than the homogeneous model slope by a maximum factor of 2.7. The upper half of a slope was influenced more seriously by the effect of lithology, while the lower half was influenced more seriously by the effect of slope structure.     

Failure mode and dynamic response of a double-sided slope with high water content of soil

A double-sided slope with high water content in sandy clay was considered under the action of seismic load. Its failure mode and dynamic response were investigated using a hydraulic servo shaking table test. The typical characteristic of failure mode and dynamic responses of the double-sided slope were analyzed. Experimental results show that slope failure undergoes a process of progressive deformation. The slope failure mode can be explained as creep sliding landslide. AFA (Amplification Factor of Acceleration) at the surface and inner parts of the slope shows an increasing trend with the increase of relative elevation. The relationship between AFA and EAA (Excitation Amplitude of Acceleration) is nonlinear. An empirical formula is proposed to describe preferably the relationship between AFA, relative elevation and dimensionless EAA. The AFA at the middle and upper parts of the slope increases apparently with increasing EFA (Excitation Frequency of Acceleration).     

孕震断层的形变模型及其失稳判据

提出了孕震断层的形变模型，讨论了该模型的形变特征，给出了其失稳的临界条件。通过对失稳过程的分析，对孕震期作了新的划分，并给出了失稳临界条件的形变判据。指出：综合使用ＧＰＳ测量、跨断层短基线测量和固体潮观测，可以对孕震的时间进程实施追踪，并可对孕震的危险程度作出判定。     

Experimental study of motion characteristics of rock slopes with weak intercalation under seismic excitation

In order to investigate the effect of a weak intercalation on slope stability, a large-scale shaking table model test was conducted to study the dynamic response of rock slope models with weak intercalation. The dynamic response of the prototype slopes were studied in laboratory with the consideration of law of similitude. The initiation failure was observed in the rock slope model with a counter-tilt thin-weak intercalation firstly, not in the slope model with a horizontal thin-weak intercalation. Furthermore, it was interesting that the fracture site is shifted from crest top to the slope surface near the weak intercalation, which is different with the location of failure position in a normal layered slope. We also discussed the effect of the dip angle and the thickness of weak intercalation on the failure mechanism and instability mode of the layered rock slope. From the experimental result, it was noted that the stability of the slope with a counter-tilt weak intercalation could be worse than that of the other slopes under seismic excitation. The findings showed the difference of failure in slopes with a horizontal and counter weak intercalation, and implicated the further evaluation of failure of layered slopes caused by seismic loads.     

Continuum and discrete element coupling approach to analyzing seismic responses of a slope covered by deposits

Numerical analyses of earthquake effects on the deformation, stability, and load transfer of a slope covered by deposits are traditionally based on the assumption that the slope is a continuum. It would be problematic, however, to extend these approaches to the simulation of the slide, collapse and disintegration of the deposits under seismic loading. Contrary to this, a discrete element method (DEM) provides a means to consider large displacement and rotation of the non-continuum. To take the advantages of both methods of continuum and non-continuum analyses, seismic responses of a slope covered by deposits are studied by coupling a two-dimensional (2-D) finite difference method and a 2-D DEM, with the bedrock being modelled by the finite difference grids and the deposits being represented by disks. A smooth transition across the boundaries of the continuous/discontinuous domains is obtained by imposing the compatibility condition and equilibrium condition along their interfaces. In the course of computation, the same time-step value is chosen for both continuous and discontinuous domains. The free-field boundaries are adopted for lateral grids of bedrock domain to eliminate the radiation damping effect. When the static equilibrium under gravity load is obtained, dynamic calculation begins under excitation of the seismic wave input from the continuum model bottom. In this way, responses to the earthquake of a slope covered by deposits are analyzed dynamically. Combined with field monitoring data, deformation and stability of the slope are discussed. The effects of the relevant parameters of spectrum characteristic, duration, and peak acceleration of seismic waves are further investigated and explained from the simulations.     

软硬互层顺层岩质边坡破坏试验

软硬互层结构的顺层岩质边坡破坏类型复杂、难于防治, 针对此类边坡地质灾害易发、多发的问题, 从坡面角度、岩层倾向及组合形式、节理分布等方面进行了研究。边坡物理模型试验是揭示边坡变形破坏机理的重要手段, 基于相似理论, 以重庆市万州区孙家滑坡为工程依托, 根据滑坡区地质勘探报告设计了室内边坡物理模型试验; 试验通过顶升模型箱模拟重力加载来探究顺层岩质边坡发生破坏时, 前缘坡角和软弱夹层倾角之间的关系; 结合有限元分析软件Plaxis 2D对物理模型进行了多组数值模拟试验, 以验证软硬互层顺层岩质边坡破坏机制。试验结果表明: 对于顺层岩质边坡, 当软弱夹层的倾角在22°左右, 前缘开挖坡角58°左右时, 顺层岩质边坡容易发生滑动, 滑动面为后缘节理面和软弱夹层的贯通面。因此, 顺层岩质边坡稳定性受层面和节理面密度的控制, 当边坡含多层软弱层面时, 易沿层面和后缘节理贯通面发生破坏, 随着软弱面层数增加, 边坡稳定系数逐渐降低。研究成果可以为公路开挖切坡导致的顺层岩质边坡失稳机理研究及其稳定性评价提供理论依据, 为顺层岩质边坡失稳的预测预报提供支撑。      

Failure behavior of soil-rock mixture slopes based on centrifuge model test

The stability of soil-rock mixtures(SRMs) that widely distributed in slopes is of significant concern for slope safety evaluation and disaster prevention. The failure behavior of SRM slopes under surface loading conditions was investigated through a series of centrifuge model tests considering various volumetric gravel contents. The displacement field of the slope was determined with image-based displacement system to observe the deformation of the soil and the movement of the block during loading in the tests. The test results showed that the ultimate bearing capacity and the stiffness of SRM slopes increased evidently when the volumetric block content exceeded a threshold value. Moreover, there were more evident slips around the blocks in the SRM slope. The microscopic analysis of the block motion showed that the rotation of the blocks could aggravate the deformation localization to facilitate the development of the slip surface. The high correlation between the rotation of the key blocks and the slope failure indicated that the blocks became the dominant load-bearing medium that influenced the slope failure. The blocks in the sliding body formed a chain to bear the load and change the displacement distribution of the adjacent matrix sand through the block rotation.     

Study on deformation law of circular foundation under combined loading

The foundations of some ocean engineering structures are built to withstand not only the vertical gravity load V, but also the horizontal load H induced by sea waves and current. The horizontal load includes the concentrated force load, the moment load M, and the torque load T termed also as combined loading. It is of academic and engineering significance to study the deformation law of submarine seabed due to combined loading. On the basis of the three-dimensional elastic mechanics solution of circular foundation, numerical methods are used to analyze the deformation law of submarine soil under circular foundation with six degrees of freedom. The finite element analysis results give the elastic deformation law of soil in three dimensional spaces, modify the theoretical elasticity solution, and presents nonlinear soil deformation mechanism under the circular foundation with six degrees of freedom.     

Landslides & debris flows formation from gravelly soil surface erosion and particle losses in Jiangjia Ravine

Gravelly soils are made up of gravel, sand, silt and clay. They are widely used in engineering applications such as rock-fill dams with clay cores, which are the main researches at present. The strength and mechanical properties of the gravelly soils are affected by the content of coarse grain, fine particles, and their adhesive states. These Properties can be verified by laboratory unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests with grain size less than 5 mm and by large scale direct-shear tests with original grain content. Fine particles of the loose gravelly slopes are released under rainfalls, alternated the structures and mechanical properties, even affected the slope stability. There are a series of large scale direct-shear tests with different coarse grain contents to study the influence of fine particles releasing and migration, results showed the strength behavior of the gravelly soils were affected by the coarse grain content （5） and the inflection coarse grain contents. In order to study the erosion features of the gravelly soil slopes on rainfall conditions and the slopes stability alteration, we had carried out one sort of artificial rainfall local and model experiments, the runoff sediment contents were monitored during the experiments. Result showed that the shapes of the slopes surface transformed periodically, runoff sediment contents were divided into five phases according to the experiment phenomena, runoff sediment contents maintained downtrend during the rain time and the downtrend was obviouslyinterpreted by one descend belt no matter the rainfall intensity and the slope angels. Particle size analysis released the deposit on the slope surface lost almost all of the clay, most of the silt and sand after the experiments, this meant the fine particles releasing, migration and accumulation process on condition of rainfall resulted in the instability factor of the slopes even induced landslide or debris flow.     

Unsaturated Creep Behaviors of Weak Intercalated Soils in Soft Rock of Badong Formation

The cutting slopes in soft rock of redbed appeared in Yichang-Badong highway often suffer from the instability along weak intercalations, so the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils are crucially important for the stability of cutting slopes. Because the deformation of weak intercalated soils is significantly affected by water content due to the strong water sensitivity, it is necessary to study the influence of matric suction on the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils. In order to find out the unsaturated creep characters of weak intercalated soils, a GDS unsaturated triaxial apparatus was used. Then the triaxial creep experiments on weak intercalated soil samples under varying matric suction were conducted to obtain the unsaturated creep curves. The results show that the weak intercalated soils have obvious creep behaviors, and the creep strain is in nonlinear relationship with stress and time. When the matric suction is constant, a larger deviator stress will lead to a larger creep strain; When the deviator stress is constant, a smaller matric suction will lead to a larger creep strain. Based on the Mesri creep model, an improved creep model for weak intercalated soils under varying matric suction was established, in which the relationship of stress-strain was expressed with a hyperbolic function, and the relationship of strain-time was expressed with power functions in stages. Then an unsaturated creep model including stress-matric suction-strain-time for weak intercalated soils was established based on the power function relationship between matric suction and Ed(a parameter of the improved creep model). The comparison of the calculated values of creep model and the experimental values shows that the creep behaviors of weak intercalated soils can be predicted by the unsaturated creep model by and large.     

Study on Dynamic Response of the ＂Dualistic＂ Structure Rock Slope with Seismic Wave Theory

Currently, scant attention has been paid to the theoretical analysis on dynamic response mechanism of the ＂Dualistic＂ structure roek slope. The analysis presented here provides insight into the dynamic response of the ＂Dualistie＂ structure rock slope. By investigating the principle of energy distribution, it is shown that the effect of a joint plays a significant role in slope stability analysis. A dynamic reflection and transmission model （RTM） for the ＂Dualistic＂ structure rock slope and explicit dynamic equations are established to analyze the dynamic response of a slope, based on the theory of elastic mechanics and the principle of seismic wave propagation. The theoretical simulation solutions show that the dynamic response of the ＂Dualistic＂ structure rock slope （soft-hard） model is greater than that of the ＂Dualistic＂ strueture rock slope （hard-soft） model, especially in the slope crest. The magnifying effect of rigid foundation on the dynamic response is more obvious than that of soft foundation. With the amplitude increasing, the cracks could be found in the right slope （soft-hard） crest. The crest failure is firstly observed in the right slope （soft-hard） during the experimental process. The reliability of theoretical model is also investigated by experiment analysis. The conclusions derived in this paper could also be used in future evaluations of Multi-layer rock slopes.     

Effectiveness of Fiber Bragg Grating monitoring in the centrifugal model test of soil slope under rainfall conditions

Centrifugal model tests are playing an increasingly important role in investigating slope characteristics under rainfall conditions. However, conventional electronic transducers usually fail during centrifugal model tests because of the impacts of limited test space, high centrifugal force, and presence of water, with the result that limited valid data is obtained. In this study, Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensing technology is employed in the design and development of displacement gauge, an anchor force gauge and an anti-slide pile moment gauge for use on centrifugal model slopes with and without a retaining structure. The two model slopes were installed and monitored at a centrifugal acceleration of 100 g. The test results show that the sensors developed succeed in capturing the deformation and retaining structure mechanical response of the model slopes during and after rainfall. The deformation curve for the slope without retaining structure shows a steep response that turns gradual for the slope with retaining structure. Importantly, for the slope with the retaining structure, results suggest that more attention be paid to increase of anchor force and anti-slide pile moment during rainfall. This study verifies the effectiveness of FBG sensing technology in centrifuge research and presents a new and innovative method for slope model testing under rainfall conditions.     

四川珙县下软上硬山岭地貌斜坡地震动响应特征

强震中下软上硬坡体同震崩塌发育, 为了揭示这类坡体地震动的响应特征, 在珙县五同村安置了强震监测仪, 对斜坡表面和不同岩性的地震动响应进行监测, 并记录到不同方位、不同震中距的2次地震。研究表明: ①地震动响应规律有极强的方向性和距离性。2次地震相距监测站台的方向和距离不同, 使Ms 4.0级地震的峰值加速度和阿里亚斯强度反而比Ms 3.2级地震小。②0~30 Hz的地震波在低地山岭的高陡临空面附近有放大效应。1#监测点的主频小于3#与5#监测点, 3#监测点的主频最高。5#点的幅值范围为0.018~0.055 m/s-2, 3#点幅值范围为0.036~0.087 m/s-2, 3#点相较于5#点, 其三向最高幅值同比放大了1.58~2.0倍。③泥质砂岩的主频为4.8~8.4 Hz, 灰岩的主频为5.5~21.4 Hz, 不同的岩层共振频率不同, 灰岩对地震波的选频放大效应强于泥质砂岩。④地震波在不同高程的山岭斜坡部位具有选择放大作用, 在一定范围内高程越大地形放大效应越明显。      

沿山脊走向长输油气管道强震动力响应特征

沿山脊走向的长输油气管道在我国西部山区常有分布,强震作用下其动力响应直接关系到管道的安全运营,实际管道工程建设中亟需相关研究结果提供指导。依托云南玉溪龙马槽村段此类输油管道工程,考虑山坡的工程地质特征,对管道与坡体进行整体三维数值建模,采用有限差分方法FLAC3D进行数值模拟,基于汶川地震波,计算得到了水平地震加速度峰值、震后等典型时刻的管道位移、轴力、剪力和弯矩及坡体稳定性等地震动力响应特征。结果表明,管道内力最大值出现于震后时刻,地震作用使管道轴力达到较高水平,而剪力与弯矩值的量级仅占最大轴力的约1%;竖向地震波对管道内力影响较小,管道受力的不利部位出现在其与断层交界附近。地震过程中管道水平方向存在较多的弹性变形,竖向则存在较多的塑性变形,管道累计变形是影响其内力的主要因素,管道内力最大值出现于震后时刻。