TY - JOUR
T1 - Rainfall characteristics for anisotropic conductivity of unsaturated soil slopes
AU - Yeh, Hsin Fu
AU - Wang, Jinge
AU - Shen, Kang Ling
AU - Lee, Cheng Haw
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the support of the Research Project of the National Science Council (NSC100-2116-M-006-004).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
PY - 2015/6/29
Y1 - 2015/6/29
N2 - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the anisotropic ratio on the stability of slopes using the reliability index approach. A numerical analysis of the relationship between the three rainfall patterns, advanced, normal and delayed, and the anisotropic ratios was designed. This study also considered three different soil properties (sand, silt, and clay) to simulate rain infiltration. In this study, probability analysis was used to evaluate the stability of unsaturated soil slopes. The finite element computer program Geo-Studio was used to simulate the process of rainwater infiltrating a slope. The pore-water pressure results evaluated from seepage analysis (SEEP/W) were imported into the slope stability program (SLOPE/W). Results for the anisotropic ratio of hydraulic conductivity indicate that when the anisotropic ratios become higher, the reduction in the reliability index is insignificant. In addition, the simulation results indicated that when saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks) was less than rainfall intensities (I), the percentage probability of the occurrence of a landslide was larger than when ks was greater than I. Finally, in the cases of anisotropic ks, stability of the high ratio soil slopes was not found to be sensitive to the reliability index variation during the simulation period. Moreover, when ks was greater than I, slope stability decreased earlier than was the case in the opposite situation.
AB - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the anisotropic ratio on the stability of slopes using the reliability index approach. A numerical analysis of the relationship between the three rainfall patterns, advanced, normal and delayed, and the anisotropic ratios was designed. This study also considered three different soil properties (sand, silt, and clay) to simulate rain infiltration. In this study, probability analysis was used to evaluate the stability of unsaturated soil slopes. The finite element computer program Geo-Studio was used to simulate the process of rainwater infiltrating a slope. The pore-water pressure results evaluated from seepage analysis (SEEP/W) were imported into the slope stability program (SLOPE/W). Results for the anisotropic ratio of hydraulic conductivity indicate that when the anisotropic ratios become higher, the reduction in the reliability index is insignificant. In addition, the simulation results indicated that when saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks) was less than rainfall intensities (I), the percentage probability of the occurrence of a landslide was larger than when ks was greater than I. Finally, in the cases of anisotropic ks, stability of the high ratio soil slopes was not found to be sensitive to the reliability index variation during the simulation period. Moreover, when ks was greater than I, slope stability decreased earlier than was the case in the opposite situation.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84929943760
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84929943760#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1007/s12665-015-4032-4
DO - 10.1007/s12665-015-4032-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84929943760
SN - 1866-6280
VL - 73
SP - 8669
EP - 8681
JO - Environmental Earth Sciences
JF - Environmental Earth Sciences
IS - 12
ER -