Modeling Irregularly Inclined Fissure Surfaces within Nonuniform Expansive Soil Slopes
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 8
Abstract
Fissures inside expansive soils play a crucial role in triggering the failure of a slope. However, few methods have been developed to model such irregularly inclined fissures in slope stability analysis. This study will propose a simple but efficient advanced approach to quantify the fissure structures that is based on the random field theory, in which the spatial heterogeneity of soil strength can be represented together. The stability analysis of expansive soil slopes that contain fissure surfaces (FSs) under various inclinations will be performed using the random finite-element method. For each scenario, the factors of safety (FoS) that are obtained by conducting Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs) will be statistically analyzed. The slope failure mechanism for several typical scenarios will be discussed in detail. The findings demonstrate that an expansive soil slope might become vulnerable when the slope angle is close to the inclination of FSs. The FoS that results from a uniform soil slope gives an overestimation of slope stability compared with that obtained from a slope model that contains FSs. In addition, the failure mode evolution of a fissured soil slope is strongly related to the fissure inclination, because the irregularly inclined FSs might directly form part of the potential sliding surface. Except for this effect, slope instability will probably develop along those local regions of weaker soil strength. These results could offer practical suggestions for the design or reinforcement of soil slopes with developed FSs, which could serve as sustainable smart and green life cycle solutions for geotechnical slope systems.
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51879203, U2240211 and 52079100).
Notation
The following symbols are used in this study:
- cu
- shear strength;
- cuf
- factored strength value;
- D0
- maximum vertical distance between the empirical and fitted curves in KS test;
- Eu
- Young's modulus;
- G(x,y)
- Gaussian random field;
- G(x′,y′)
- rotated Gaussian random field;
- M(x′,y′)
- random medium, which signifies the FSs or soil;
- β
- FSs average inclination;
- ρ(x,y)
- a squared exponential autocorrelation function;
- and
- means of lognormal and normal distribution;
- and
- standard deviations of lognormal and normal distribution;
- θx and θy
- horizontal and vertical scales of fluctuation;
- Δx and Δy
- absolute distances between two points in space in the x- and y-directions;
- φ[G(x′,y′)]
- probability density function of G(x′,y′);
- Ω
- the regions of FSs defined in probability density function of G(x′,y′);
- ψ
- dilation angle;
- φ
- friction angle;
- v
- Poisson's ratio; and
- γ
- unit weight.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22 • Issue 8 • August 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 10, 2022
Accepted: Mar 16, 2022
Published online: Jun 8, 2022
Published in print: Aug 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Nov 8, 2022
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