Three-Dimensional Stability of Unsaturated Soil Slopes Reinforced by Frame Beam Anchor Plates
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 6
Abstract
The frame beam anchor plate (FBAP) is a new supporting structure to reinforce backfill. The current studies of slope stability concentrate on homogeneous isotropic dry or saturated slopes according to two-dimensional assumptions. In engineering practice, however, the soils are heterogeneous and anisotropic and exhibit evident unsaturated characteristics, and the failure surface shows obvious three-dimensional (3D) characteristics universally. A new method for evaluating the 3D stability of unsaturated soil slopes reinforced with FBAPs is established in this paper. The upper-bound analytical solution of slope safety factor (Fs) is derived based on the energy balance equation incorporated with the 3D spiral failure mechanism and the gravity increase method (GIM). Comparisons verified the effectiveness of the methodology and the optimization program. The influence of unsaturated characteristics, support structure design parameters, and seismic force on the 3D slope stability is evaluated through parameter analysis. The results show that the shear strength prediction model is crucial in slope stability assessments. The stability of slopes can be significantly improved by about 29%–52% by using FBAPs. Seismic action has a significant negative impact on the slope stability. When kh increases from 0 to 0.3, Fs generally decreases by about 40%–55%.
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Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51978321, 52168050, and 51768040), the Changjiang Scholars and innovation team support program of the Ministry of Education of China (IRT_17R51), and the Department of Education of Gansu Province: “Star of Innovation” program for excellent postgraduates (2022CXZX-448). The financial support provided is greatly appreciated. The authors also want to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and helpful comments.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23 • Issue 6 • June 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 3, 2022
Accepted: Jan 22, 2023
Published online: Apr 11, 2023
Published in print: Jun 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 11, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Anchors
- Beams
- Design (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Equipment and machinery
- Frames
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Slope stability
- Slopes
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil stabilization
- Soils (by type)
- Structural design
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Structure reinforcement
- Three-dimensional analysis
- Unsaturated soils
Authors
Author Contributions
Anping Huang performed the investigations, prepared the methodology, supplied the software, was involved in validation, carried out the visualization, and wrote the original draft. Yanpeng Zhu was in charge of project administration, was involved in funding acquisition, carried out the supervision, and wrote the review. Long Wang prepared the methodology and was responsible for writing—reviewing and editing the manuscript. Shuaihua Ye was involved in project administration, provided the resources, and was responsible for funding acquisition. Guangwen Fang prepared the methodology, was involved in writing—reviewing the manuscript, and provided technical support in the form of programming.
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