Influence of hydraulic characteristics on stability of unsaturated slope under transient seepage conditions

Khanh Pham, Hyobum Lee, Dongku Kim, In Mo Lee, Hangseok Choi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    15 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper examines the current procedure for determining the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) model with a particular focus on its application to slope stability analysis under transient unsaturated seepage conditions. A series of laboratory experiments was performed to determine the SWCC of different soils, ranging from high plasticity clay to silty sand, found across the Korean Peninsula. The experimental results were utilized to identify the suitable SWCC model for each soil type based on the fitting criterion. Also, this paper developed a numerical framework for infinite slope stability analysis under transient unsaturated seepage conditions. The significant advantage of the proposed framework, from the practical viewpoint, is to directly predict the timing of failure and potential failure plane based on rainfall recording. The effect of choice of SWCC models on predictability in stability analysis was evaluated by adopting the present framework along with the identified SWCC models. Furthermore, a case study of landslides after a 3-month rainfall in Pohang, Korea, was revisited to assess the performance of the proposed framework. The obtained results demonstrate the significant role of SWCC model on the results of slope stability analysis. The analysis using the SWCC model satisfying the fitting criterion could still not capture the real behavior of unsaturated soil. The comprehensive transient analysis is strongly suggested as a complementary means to the current fitting criterion for determining the suitable SWCC model for stability analysis under transient seepage conditions.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1787-1799
    Number of pages13
    JournalLandslides
    Volume15
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018 Sept 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    The authors appreciate the support by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean Government (No. 13SCIP-B066321-01) and (No. 16SCIP-B108153-02).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

    Keywords

    • Curve fitting
    • Early-warning system
    • Rainfall-induced landslide
    • SWCC
    • Stability analysis

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

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