Deformation and failure mechanism of slope in three dimensions

Understanding three-dimensional (3D) slope deformation and failure mechanism and corresponding stability analyses are crucially important issues in geotechnical engineering. In this paper, the mecha-nisms of progressive failure with thrust-type and pull-type landslides are described in detail. It is considered that the post-failure stress state and the pre-peak stress state may occur at different regions of a landslide body with deformation development, and a critical stress state element (or the soil slice block) exists between the post-failure stress state and the pre-peak stress state regions. In this regard, two sorts of failure modes are suggested for the thrust-type and three sorts for pull-type landslides, based on the characteristics of shear stress and strain (or tensile stress and strain). Accordingly, a new joint constitutive model (JCM) is proposed based on the current stability analytical theories, and it can be used to describe the mechanical behaviors of geo-materials with softening properties. Five methods, i.e. CSRM (comprehensive sliding resistance method), MTM (main thrust method), CDM (comprehensive displacement method), SDM (surplus displacement method), and MPM (main pull method), for slope stability calculation are proposed. The S-shaped curve of monitored displacement vs. time is presented for different points on the sliding surface during progressive failure process of landslide, and the rela-tionship between the displacement of different points on the sliding surface and height of landslide body is regarded as the parabolic curve. The comparisons between the predicted and observed loadedis-placement and displacementetime relations of the points on the sliding surface are conducted. The classification of stable/unstable displacementetime curves is proposed. The definition of the main sliding direction of a landslide is also suggested in such a way that the failure body of landslide (simplified as“collapse body”) is only involved in the main sliding direction, and the strike and the dip are the same as the collapse body. The rake angle is taken as the direction of the sum of sliding forces or the sum of displacements in collapse body, in which the main slip direction is dependent on progressive defor-mation. The reason of non-convergence with finite element method (FEM) in calculating the stability of slope is also numerically analyzed, in which a new method considering the slip surface associated with the boundary condition is proposed. It is known that the boundary condition of sliding surface can be described by perfect elasto-plastic model (PEPM) and JCM, and that the stress and strain of a landslide can be described properly with the JCM.

Stability Analysis of Landfills Contained by Retaining Walls Using Continuous Stress Method

An analytical method for determining the stresses and deformations of landfills contained by retaining walls is proposed in this paper.In the proposedmethod,the sliding resisting normal and tangential stresses of the retaining wall and the stress field of the sliding body are obtained considering the differential stress equilibrium equations,boundary conditions,and macroscopic forces and moments applied to the system,assuming continuous stresses at the interface between the sliding body and the retaining wall.The solutions to determine stresses and deformations of landfills contained by retaining walls are obtained using the Duncan-Chang and Hooke constitutive models.A case study of a landfill in the Hubei Province in China is used to validate the proposed method.The theoretical stress results for a slope with a retaining wall are compared with FEMresults,and the proposed theoreticalmethod is found appropriate for calculating the stress field of a slope with a retaining wall.

On the thermo-mechanical properties of unsaturated soils

The establishment of energy balance equation is necessary to study the thermo-mechanical properties of unsaturated soils.To solve this equation,the determination of two fundamental parameters as volumetric specific parameter and thermal conductivity coefficient is essential.In this paper,the effective thermal conductivity coefficient of dry soil grain is analyzed for soils with different compositions,and the thermo-mechanical properties of porous media with water and gas are studied by considering the soil water retention curve（SWRC）.Different methods,i.e.volumetric average method,self-consistent method,Hashin-Strikman method,are employed to calculate thermal conductivity coefficients,and a new method is proposed to determine the thermo-mechanical parameters.Comparison of the results obtained by different methods shows that the proposed method is in a good agreement with the experimental results and is suitable for describing the main properties of the thermo-mechanical behaviors of soils.The relationship between the SWRC and the seepage curve is further studied by the natural proportional rule.The characteristics of the SWRC,its differential coefficient and the seepage curve,are investigated by considering the physico-mechanical mechanism;the limit scopes of the indices of the SWRC and the seepage curve are also given.

Investigation of the hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted expansive clay

The hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted expansive Romainville clay was investigated.The soil was air-dried,crushed,and passed through a 2 mm sieve before being statically compacted to a dry density of 1.35 Mg/m3.The mechanical behaviour was investigated by tests in oedometer with controlled suction using the vapor equilibrium technique(suction s=0,9,39,and 110 MPa).The vertical stress was applied in the range of 0-800 kPa.The experimental results are shown as follows:1)wetting-induced swelling was higher at lower vertical stresses;2)the vertical stress under which no swelling occurred during water flooding was estimated at 60 kPa,which can be considered as the swelling pressure of the soil tested;3)the soil compressibility(changes of volume upon stress increases)was strongly influenced by the soil suction:the lower the suction,the higher the compressibility.The hydraulic behaviour was investigated using a large-scale infiltration chamber(800mm×1000 mm in section and 1000mm high).The large size of the soil column allowed bttrying the volumetric water content sensors(ThetaProbe)without significantly affecting the water transfer and the soil swelling during infiltration.The soil suction was monitored along the soil height(every 100 mm)using various relative humidity sensors and psychrometers.In the infiltration test,water was kept on the soil surface and changes in suction and volumetric water content were monitored for 338 d.The wetting front has reached the bottom of the soil column at the end of the test.The data from the simultaneous monitoring of suction and water content were used to determine the water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the instantaneous profile method.It has been observed that the soil water retention curve depends on the soil depth;that is to be related to the soil depthdependent swelling.The unsaturated hydraulic conductiv-ity was found to be quite low,comprised between 3×10-11m/s(at saturated state)and 10-14m/s(at about 100 MPa suction).