Influences of sand cover on erosion processes of loess slopes based on rainfall simulation experiments

Aeolian-fluvial interplay erosion regions are subject to intense soil erosion and are of particular concern in loess areas of northwestern China. Understanding the composition, distribution, and transport processes of eroded sediments in these regions is of considerable scientific significance for controlling soil erosion. In this study, based on laboratory rainfall simulation experiments, we analyzed rainfall-induced erosion processes on sand-covered loess slopes （SS） with different sand cover patterns （including length and thickness） and uncovered loess slopes （LS） to investigate the influences of sand cover on erosion processes of loess slopes in case regions of aeolian-fluvial erosion. The grain-size curves of eroded sediments were fitted using the Weibull function. Compositions of eroded sediments under different sand cover patterns and rainfall intensities were analyzed to explore sediment transport modes of SS. The influences of sand cover amount and pattern on erosion processes of loess slopes were also discussed. The results show that sand cover on loess slopes influences the proportion of loess erosion and that the compositions of eroded sediments vary between SS and LS. Sand cover on loess slopes transforms silt erosion into sand erosion by reducing splash erosion and changing the rainfall-induced erosion processes. The percentage of eroded sand from SS in the early stage of runoff and sediment generation is always higher than that in the late stage. Sand cover on loess slopes aggravates loess erosion, not only by adding sand as additional eroded sediments but also by increasing the amount of eroded loess, compared with the loess slopes without sand cover. The influence of sand cover pattern on runoff yield and the amount of eroded sediments is larger than that of sand cover amount. Furthermore, given the same sand cover pattern, a thicker sand cover could increase sand erosion while a thinner sand cover could aggravate loess erosion. This difference explains the existence of intense erosion on slopes that are thinly covered with sand in regions where aeolian erosion and fluvial erosion interact.

The mechanism of slope instability due to rainfall-induced structural decay of earthquake-damaged loess

Natural loess slopes are characterized by a strong geological structure,which is an important factor in maintaining slope stability.The magnitude and duration of the earthquake may disturb the soil structure at different levels degrees,locally changing the arrangement between soil particles.The process of rainfall humidification weakens the cementation between soil particles,and the disturbance and humidification change the structural state of the soil,which in turn causes sliding of the slope along with the decay of soil mechanical properties.As slope instability is often the result of a series of post-earthquake ripple effects,it is of great scientific significance to study the mechanism of slope instability due to the structural decay of earthquake-damaged loess exacerbated by rainfall.In this paper,the impact of structural decay of loess on slope stability is simulated by GEOSTUDIO software under three conditions:pre-earthquake rainfall,post-earthquake rainfall and earthquake,taking the landslide in Buzi Village,Min County,Gansu Province as an example.The comparative analysis of the calculation results shows that the structural properties of the slope without earthquake disturbance are influenced by infil-tration amount.When it is fully saturated,the structural properties are similar to those of saturated soil,and the safety factor is reduced by 12.9%.In addition,the earthquake intensity and duration have different degrees of structural damage to the soil.When the structure is fully damaged,it is similar to that of remodelled soil,and the safety factor is reduced by 45.84%.Notably,the process of the earthquake and the following humidification generates the most serious damage to the loess structure,with a reduction in the safety factor of up to 56.15%.The quantitative analysis above obviously illustrates that the post-earthquake rainfall causes the most severe damage to structural loess slopes,and the resulting landslide hazard should not be underestimated.

Investigation on the Deformation and Failure Patterns of Loess Cut Slope Based on the Unsaturated Triaxial Test in Yan'an,China

The large-scale implementation of the Gully Stabilization and Land Reclamation(GSLR)project induces various failures of loess slopes due to excavation in Yan'an,China.However,the deformation and failure behavior of these excavated loess slopes have not been fully understood.In this study,field investigation was undertaken for analyzing the distributions and failure features of excavation-induced loess slope failures.It is found that plastic failure mainly occurs in Q_(3) loess layers and brittle failure in Q_(2).To understand the underlying failure mechanism,a series of triaxial shear tests were conducted on intact Q_(3) and Q_(2) loess samples that with different water contents,namely natural water content(natural),dry side of the natural value(drying 5%),and wet side(wetting 5%).The characteristics of stress-strain curves and failure modes of the samples were analyzed.Results show that the stress-strain curves of Q_(2) samples are dominated by strain-softening characteristics,while Q_(3) samples mainly exhibit strain-harden features except in the drying state.Correspondingly,shear failures of Q_(3) specimens are mainly caused by shear crack planes(single,X or V-shaped).For Q_(2) loess,the dominance of tensile cracks is observed on the surface of damaged specimens.These disclose the different failure modes of excavated slopes located in different strata,that is,the arc sliding failure of Q_(3) loess slopes and the stepped tensile failure of Q_(2) loess slopes,and are helpful in the design and management of the ongoing GSLR projects in the Loess Plateau.

Resistivity is used as a tool to evaluate the variability of soil water content

Resistivity is used to evaluate soil water content(SWC),which has the advantages of not causing soil disturbance and in low price.It is an effective way to assess the SWC variability.This paper aims to evaluate the variability of loess slope SWC through the change of resistivity.It provides a simple way for long term SWC monitoring to solve the expensive cost of deploying moisture sensors.In this context,geoelectric and environmental factors such as soil temperature and SWC were monitored for three years.The prediction model of apparent resistivity and SWC was calibrated.The post processing of geoelectric data was introduced.In addition,the SWC collected by Time-Domain Reflectometry(TDR)was used to verify the feasibility of electrical resistivity tomography(ERT)data.The SWC variability in the process of rainfall,the evolution of four seasons,and the alternation of drying and wetting were evaluated.The research results show that:i)the SWC monitored by ERT and TDR can reflect the response and hysteretic effect of water content at 0.5-3.0 m depth.ii)The moisture content monitored by ERT reflects that the soil is relatively wet in summer and autumn and dry in winter and spring.iii)From 2017 to 2020,the SWC increased in August,and the soil became dry in January.iv)Two areas with high SWC and three areas with low SWC on loess slope are reflected by resistivity.The outcome can provide the change information of SWC to a great extent without excavating boreholes.

Stability analysis of a high combination system of soil loess slope reinforced by the nails and stabilization piles

While the soil nails and the corresponding compound technology are widely used as the support techniques for deep foundation pit and normal slopes, few related engineering cases are found for high loess slopes. By utilizing the finite element software of PLAXIS 8.5, the behavior of a high loess slope reinforced by the combination of soil nails and stabilization piles （hereinafter for CSNSP） is studied in this paper. It can be found that the potential slide surface of the slope moves to deeper locations during the process of the multi-staged excavations. The measure of reducing the weight of the top of the slope is a positive factor to the stability of the loess slope, while the rainfhll is a negative factor. The slope can＇t be stable if it＇s reinforced only by stabilization piles or soil nails during the process of the multi-staged excavations. The soil nail contributes greater to the overall system stability when the excavation depth is relatively shallow, while the stabilization pile takes it over when the excavation depth reaches a large value. Compared to the results from the Sweden circular slip surface, the data derived from the method of phi/c reduction is relatively large when the slope is unreinforced or reinforced only by stabilization pile, and the data turns to be small when the slope is strengthened by soil nails or the combination system of soil nails and stabilization piles.