Slope stability analysis of Balia Nala landslide, Kumaun Lesser Himalaya, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India

Balia Nala is the outlet of the Nainital lake, flowing towards southeast direction. Presence of Nainital habitation at its right bank has high socio-economic importance. This study presents the stability analysis of a ravine/valley along Balia Nala. Variegated slates(lower Krol and upper Blaini formations) are the main rock types, wherever the outcrop does exist and rest of the area is covered by slope wash and river borne materials. Three sets of joints are presented in the area, but 4 sets of joints also exist at some locations. Nainital lake fault intersected by Manora fault from southwest direction passes through eastern side of the study area, and some small faults, which are sub-branches of Nainital lake fault, are observed(with 10 m offset) and promote the landslide in the area. This study shows that different kinds of discontinuities(joints, faults and shear zones) and rapid down cutting by the stream due to neotectonic activity affect the stability of the slope. The fragile lithology and deep V-shaped valley further accelerate the mass movement in the study area. In addition, rock mass rating(RMR), factor of safety(FOS) and graphical analysis of the joints indicate the study area as landslide-prone zone. This study will be helpful in not only reducing the risk on life of people, but also in assisting the ongoing civil work in the study area.

Effect of graph generation on slope stability analysis based on graph theory

Limit equilibrium method （LEM） and strength reduction method （SRM） are the most widely used methods for slope stability analysis. However, it can be noted that they both have some limitations in practical application. In the LEM, the constitutive model cannot be considered and many assumptions are needed between slices of soil/rock. The SRM requires iterative calculations and does not give the slip surface directly. A method for slope stability analysis based on the graph theory is recently developed to directly calculate the minimum safety factor and potential critical slip surface according to the stress results of numerical simulation. The method is based on current stress state and can overcome the disadvantages mentioned above in the two traditional methods. The influences of edge generation and mesh geometry on the position of slip surface and the safety factor of slope are studied, in which a new method for edge generation is proposed, and reasonable mesh size is suggested. The results of benchmark examples and a rock slope show good accuracy and efficiency of the presented method.

Stability analysis of loose accumulation slopes under rainfall:case study of a high‑speed railway in Southwest China

The high and steep slopes along a high-speed railway in the mountainous area of Southwest China are mostly composed of loose accumulations of debris with large internal pores and poor stability,which can easily induce adverse geological disasters under rainfall conditions.To ensure the smooth construction of the high-speed railway and the subsequent safe operation,it is necessary to master the stability evolution process of the loose accumulation slope under rainfall.This article simulates rainfall using the finite element analysis software’s hydromechanical coupling module.The slope stability under various rainfall situations is calculated and analysed based on the strength reduction method.To validate the simulation results,a field monitoring system is established to study the deformation characteristics of the slope under rainfall.The results show that rainfall duration is the key factor affecting slope stability.Given a constant amount of rainfall,the stability of the slope decreases with increasing duration of rainfall.Moreover,when the amount and duration of rainfall are constant,continuous rainfall has a greater impact on slope stability than intermittent rainfall.The setting of the field retaining structures has a significant role in improving slope stability.The field monitoring data show that the slope is in the initial deformation stage and has good stability,which verifies the rationality of the numerical simulation method.The research results can provide some references for understanding the influence of rainfall on the stability of loose accumulation slopes along high-speed railways and establishing a monitoring system.

UAV-mounted Ground Penetrating Radar: an example for the stability analysis of a mountain rock debris slope

This paper describes scientific research conducted to highlight the potential of an integrated GPR-UAV system in engineering-geological applications.The analysis focused on the stability of a natural scree slope in the Germanasca Valley,in the western Italian Alps.As a consequence of its steep shape and the related geological hazard,the study used different remote sensed methodologies such as UAV photogrammetry and geophysics survey by a GPR-drone integrated system.Furthermore,conventional in-situ surveys led to the collection of geological and geomorphological data.The use of the UAV-mounted GPR allowed us to investigate the bedrock depth under the detrital slope deposit,using a non-invasive technique able to conduct surveys on inaccessible areas prone to hazardous conditions for operators.The collected evidence and the results of the analysis highlighted the stability of the slope with Factors of Safety,verified in static conditions(i.e.,natural static condition and static condition with snow cover),slightly above the stability limit value of 1.On the contrary,the dynamic loading conditions(i.e.,seismic action applied)showed a Factor of Safety below the stability limit value.The UAV-mounted GPR represented an essential contribution to the surveys allowing the definition of the interface debris deposit-bedrock,which are useful to design the slope model and to evaluate the scree slope stability in different conditions.

Finite element analysis of slope stability by expanding the mobilized principal stress Mohr's circles-Development, encoding and validation

In recent years,finite element analysis is increasingly being proposed in slope stability problems as a competitive method to traditional limit equilibrium methods(LEMs)which are known for their inherent deficiencies.However,the application of finite element method(FEM)to slope stability as a strength reduction method(SRM)or as finite element limit analysis(FELA)is not always a success for the drawbacks that characterize both methods.To increase the performance of finite element analysis in this problem,a new approach is proposed in this paper.It consists in gradually expanding the mobilized stress Mohr’s circles until the soil failure occurs according to a prescribed non-convergence criterion.The present approach called stress deviator increasing method(SDIM)is considered rigorous for three main reasons.Firstly,it preserves the definition of the factor of safety(FOS)as the ratio of soil shear strength to the mobilized shear stress.Secondly,it maintains the progressive development of shear stress resulting from the increase in the principal stress deviator on the same plane,on which the shear strength takes place.Thirdly,by introducing the concept of equivalent stress loading,the resulting trial stresses are checked against the violation of the actual yield criterion formed with the real strength parameters rather than those reduced by a trial factor.The new numerical procedure was encoded in a Fortran computer code called S^(4)DINA and verified by several examples.Comparisons with other numerical methods such as the SRM,gravity increasing method(GIM)or even FELA by assessing both the FOS and contours of equivalent plastic strains showed promising results.

Comparative Study on Response Surfaces for Reliability Analysis of Spatially Variable Soil Slope

This paper focuses on the performance of the second-order polynomial-based response surfaces on the reliability of spatially variable soil slope. A single response surface constructed to approximate the slope system failure performance function G（X） （called single RS） and multiple response surfaces constructed on finite number of slip surfaces （called multiple RS） are developed, respectively. Single RS and multiple RS are applied to evaluate the system failure probability pf for a cohesive soil slope together with Monte Carlo simulation （MCS）. It is found thatpe calculated by single RS deviates significantly from that obtained by searching a large number of potential slip surfaces, and this deviation becomes insignificant with the decrease of the number of random variables or the increase of the scale of fluctuation. In other words, single RS cannot approximate G（X） with reasonable accuracy. The value of pc from multiple response surfaces fits well with that obtained by searching a large number of potential slip surfaces. That is, multiple RS can estimate G（X） with reasonable accuracy.

Comprehensive evaluation of high-steep slope stability and optimal high-steep slope design by 3D physical modeling

High-steep slope stability and its optimal excavation design in Shuichang open pit iron mine were analyzed based on a large 3D physical simulation technique. An optimal excavation scheme with a relatively steeper slope angle was successfully implemented at the northwest wall between Nos. 4 and 5 exploration lines of Shuichang Iron Mine, taking into account the 3D scale effect. The phys-ico-mechanical properties of rock materials were obtained by laboratory tests conducted on sample cores from exploration drilling directly from the iron mine. A porous rock-like composite material was formed for the model, and the mechanical parameters of the material were assessed experimentally;specifically, the effect of water on the sample was quantitatively determined. We adopted an experimental setup using stiff modular applied static loading to carry out a visual excavation of the slope at a random depth. The setup was equipped with acous-tic emission （AE） sensors, and the experiments were monitored by crack optical acquirement, ground penetrating radar, and close-field pho-togrammetry to investigate the mechanisms of rock-mass destabilization in the high-steep slope. For the complex study area, the model re-sults indicated a clear correlation between the model＇s destabilization resulting from slope excavation and the collected monitoring informa-tion. During the model simulation, the overall angle of the slope increased by 1-6 degrees in different sections. Dramatically, the modeled excavation scheme saved over 80 million tons of rock from extraction, generating enormous economic and ecological benefits.

Numerical three-dimensional modeling of earthen dam piping failure

A physically-based numerical three-dimensional earthen dam piping failure model is developed for homogeneous and zoned soil dams.This model is an erosion model,coupled with force/moment equilibrium analyses.Orifice flow and two-dimensional(2D)shallow water equations(SWE)are solved to simulate dam break flows at different breaching stages.Erosion rates of different soils with different construction compaction efforts are calculated using corresponding erosion formulae.The dam's real shape,soil properties,and surrounding area are programmed.Large outer 2D-SWE grids are used to control upstream and downstream hydraulic conditions and control the boundary conditions of orifice flow,and inner 2D-SWE flow is used to scour soil and perform force/moment equilibrium analyses.This model is validated using the European Commission IMPACT(Investigation of Extreme Flood Processes and Uncertainty)Test#5 in Norway,Teton Dam failure in Idaho,USA,and Quail Creek Dike failure in Utah,USA.All calculated peak outflows are within 10%errors of observed values.Simulation results show that,for a V-shaped dam like Teton Dam,a piping breach location at the abutment tends to result in a smaller peak breach outflow than the piping breach location at the dam's center;and if Teton Dam had broken from its center for internal erosion,a peak outflow of 117851 m'/s,which is 81%larger than the peak outflow of 65120 m3/s released from its right abutment,would have been released from Teton Dam.A lower piping inlet elevation tends to cause a faster/earlier piping breach than a higher piping inlet elevation.

An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm with Harmony Strategy for the Location of Critical Slip Surface of Slopes

The determination of optimal values for three parameters required in the original particle swarm optimization algorithm is very difficult. It is proposed that two new parameters simulating the harmony search strategy can be adopted instead of the three parameters which are required in the original particle swarm optimization algorithm to update the positions of all the particles. The improved particle swarm optimization is used in the location of the critical slip surface of soil slope, and it is found that the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is insensitive to the two parameters while the original particle swarm optimization algorithm can be sensitive to its three parameters.

A New Approach to the Determination of the Critical Slip Surfaces of Slopes

A new method for the determination of the critical slip surfaces of slopes is proposed in this paper. In this paper, the original critical slip field method is extended in terms of the total residual moment, values of residual work as well as the unbalanced thrust force at the exit point for a given non-circular slip surface. The most critical slip surface with the maximum representative value for a prescribed factor of safety will be optimized and located using the harmony search algorithm. The prescribed factor of safety is modified with certain tiny interval in order to find the critical slip surface where the maximum representative value is zero. The aforementioned approach to the location of the critical slip surface is greatly different from the traditional limit equilibrium procedure. Three typical soil slopes are evaluated by use of the proposed method, and the comparisons with the classical approaches have illustrated the applicability of the proposed method.

Factor of safety of strain-softening slopes

Stability analysis of strain-softening slopes is carried out using the shear strength reduction method and Mohr-Coulomb model with degrading cohesion and friction angle.The e ffect of strain-softening behavior on the slope factor of safety is investigated by performing a series of analyses for various slope geometries and strength properties.Stability charts and equations are developed to estimate the factor of safety of strain-softe ning slopes from the results of traditional stability analysis based on perfectly-plastic behavior.Two example applications including an open pit mine in weak rock and clay shale slope with daylighting bedding planes are presented.The results of limit equilibrium analysis and shear strength reduction method with perfectly-plastic models were in close agreement.Using perfectly-plastic models with peak strength properties led to overly optimistic results while adopting residual strength properties gave excessively conservative outcomes.The shear strength reduction method with a strain-softening model gave realistic factors of safety while accounting for the process of strength degradation.

Failure analysis on a heavy rainfall-induced landslide in Huay Khab Mountain in Northern Thailand

On 28 th July 2018,a massive landslide occurred in a mountainous area in Northern Thailand.The landslide after ten days of heavy rainfall generated the movement of uphill mountain soil into the populated village.This study presents a comprehensive failure analysis of local rainfallinduced landslides based on topographical and geological information.Rainfall measurement data were gathered from two rainfall stations close to the study area.The rainfall records show that the total monthly rainfalls in 2018 were significantly higher than the average monthly rainfalls over the past decade.Site investigation started with an unmanned aerial photogrammetric survey to generate a digital elevation model.Then,dynamic probing test,microtremor survey,and electrical resistivity survey were carried out along undisturbed soils beside the failed slope to evaluate the thickness of the soft soil cover on top of the rock basement.During the site survey,residual soil samples were collected to determine engineering properties in the laboratory.Finally,a slope stability analysis was performed to assess the landslide hazard based on the results of aerial photogrammetric survey,field exploration,and laboratory tests.The slope stability analysis and rainfall records revealed that the Huay Khab landslide was mainly caused by an increase in the water content of residual soils due to the prolonged rainfall which led to a sharp decrease in the shear strength.This leads to the conclusion that the proposed landslide investigation program could be used to assess the potential of landslide failure due to prolonged rainfall on a local scale.

Shear Failure Criterion and Constant Volume Ring Shear Testing Method for Clayey Soil

This paper discusses the shortcomings of the traditional Coulomb shear criterion and the direct shear-box testing method used for clayey soil and presents a modified shear criterion that considers the elasto-plastic behavior of cohesive soil. This modified approach involves direct shear testing under constant volume, a method that has been developed by the author. A modified ring shear apparatus and the theory behind the shear criterion and its implication for slope stability analysis are then discussed and the results of investigated tuffitic clayey sediments are presented. The results show that the presented new shear criterion does not consider the cohesion as material constant, but rather it depends on the void ratio. In this case, the stress state and the consolidation status and thus the elasto-plastic behavior of the clayey soil are considered.