Effect of slope angle on fractured rock masses under combined influence of variable rainfall infiltration and excavation unloading

Intense precipitation infiltration and intricate excavation processes are crucial factors that impact the stability and security of towering and steep rock slopes within mining sites.The primary aim of this research was to investigate the progression of cumulative failure within a cracked rock formation,considering the combined effects of precipitation and excavation activities.The study was conducted in the Huangniuqian eastern mining area of the Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi Province,China.An engineering geological investigation was conducted,a physical model experiment was performed,numerical calculations and theoretical analysis were conducted using the matrix discrete element method(Mat-DEM),and the deformation characteristics and the effect of the slope angle of a fractured rock mass under different scenarios were examined.The failure and instability mechanisms of the fractured rock mass under three slope angle models were analyzed.The experimental results indicate that as the slope angle increases,the combined effect of rainfall infiltration and excavation unloading is reduced.A novel approach to simulating unsaturated seepage in a rock mass,based on the van Genuchten model(VGM),has been developed.Compared to the vertical displacement observed in a similar physical experiment,the average relative errors associated with the slope angles of 45,50,and 55were 2.094%,1.916%,and 2.328%,respectively.Accordingly,the combined effect of rainfall and excavation was determined using the proposed method.Moreover,the accuracy of the numerical simulation was validated.The findings contribute to the seepage field in a meaningful way,offering insight that can inform and enhance existing methods and theories for research on the underlying mechanism of ultra-high and steep rock slope instability,which can inform the development of more effective risk management strategies.

Influences of rainfall infiltration on stability of accumulation slope by in-situ monitoring test

In order to improve the understanding of the fundamental mechanism of rainfall infiltration induced landslides in accumulation slope and to clarify some important characteristics of slope performance,artificial rainfall simulation tests and field synthetic monitoring were carried out on a typical accumulation slope of Shangrui Freeway in Guizhou Province,China.The monitoring results show that the most accumulation landslides caused by rainfall infiltration are shallow relaxation failure,whose deformation zone lies within the top 0-4 m soil layer.The deformation of slope gradually reduces from the surface,where the greatest deformation lies in,to the deep part of slope.The average percentage of infiltration during the first 2 h is 86%,and then it reduces gradually with time because of the increase of the surface runoff.The average percentage of infiltration drop to a relatively stable value(50%)after 6 h.Rainfall infiltration causes obvious increase of pore-water pressure,which may result in a reduction of shear strength due to a decrease in effective stress and wetting-induced softening.The double-effect of rainfall infiltration is the main reason of rainfall infiltration induced landslides in accumulation slope.

A force transfer mechanism for triggering landslides during rainfall infiltration

Shallow slope failures induced by rainfall infiltration occur frequently, and the relevant triggering mechanisms have been widely studied.Rainfall-induced landslides are widely recognized to be caused by increases in soil weight, seepage force and pore water pressure or decreases in soil mechanical properties. However, even when all these factors are considered, some landslides still cannot be explained well. The increased pore water pressure in a slope reduces the effective stress of the soil and may trigger slope failure. Similarly, the pore gas pressure in a slope also reduces the effective stress of the soil but has been neglected in previous studies. As the viscosity of air is nearly negligible when compared with that of water, the pore gas pressure spreads faster, and its influence is wider, which is harmful for the stability of the slope. In this paper, the effects of pore gas pressure are considered in a shallow slope stability analysis, and a self-designed experiment is conducted to validate the force transfer mechanism.Numerical simulation results show that the pore gas pressure in the slope increases sharply at different locations under heavy rainfall conditions and that the pore gas pressure causes a rapid decrease in the slope safety factor. Laboratory experimental results show that the pore gas pressure throughout the whole unsaturated zone has the same value, which indicates that the gas pressure could spread quickly to the whole sample.

Stability analysis of an unsaturated soil slope considering rainfall infiltration based on the Green-Ampt model

Based on the principle of saturated infiltration and the Green-Ampt model,an unsaturated infiltration model for a soil slope surface was established for either constant moisture content,or depth-varying moisture content and the slope.Infiltration parameters in the partially saturated slope were revealed under sustained rainfall.Through analysis of the variation of initial moisture content in the slope,the ponding time,infiltration depth,and infiltration rate were deduced for an unsaturated soil slope subject to rainfall infiltration.There is no ponded water on the surface of the slope under sustained low-intensity rainfall.The results show that the infiltration parameters of an unsaturated slope are influenced by the initial moisture content and the wetting front saturation,the soil cohesion and rainfall intensity under sustained rainfall.More short-term slope failures can occur with the decrease of cohesion of the soil of the slope.The ponding time and infiltration depth differ considering constant or different initial moisture content respectively in the soil slope.Then,best-fit curves of the infiltration rate,ponding time,and infiltration depth to the wetting front saturation were obtained with constant or different initial moisture contents.And the slope failure time is roughly uniform when subject to a rainfall intensity I>5 mm/h.

Influence of rainfall infiltration on the stability of unsaturated coal gangue accumulated slope

The slope instability is associated with increasing rate of rainfall infiltration which cause shear strength reduction and suction loss and the slope tend to failure. The influences of rainfall infiltration on the stability of clayey and sandy slopes have been analyzed but the effect of rainfall infiltration on the stability of unsaturated coal gangue accumulated slope was needed to study. Therefore, a coal gangue accumulated slope prone to failure in Fuxin area of Northeast China was considered to evaluate its failure mechanism under different rainfall events. The effects after five different rainfall events on slope stability were physically analyzed, numerically investigated and the results from both uncoupled(hydraulic) and coupled(hydromechanical) responses were compared using finite element analysis. It was observed that the decisive soaking and leaching under different rainfall conditions caused maximum deformation at the crest of slope due to maximum value of permeability coefficient of coal gangue. The critical duration of moderate intensity(147 mm/day) of rainfall for the instability of coal gangue accumulated slope is declared as five days. The results from finite element analysis in this paper further clarifies that increase in duration of rainfall infiltration process cause hysteretic change in positive pore-water pressure causing decrease in factor of safety and increase in deformation. It is concluded that the stability of unsaturated coal gangue accumulated slope is greatly influence by the coupled effect of stress and porewater pressure in comparison of uncoupled(hydraulic) analysis as the obtained factor of safety values after five days of rainfall infiltration were 0.9 and 1.1 respectively.

Field experiment of rainfall infiltration on a soil slope and simulations based on a water-air two-phase flow model

Rainfall infiltration on a soil slope is usually an unsaturated seepage process that can be described by a water-air two-phase flow model.The effect of pore air pressure on rainfall infiltration has been widely recognized and validated by means of numerical simulations and laboratory experiments.However,whether a slope can actually seal pore air continues to be debated by researchers.In this study,a water-air two-phase flow model is used to simulate the rainfall infiltration process on a soil slope,and a field experiment is conducted to realistically test the sealing conditions of a slope.According to the numerical simulation,the areas of water and air flow in and out on the slope surface are relatively stable and can be classified as the“inhalation zone”and“overflow zone”,respectively.Intermittent rainfall on the soil slope has an amplifying effect on pore air pressure because rainfall intensity is usually at the millimeter level,and it causes pore air pressure to reach the cm level.A field experiment was performed to determine whether a slope can realistically seal pore air and subsequently verify the regularity of rainfall infiltration.Air pressure sensors were buried in the slope to monitor the pore air pressures during the rainfall process.The monitoring results show that the pore air pressure in the slope changed,which indicates that the slope can seal air.Moreover,the amplification effects of intermittent rainfall on pore air pressure were observed for natural rainfall,which agrees well with the numerical simulation results.

Experimental investigation on rainfall infiltration and solute transport in layered porous and fractured media

Layered structures with upper porous and lower fractured media are widely distributed in the world. An experimen- tal investigation on rainfall infiltration and solute transport in such layered structures can provide the necessary foundation for effectively preventing and forecasting water bursting in mines, controlling contamination of mine water, and accomplishing ecological restoration of mining areas. A typical physical model of the layered structures with porous and fractured media was created in this study. Then rainfall infiltration experiments were conducted after salt solution was sprayed on the surface of the layered structure. The volumetric water content and concentration of chlorine ions at different specified positions along the profile of the experiment system were measured in real-time. The experimental results showed that the lower fractured media, with a considerably higher permeability than that of the upper porous media, had significant effects on preventing water infil- tration. Moreover, although the porous media were homogeneous statistically in the whole domain, spatial variations in the features of effluent concentrations with regards to time, or so called breakthrough curves, at various sampling points located at the horizontal plane in the porous media near the porous-fractured interface were observed, indicating the diversity of solute transport at small scales. Furthermore, the breakthrough curves of the outflow at the bottom, located beneath the underlying fractured rock, were able to capture and integrate features of the breakthrough curves of both the upper porous and fractured media, which exhibited multiple peaks, while the peak values were reduced one by one with time.

Simulation Monitoring for Rainfall Infiltration in Soil Based on High Density Electrical Method

Rainfall infiltration is a porous medium flow problem with variable saturation. Based on the theoretical analysis of the flow field, electrical conductivity of rocks, the electrical field, the paper simulates the coupling relationship between the water saturation in soil and the apparent resistivity distribution. It combines the Richards equation, the Archie formula and the Laplace equation. The experiment simulates the potential field data by the Wenner setting in electrical exploration on a two-layer geologic model with continuous rainfall during 5 days, which shows that the effective saturation in soil is increasing with the rainfall time, while the apparent resistivity is decreasing. This can provide a theoretical basis for the analyzing the rainfall infiltration and porosity of the soil by using high-density electrical method in the future.

Soil micro-penetration resistance as an index of its infiltration processes during rainfall

Rainfall infiltration is one of the most important driving factors of geological hazards, ecological environment problems, and engineering accidents. Understanding the principle of soil wetting during rainfall infiltration and its influence on soil mechanical properties is crucial for preventing geological hazards. In this study, micro-penetration tests coupled with moisture monitoring were performed to investigate the infiltration process during wetting through the measured change in mechanical characteristics. Results show that penetration resistance increases in the deep layer gradually. With increasing infiltration time,the wetting front keeps moving downward, and its range becomes wider. A slight increase of the penetration resistance in the shallow layer(d ≤ 17.5 mm) is observed. However, the penetration resistance in the middle layer(22.5 mm ≤ d ≤ 32.5 mm) decreases firstly before a slight increase. In the deep layer(d ≥ 37.5 mm), the penetration resistance decreases continuously during infiltration. Based on the measured water content profile during infiltration, it is found that the evolution of soil mechanical characteristics is fully responsible by the infiltration-induced re-distribution of water content along depth. Generally, the penetration resistance decreases exponentially with increasing water content in the soil. When the water content is low, wetting can weaken soil strength significantly, whereas this effect diminishes when the moisture surpasses a certain threshold. The results highlight that the penetration curves and water content profile show close inter-dependency and consistency, which verifies the feasibility of using micro-penetration to investigate rainfall infiltration and wetting process in surface soil layer or laboratory small-scale soil samples. This method enables fast, versatile and high-resolution measurements of infiltration process and moisture distribution in soil.

Experimental study on instability mechanism and critical intensity of rainfall of high-steep rock slopes under unsaturated conditions

Two critical factors,namely intense precipitation and intricate excavation,can trigger rock mass disasters in mining operations.In this study,an indoor rainfall system was developed to precisely regulate the flow and intensity of precipitation.A large-scale model experiment was conducted on a self-designed physical simulation experiment platform to investigate the failure and instability of high-steep rock slopes under unsaturated conditions.The real-time reproduction of the progressive failure process in high-steep rock slopes enabled the determination of the critical rainfall intensity and revealed the mechanism underlying slope instability.Experiment results indicated that rainfall may be the primary factor contributing to rock mass instability,while continuous pillar mining exacerbates the extent of rock mass failure.The critical failure stage of high-steep rock slopes occurs at a rainfall intensity of 40 mm/h,whereas a rainfall exceeding 50 mm can induce critical instability and precipitation reaching up to 60 mm will result in slope failure.The improved region growing segmentation method(IRGSM)was subsequently employed for image recognition of rock mass deformation in underground mines.Herein an error comparison with the simple linear iterative cluster(SLIC)superpixel method and the original region growing segmentation method(ORGSM)showed that the average identification error in the X and Y directions by the method was reduced significantly(1.82%and 1.80%in IRGSM;4.70%and 6.26%in SLIC;9.45%and 12.40%in ORGSM).Ultimately,the relationship between rainfall intensity and failure probability was analyzed using the Monte Carlo method.Moreover,the stability assessment criteria of rock slope under unsaturated condition were quantitatively and accurately evaluated.

Coupled hydro-mechanical analysis of slope under rainfall using modified elasto-plastic model for unsaturated soils

Two modifications for the basic Barcelona model(BBM) are present. One is the replacement of the net stress by the average skeleton stress in unsaturated soil modeling, and the other is the adoption of an expression for the load-collapse(LC) yield surface that can match flexibly the normal compression lines at different suctions. The predictions of the modified BBM for the controlled-suction triaxial test on the unsaturated compacted clay are presented and compared with the experimental results. A good agreement between the predicted and experimental results demonstrates the reasonability of the modified BBM. On this basis, the coupled processes of groundwater flow and soil deformation in a homogeneous soil slope under a long heavy rainfall are simulated with the proposed elasto-plastic model. The numerical results reveal that the failure of a slope under rainfall infiltration is due to both the reduction of soil suction and the significant rise in groundwater table. The evolution of the displacements is greatly related to the change of suction. The maximum collapse deformation happens near the surface of slope where infiltrated rainwater can quickly reach. The results may provide a helpful reference for hazard assessment and control of rainfall-induced landslides.

Forming condition of transient saturated zone and its distribution in residual slope under rainfall conditions

Rainfall, as one of the most significant factors triggering the residual soil slope failure, leads to not only the reduction of soil shear strength, but also the increase of soil weight and the decrease of matric suction as well. All these modifications in soil properties have important influence on the slope stability. The water infiltration and redistribution inside the slope are the preconditions of the slope stability under rainfall conditions. Based on the numerical simulation via finite element method, the water infiltration process under rainfall conditions was studied in the present work. The emphases are the formation, distribution and dissipation of transient saturated zone. As for the calculation parameters, the SWCC and the saturated permeability have been determined by pressure plate test and variable head test respectively. The entire process(formation, development, dissipation) of the transient saturated zone was studied in detail. The variations of volumetric water content, matric suction and hydraulic gradient inside the slope, and the eventually raise of groundwater table were characterized and discussed, too. The results show that the major cause of the formation of transient saturated zone is ascribed to the fact that the exudation velocity of rainwater on the wetting front is less than the infiltration velocity of rainfall; as a result, the water content of the soil increases. On the other hand, the formation and extension of transient saturated zone have a close relationship with rainfall intensity and duration. The results can help the geotechnical engineers for the deeper understanding of the failure of residual slope under rainfall condition. It is also suggested that the proper drainage system in the slope may be the cost-effective slope failure mitigation method.

Hydro-mechanical analysis of rainfall-induced fines migration process within unsaturated soils

Seepage-induced fines migration under rainfall infiltration is a main cause leading to shallow failures in loose colluvial slopes. To describe the full process of fines migration within unsaturated soils during rainfall infiltration and the associated hydromechanical behaviors, a seepage-erosion-deformation coupled formulation is proposed in this paper. The governing equations proposed are implemented into a finite element code and used to investigate the influences of skeleton deformation on the rainfall infiltration process through unsaturated soil columns.The numerical results were presented in detail for a better understanding of the rainfall-induced fines migration process within unsaturated soils. Further,the obtained results are integrated into an infinite slope model for slope stability analysis. The results show that, the skeleton deformation will affect the rainfall infiltration rate and hence the timing of slope failures; meanwhile their influences are more evident if the fines deposition process is taken into account.Moreover, the slope stability could be reduced gradually due to the soil strength loss along with loss of fine particles. Therefore, particular attentions should be paid to analyzing the stability of soil slopes susceptible to internal erosion.

Effects of intense rainfall on stability of infinite terraced slope

For fully understanding the hydrological dynamics of an infinite terraced slope, the infiltration process was studied by employing the Green and Ampt infiltration model. The limit equilibrium method and the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion were adopted to derive a stability model for the infinite terraced slope subjected to an intense rainfall. Numerical simulation was performed for verifying its applicability. The results of numerical simulation indicate that a set of stepped wetting fronts are found during infiltration, and the infiltration of terraced slope covered by coarse-textured soils can be approximated as one-dimensional infiltration. The potential sliding surfaces from the numerical method are all parallel to the slope line, and the proposed model and framework can provide an approximate method of estimating how the infiltration affects the stability of an infinite terraced slope.

Earth Pressure of Retaining Structure Induced by Subgrade under Rainfall

This article selects the retaining wall as the research object, introducing the rainfall infiltration model, considering the infiltration of rainwater into the groundwater recharge, analysizing the variation of earth pressure in the subgrade retaining wall. On this occasion, the back of retaining wall produces stable seepage water and compares with the non drainage water body. The results show that, with the infiltration of rainwater into the groundwater recharge, the greater the active earth pressure under the condition of rainfall appears, more quickly the active earth pressure of the retaining wall with the drainage body increases. The matrix suction of unsaturated soils, which is infiltrated into soil of subgrade, has a positive effect on the shear strength of the earth pressure.

Analysis of the Mechanisms Underpinning Rainstorm-Induced Landslides

The present study considers the damage mechanisms and the rainfall infiltration process responsible for landslide phenomena which originate from accumulation slopes.Accordingly,a physical test model is developed for different slopes and different rainfall conditions.Moreover,a three-dimensional laser scanner and a camera are used to monitor the slope erosion and the landslide dynamic evolution.Using this approach,the time variation curves of volumetric water content,pore water pressure,soil pressure,slope deformation,and damage are determined.The results show that under similar conditions,similar trends of the pore water pressure are achieved for different slopes and rainfall intensities.

Stability of loess high-fill slope based on monitored soil moisture changes

This paper aims to assess the influence of moisture content changes during rainfall on the stability of loess high-fill slopes by taking a loess high-fill slope in Lanzhou City as an example.First,according to the moisture content monitoring data collected from a slope online monitoring system,direct shear tests were performed on soil samples of different moisture content to determine the relationship between the shear strength parameters and moisture content.Next,a coupled hydro-mechanical model with soil shear strength related to moisture content was established and used to analyze 16 working conditions with various rainfall intensities and durations for two cases:shear strength parameters from the site exploration report and those from this study.Finally,the results from the two cases were compared regarding the changes in stresses and displacements after rainfall infiltration to analyze the influence of moisture content on the stability of loess high-fill slopes.The conclusions are as follows:(1)Segmental relationship equations of cohesion and angle of internal friction were established for loess with various moisture content.(2)Under the conditions of different rainfall intensities,significant differences were observed in the trends of slope stress and displacement changes.(3)The slope displacement occurred in the shallow soil layer within about 12.5 m from the slope top,and the plastic strain concentrated in the soil layer within about 6 m from the slope top.(4)The results of slope stability analyses based on moisture content monitoring data are more in line with the observed.

Two-dimensional finite element modeling of seepage-erosion coupled process within unsaturated soil slopes

Fines migration along with rainfall infiltration is a possible cause of failures of slopes composed of loose deposits.To investigate the intrinsic mechanisms,a rigid mathematical model which can fully capture the multi-phasic and multiphysical process is necessary.In this research,the macro and micro physical phenomena of fines migration process within deposited soil slopes under rainfall infiltration were summarized.Based on the mixture theory,a seepage-erosion model for unsaturated erodible soils capable to capture these phenomena mathematically was built based on a rigid theoretical framework.The model was used to simulate a set of rainfall flume tests involving fines migration phenomena with the finite element method.Two distinct slope failure modes observed experimentally,which were induced by the soil erosion-deposition properties,can be well reproduced by our numerical model.The seepage-erosion coupled process during the rainfall infiltration,as well as the intrinsic mechanism responsible for the slope failures,was illustrated in detail based on the numerical results.It was shown that the fines migration process can affect the hydro-mechanical response within unsaturated slopes significantly,and therefore special attention should be paid to those soil slopes susceptible to internal erosion.

Quantification of 3D macropore networks in forest soils in Touzhai valley(Yunnan,China)using X-ray computed tomography and image analysis

The three dimensional （3D） geometry of soil macropores largely controls preferential flow, which is a significant infiltrating mechanism for rainfall in forest soils and affects slope stability. However, detailed studies on the 3D geometry of macropore networks in forest soils are rare. The intense rainfall-triggered potentially unstable slopes were threatening the villages at the downstream of Touzhai valley （Yunnan, China）. We visualized and quantified the 3D macropore networks in undisturbed soil columns （Histosols） taken from a forest hillslope in Touzhai valley, and compared them with those in agricultural soils （corn and soybean in USA; barley, fodder beet and red fescue in Denmark） and grassland soils in USA. We took two large undisturbed soil columns （250 mm^25o mmxsoo mm）, and scanned the soil columns at in-situ soil water content conditions using X-ray computed tomography at a voxel resolution of 0.945 × 0.945 × 1.500o mm^3. After reconstruction and visualization, we quantified the characteristics of macropore networks. In the studied forest soils, the main types of maeropores were root channels, inter-aggregate voids, maeropores without knowing origin, root-soil interfaee and stone-soil interface. While maeropore networks tend to be more eomplex, larger, deeper and longer. The forest soils have high maeroporosity, total maeropore wall area density, node density, and large maeropore volume, hydraulie radius, mean maeropore length, angle, and low tortuosity. The findings suggest that maeropore networks in the forest soils have high inter- connectivity, vertical continuity, linearity and less vertically oriented.