Energy analysis of geosynthetic-reinforced slope in unsaturated soils subjected to steady flow
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Xiu-li Du; Jing-shu Xu
- Source
- Journal of Central South University. 26:1769-1779
- Subject
- 021110 strategic, defence & security studies
Effective stress
0211 other engineering and technologies
Metals and Alloys
General Engineering
02 engineering and technology
Soil type
Energy analysis
Flow conditions
Limit analysis
Slope stability
Soil water
Cohesion (geology)
Environmental science
Geotechnical engineering
021101 geological & geomatics engineering
- Language
- ISSN
- 2227-5223
2095-2899
Soils are actually unsaturated in nature. In the present study, a stability analysis of a geosynthetic-reinforced slope in unsaturated soils subjected to various steady flow conditions is conducted based on limit analysis. Work rate by apparent cohesion due to matric suction is calculated based on the effective stress-based equation. Analytical expression of the required cohesion/stability number of slope is derived from the energy balance equation. An optimization code is programmed to capture the optimized solution of the stability number. Comparison is made to verify the present work and a parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of soil type, infilitration rate, reinforcement strength and soil suction on slope stability afterwards. A set of numerical solutions is presented at the end of the paper for preliminary design purposes.