Upper Bound Analysis of 3D-Reinforced Slope Stability Subjected to Pore-Water Pressure

Abstract

Pore-water pressure is a universal unfavorable external force and often poses an adverse impact on reinforced slope stability. Although recently the stability assessment of reinforced slopes has been extended to the three-dimensional (3D) conditions, the quantization effect of the pore-water pressure on 3D reinforced slope stability has not been investigated. In this paper, a stability analysis of the 3D reinforced slope subjected to pore-water pressure is performed on the basis of the upper-bound theorem of limit analysis. Uniform and triangular reinforcement patterns are both considered. The presented study offers explicit expressions to calculate the required critical reinforcement strength for a certain reinforced slope under different reinforcement patterns. Comparisons are conducted to verify the correctness of the expressions. The effects of the ratio of slope width to height, the pore-water pressure coefficient, and the soil friction angle are investigated. Last, two tables are listed to provide guidance for practical use.