Changes in the Stability of a Superhigh-Deposit Slope Considering the Influence of Seepage Erosion

Abstract

Rainfall can cause seepage erosion of the fine particles in soil (FPS) within the wide grading of particles present in a deposit slope, reducing its strength and eventually leading to a landslide. Unfortunately, there is no effective method for simulating this phenomenon; therefore, using the finite-element method (FEM), the whole process for establishing the slope stability analysis method is described considering the effect of the erosion of FPS, which includes equations of the FPS erosion process, introducing the real seepage parameters obtained by large-scale soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) tests, and establishing correlations among water content, fine particle content, and slope strength. The findings of the application of this method to a real project reveal that FPS erosion occurs most readily on the first and second levels of a subslope, causing shallow instability of the slope and a reduction in the slope factor of safety (FOS); however, the higher the rainfall intensity, the lower the slope FOS. The method in this paper is suitable for the deposit slope with a certain content of FPS.