Abstract
The presence of a weak layer in a slope requires special attention because it has a negative impact on slope stability. However, limited insight into the seismic stability of slopes with a weak layer exists. In this study, the seismic stability of a pile-reinforced slope with a weak thin layer is investigated. Based on the limit analysis theory, a translational failure mechanism for an earth slope is developed. The rotational rigid blocks in the previous rotational-translational failure mechanism are replaced by continuous deformation regions, which consist of a sequence ofnrigid triangles. The predicted static factor of safety and collapse mechanism in two typical examples of slopes with a weak layer compare well with the results obtained from the available literature and by using the Discontinuity Layout Optimization (DLO) technique. The lateral forces provided by the stabilizing piles are evaluated using the theory of plastic deformation. An analytical solution for estimating the critical yield acceleration coefficient for the pile-reinforced slopes is derived. Based on the proposed translational failure mechanism and the corresponding critical yield acceleration coefficient, Newmark’s analytical procedure is employed to evaluate the cumulative displacement. Considering different real earthquake acceleration records as input motion, the effect of stabilizing piles and varying the spacing of piles on the cumulative displacement of slopes with a weak layer is investigated.
Highlights
Many catastrophic slope failures have been reported in the past due to earthquakes
There are two practical estimation methods that exist for this problem: the first one is calculating the factor of safety of slopes by considering pseudostatic earthquake body forces within a soil mass (e.g., Seed et al [1]; Seed [2]; Chen [3])
Previous studies of slopes with a weak layer have focused on the static factor of safety
Summary
Many catastrophic slope failures have been reported in the past due to earthquakes. Estimation of the stability of slopes subjected to seismic loads is a very important task in geotechnical engineering. The most common approach is Newmark’s [6] sliding block method, which calculates the cumulative displacement of slopes by integrating earthquake acceleration in a one-block translational mechanism. This approach has the advantage of providing information during an earthquake and being less time consuming; it has been further extended to the rotational mechanism (e.g., Chang et al [7]; Li et al [8]) and multiblock mechanism (e.g., Michalowski [9]) of slope through limit analysis. Based on the upper-bound method, Huang et al [16] proposed a rotational-translational collapse mechanism to assess the factor of safety of slopes with a weak layer Their analytical results were verified using the finite element method. Considering different real earthquake acceleration records as input motion, Newmark’s analytical approach is used to assess the cumulative displacement of two typical cases of slopes with a weak thin layer
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