Effect of pile driving adjacent to soil slopes on safety factor of specific sliding surface

Abstract

The effect of pile driving force, plastic zone around the pile tip and anti-sliding action of the pile body on safety factor of sliding surface is investigated by using the stability calculation methods for slopes based on the cavity expansion theory with the consideration of elasto-plasticity of soil. Through a numerical case, change of safety factor in the whole process of the pile driving is analyzed. And the effect of pile diameter, slope angle and distance between pile and slope top on the change of safety factor of slope is discussed. The results show that the pile driving force and the plastic zone at pile top have an adverse effect on slope stability, which leads to a decrease in the safety factor, while the anti-sliding effect of the pile has a positive contribution to the slope stability, especially when the end of pile is below the sliding surface. The safety factor decreases significantly with the increase of the pile diameter, and it significantly increases after the pile end penetrates through the sliding surface. The greater the slope angle, the smaller the safety factor after pile driving. The safety factor drops more slowly with the increase of the distance of the pile away from the slope top, and the effect of the plastic zone on the safety factor also gradually decreases. The pile driving will not affect the stability of the sliding surface when the pile is far from the top of the slope. The results may provide some guiding significance and reference value for the design and construction of static pile driving adjacent to slopes.