Abstract
The stability of the two‐layer undrained clay slopes should be given considerable attention since they are commonly observed in nature and in manmade structures, and they traditionally have low stability. Therefore, with the elastoplastic finite element method, this paper thoroughly explores the influence of the soil strength parameter cu, slope angle β, and slope depth ratio DH on the slope stability and failure mechanisms by the wide‐ranging parametric changes. The aims of this study are also to find the critical strength ratio (cu2/cu1)crit and the maximum values of the stability number Nc that were observed in the parametric studies. Numerical results are displayed in the form of charts to give Nc and (cu2/cu1)crit as a function of cu, β, and DH. Moreover, influences of DH and β on Nc and failure mechanisms are examined in this study. The results of numerical analysis demonstrate that cu2/cu1 significantly affects both the critical failure mechanism and the stability of the two‐layer undrained slope. Improved knowledge of the location of the critical failure mechanism allows for accurately estimating the stability of the two‐layer undrained slopes for future strengthening measurements to preserve stability.
Highlights
Slope stability analysis is a difficult and debatable problem and has been one of the most important areas of research in geotechnical engineering because it is probably one of the most complex and challenging issues in many geotechnical subdisciplines
E focus of this paper is to estimate the stability and to study the failure mechanism of two-layer undrained clay slopes consisting of different soil strengths. e transition point of the failure mechanism is introduced for one case by Griffiths and Lane [13]; based on this research, this paper considers the influence of different slope angles β and depth ratios D on the critical value of cu2/cu1 and the corresponding critical failure mechanism of the slopes
It may be noted that limit equilibrium method (LEM) requires the critical mechanism to be circular, while finite element method (FEM) places no restriction on its shape
Summary
Slope stability analysis is a difficult and debatable problem and has been one of the most important areas of research in geotechnical engineering because it is probably one of the most complex and challenging issues in many geotechnical subdisciplines. Limit equilibrium approaches assume a failure surface and require dividing the failing soil mass into slices (i.e., the ordinary method of slices [8], Bishop’s methods [9], Morgenstern and Price’s method [10], Spencer’s method [11], and Janbu’s generalized procedure of slices [12]). Is method could be applied to receive information about the deformation, stress distribution, and the strain in the slope for different conditions such as rain and earthquake It can handle the complexity of geometries, boundary and loading conditions, varied soil properties, and the nonlinear stress-strain relationships [23]. E focus of this paper is to estimate the stability and to study the failure mechanism of two-layer undrained clay slopes consisting of different soil strengths. Numerical simulations demonstrate that both the variances of geometry and soil properties of the slope can affect the stability and failure mechanisms of the two-layer undrained slopes
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