Abstract
Geographically, at the center of Mississippi is a concentration of High Plastic Yazoo Clay Soil (HPYCS). Shallow landslides frequently occur in embankments constructed with HPYCS caused by rainfall-induced saturation of the embankment slope. The traditional methods are becoming expensive to repair the shallow slope failure. The use of Recycled Plastic Pins (RPPs) to stabilize shallow slope failures offers a significant cost and construction benefit and can be a useful remedial measure for these types of failures. The current study investigates the effectiveness of RPP in slopes constructed with HPYCS, using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM analysis was conducted with the PLAXIS 2D software package. Three uniform and varied RPP spacings were investigated to reinforce 2–4H:1V slopes. Reinforced slope stability analyses were performed to investigate the applicability of RPP in HPYCS. The FEM analysis results indicated that RPP provides shear resistance for the sloping embankment constructed of HPYCS. Uniform spacing of RPP provides sufficient resistance that increases the Factor of Safety (FS) to 1.68 in 2H:1V slopes with deformation of RPP less than 15 mm. The uniform spacing and varied spacing combination of RPP increase the FS to 2.0 with the deformation of RPP less 7 mm.
Highlights
In Mississippi, the majority of highway slopes, embankments, and levees constructed of High Plastic Yazoo Clay Soil (HPYCS) experienced shallow slope failure repeatedly
The current study considers the effect of the Perched Water Condition (PWC) along with the Fully Softened Shear Strength (FSSS) shear strength as a critical condition in Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis, to investigate the slope stabilization scheme using Recycled Plastic Pins (RPPs)
Shallow slope failure is typical and recurring in many highway slopes in Mississippi constructed with HPYCS
Summary
In Mississippi, the majority of highway slopes, embankments, and levees constructed of HPYCS experienced shallow slope failure repeatedly. The Fully Softened Shear Strength (FSSS) merging with Perched Water Condition (PWC) induced rainfall is reported to be the principal cause of shallow slope failures [1,4]. The study summarized that closer spacing of RPP near the crest of the slope, where the tension crack initiates the movement of the slope would provide superior performance than the slope stabilized with the uniform spacing of RPP. The closer spacing of RPP near the crest and uniform spacing of RPP at the rest of the slope was utilized. The technique included a constant 0.91 m spacing near the crest and 1.21, 1.52, and 1.82 m for the rest of the slope. Crest of the slope [11]
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