Slope Stability Evaluation of Reservoir Considering Soil-water Characteristic Curve of the Reinforced Ground Including Alginic Acid Sodium Salt

Abstract

Alginic acid sodium salt is a type of biopolymer. It is a polysaccharide obtained from the most widely distributed brown algae among marine plants. Its main characteristics are nontoxicity and biodegradability. It is also considered a natural eco-friendly material because it is completely decomposed by microorganisms using only water and carbon dioxide. Moreover, sodium alginate aqueous solution mixed with water has high viscosity; hence, it is expected to effectively saturate and reinforce the soil. The soil-water characteristic curve shows the properties of the capillary pressure according to the water content of the soil. In other words, this curve can predict the shear strength of the soil. In this study, soil-water characteristic curves of soil reinforced with sodium alginate were studied. The stability of the reservoir slope reinforced with sodium alginate was evaluated using the input values of the numerical analysis, and the change in the shear strength of the soil was calculated. The results show that the increased concentration of sodium alginate solution increased the capillary pressure and residual water content of the soil-water characteristic curve, which increased the stability of the reservoir slope. The shear strength of the soil increased as the concentration and capillary pressure of the sodium alginate solution increased.