Abstract
Cutting slope failures occur frequently along the high-speed railways in Northeast China during the construction due to snowmelt infiltration. This study addresses this issue by applying a three-dimensional numerical model. The influence of the depth of accumulated snow (ds), daily temperature variation (ΔT), and freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles on the seepage field and stability of cutting slopes is discussed. The results demonstrate that water seepage due to snowmelt infiltration primarily extends through the ground surface by about 10 m. The deep-seated instability is likely to occur under a prolonged and highly accumulated infiltration, while shallow failure is associated with intense, short-duration snowmelt infiltration. The maximum degree of saturation (Sr) and pore-water pressure (PWP) values are observed at the slope toe. Increasing ds and ΔT increase the Sr and PWP due to snowmelt infiltration and thereby decreases cutting slope stability. Compared to the ds and ΔT, the F-T cycle is more likely to cause slope failure. In addition, the F-T cycle also induces the reduction of soil strength and the crack propagation. Overall, the conducted study provided useful help toward the process of safer design for cutting slope along the high-speed railway in seasonally cold regions.
Highlights
Snowmelt infiltration affects the moisture content of soils in seasonally cold regions, and extensive infiltration due to continuous snowmelt over long periods of thawing may trigger landslides [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] (Figure 1, from a study on a snowmelt estimation method for road management), which can result in significant loss of life and damage to public and private property
The above resultSs ninowdimcaetlet itnhfailttrdatuioento the pore-water pressure (PWP) diffusion process, the deep-seated landslide is likely to occur under a prolonged and highly accumulated infiltration, while the shallow slope failure is associated with intense, short-duration snowmelt infiltration
A 3D FE model was employed to explore the influence of the depth of accumulated snow, daily temperature variation, and the number of F-T cycles on the seepage field and stability
Summary
Snowmelt infiltration affects the moisture content of soils in seasonally cold regions, and extensive infiltration due to continuous snowmelt over long periods of thawing may trigger landslides [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] (Figure 1, from a study on a snowmelt estimation method for road management), which can result in significant loss of life and damage to public and private property. The influence of snowmelt infiltration on the soil slope stability in seasonally cold regions cannot be ignored. Water 2021, 13, 2729 the majority of studies have been restricted to investigating the stability of soil slopes subjected to rainfall [13,14,15,16,17] and those within permafrost regions [7,18]. A vertical view of the soil slope-sheet pile wall system and the detailed dimensions of the pile and sheet are presented in Figure 2b,c, respectively. A vertical view of the soil slope-sheet pile wall system and the detailed dimensions of the pile and sheet are presented, c, respectively.
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