• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.5-15
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• 2013

In this paper, the unsaturated slope stability analysis considering suction stress (Lu and Godt, 2008) was introduced and the results applied for a certain sand slope were analyzed. The unsaturated slope stability analysis considering suction stress can analyze both conditions of steady infiltration and no infiltration, and it can estimate the safety factor of slope as a function of soil depth. Also, the influence of weathering phenomenon at a certain depth from the ground surface can be considered. The stability analysis considering suction stress was applied to the unsaturated infinite slope composed of sand with the relative density of 60%. The suction stress under no infiltration condition was affected by ground water table until a certain influencing depth. However, the suction stress under steady infiltration condition was affected by seepage throughout the soils. Especially, the maximum suction stress was displayed around ground surface. The factor of safety in the infinite slope under no infiltration condition rapidly increased and decreased within the influence zone of ground water table. As a result of slope stability analysis, the factor of safety is less than 1 at the depth of 2.4 m below the ground surface. It means that the probability of slope failure is too high within the range of depths. The factor of safety under steady infiltration condition is greater than that under no infiltration condition due to the change of suction stress induced by seepage. As the steady infiltration rate of precipitation was getting closer to the saturated hydraulic conductivity, the factor of safety decreased. In case of the steady infiltration rate of precipitation with $-1.8{\times}10^{-3}cm/s$, the factor of safety is less than 1 at the depths between 0.2 m and 3 m below the ground surface. It means that the probability of slope failure is too high within the range of depths, and type of slope failure is likely to be shallow landslides.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.51-59
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• 2014

Shallow landslides and debris flows are a common form of soil slope instability in South Korea. These events may be generally initiated as a result of intense rainfall or lengthening rainfall duration because of the effects of climate change. This paper presents the evaluation of rainfall-induced natural soil slope stability and reinforced soil slope instability under vertical load (railway or highway load) throughout South Korea based on quantitative analysis obtained from 58 sites rainfall observatories for 38 years. The slope stability was performed for infinite and geogrid-reinforced soil slopes by taking an average of maximum rainfall every ten years from 1973 to 2010. Seepage analysis is carried out on unsaturated soil slope using the maximum rainfall at each site, and then the factor of safety was calculated by coupled analysis using saturated and unsaturated strength parameters. The contour map of South Korea shows four stages in 10-year-time for the degree of landslide hazard. The safety factor map based on long term observational data will help prevent rainfall-induced soil slope instability for appropriate design of geotechnical structures regarding disaster protection.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.41-54
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• 2011

Tree roots can enhance soil shear strength and slope stability. However, there has been a limited study about root reinforcement of major tree species in Korea because of some experimental difficulties. Thus, this study was conducted to analyze the performance of Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) and Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) which are two common plantation species in Korea. Profile wall method was used to measure the spatial distribution of root system and its diameter within 15 soil walls of Japanese larch stand and 13 soil walls of Korean pine stand in Taehwa University Forest, Seoul National University, Korea. Root tensile properties of each species were assessed in the laboratory, and root reinforcements were estimated by Wu model. The study observed that the number and cross-sectional area (CSA) of root in both species could tend to decrease with soil depth. Especially, CSA were well-fitted to exponential functions of soil depth. Mean root area ratios (RAR) were 0.03% and 0.10% for Japanese larch and Korean pine, respectively. Estimated root reinforcement from Wu model were, on the average, 4.04 kPa for Japanese larch and 12.26 kPa for Korean pine. Overall, it was concluded that root reinforcement increased the factor of safety (Fs) of slope for small-scale landslide as the result of two-dimensional (2-D) infinite slope stability analysis considering vegetation effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2011

Annually, many parts of the Korea have been damaged from the localized heavy rain and/or typhoons which peak between June and September, which result in extensive financial and human loss. Especially, because the most area of Gangwon province is composed of the steep slope mountains, the damages by the debris flow or land-sliding are more frequent and the frequency has been increased. To analyze the characteristics and causes of these debris flow disasters, lots of study are recently being conducted through database of weather, hydrologic, soil etc using a GIS or remote sensing. In this study, we applied GIS method to analyze the risk of the debris flow area. With the statistical analysis and infinite slope stability model(SINMAP), the debris flow risk level of the mountain slope was generated. As a result, the GIS statistical analysis showed high correlation that former model of SINMAP in determining the debris flow risk area.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.33-44
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• 1998

Preliminary study has been conducted to analyse the co-relation between shallow landslides frequently occurring in rainy seasons and the water infiltration into the slope. The change of stress state due to partial saturation of a soil and hence the reduction of its shear strength have been reviewed. The variation of the safety factor of an infinite planar slope in accordance with various water infiltration scenarios has been estimated by limit equilibrium method to explain the mechanism of shallow slope failure. Numerical analysis under the same condition as those of some models dealt with in the previous method has been carried out by using FLAC, a finite difference program, and the results have been compared with the ones obtained by limit equilibrium method. Both results proved to be identical, which implies the ability of the numerical approach to the problems related to the stability analysis of unsaturated slope with the irregular geometry. Further improvement, however, should be made to apply the present analysis procedure to general slopes since it deals with a simple one.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.359-369
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• 2022

In slope stability analysis for landslides, mountains have various slopes and geographical features, and hence it is necessary to estimate stability using rigorous analysis methods. In this study, after the analysis of infiltration behavior through unsaturated layers due to rainfall, the stability of landslide was estimated to account for the variation of pore water pressures. In the analysis of slope stability, a three-dimensional slope analysis was compared with an infinite slope analysis in a case study of terrain in which an actual landslide occurred. In the three-dimensional slope stability analysis, it was found that the location of the failure and the failure area were predicted accurately based on the detailed geological information despite the variation of geographical features.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2018

The purpose of slope stability analysis is to predict the location and occurrence time considering the rainfall, topographic and soil characteristics, etc. In this study, infinite slope stability analysis considering the time distribution characteristics of the daily maximum rainfall was conducted using a model that combines a digital terrain model and a groundwater flow model. As the results of slope stability analysis, 69.1~70.0% of Fs < 1 cells are in the range of slope angle $20{\sim}50^{\circ}$ and Fs < 1 starts to appear in 2 hours for $Q_1$ model, 5 hours for $Q_2$, 7 hours for $Q_3$ and 6 hours for $Q_4$. Furthermore, the maximum number of Fs < 1 cells appear in 6 hours for $Q_1$ model, 12 hours for $Q_2$, 16 hours for $Q_3$ and 20 hours for $Q_4$, and the area of Fs < 1 is 14.3% for $Q_1$ model, 15.0% for $Q_2$, 15.6% for $Q_3$, and 16.3% for $Q_4$.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.137-146
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• 2005

299 railroad slopes were investigated and the failure characteristics and reinforcement patterns were analyzed. Stability analyses on the 14 cut-off soil slopes were carried out. Surficial failures were predicted by infinite slope analyses assuming the temporarily perched ground water table at soil surface during rainfall period. Limit equilibrium analyses were also carried out and the influences of rainfall infiltration on the slope stabilities were taken Into account by seepage analyses using finite element method and by assuming ground water tables to be located adjacent to soil surface. The adequacy of those analyses was evaluated by comparing the slope failure characteristics between analysis results and the past failure records. From the comparison results, it was deduced that the limit equilibrium analyses were not appropriate to estimate the shallow failure that occurred at most of the railroad cut-off soil slopes. For the better estimation of the surficial failure, not only the increase of pore-water pressure (reduction of matric suction), but also the influence of water flows over slope surface which erode soil mass, should be evaluated and considered.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.27-40
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• 2016

Conventional warning criteria for landslides due to rainfall in broad regions have limitations, because they did not have proper reflection of topography, forest physiognomy, and unsaturated soil properties, et al. This study suggested a new stability model for unsaturated slope analyses during rainfall, considering rainfall pattern, geomorphological characteristics (slope angle, soil depth), engineering properties of unsaturated soils, and tree surcharge and root reinforcement. Stability analysis not considering root reinforcement and tree surcharge tends to over-predict a factor of safety in unsaturated slopes. Developed slope stability model was used to build database on the factor of safety in unsaturated slopes during rainfall, and it was integrated with GIS to do quantitative risk analysis in landslide risk areas specified in Ulju. Landslide risk areas were located at downstream of the point with sudden drop in safety factor, as well as at regions with low safety factor during rainfall.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.37-45
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• 2005

Almost every year, Korea has been suffered from serious damages of lives and properties, due to landslides that are triggered by heavy rains in monsoon season. In this paper, we systematized the physically based landslide prediction model which consisted of 3 parts, infinite slope stability analysis model, groundwater flow model and soil depth model. To evaluate its applicability to the prediction of landslides, the data of actual landslides were plotted on the predicted areas on the GIS map. The matching rate of this model to the actual data was $84.8\%$. And the relation between hydrological and land form factors and potential landslide were analyzed.