• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

To experimentally investigate the variation of soil characteristics in slope during rainfall and the shape of slope failure, the model test was performed using soil box and artificial rainfall simulator. The model test of slope formed by the homogenous sand was performed, and the saturation pattern in the model slope due to rainfall infiltration was observed. The slope model with the inclination of 35° was set up on the slope of 30°, and the rainfall intensity of 50 mm/hr was applied in the test. The soil depth of 35 cm was selected by considering the size of soil box, and the TDR (time domain reflectometry) sensors were installed at various depths to investigate the change of soil characteristics with time. As the result of model test, the slope model during rainfall was saturated from the soil surface to the subsurface, and from the toe part to the crest part due to rainfall infiltration. That is, the toe part of slope was firstly saturated by rainfall infiltration, and then due to continuous rainfall the saturation range was enlarged from the toe part to the crest part in the slope model. The failure of slope model was started at the toe part of slope and then enlarged to the crest part, which is called as the retrogressive failure. At the end of slope failure, the collapsed area increased rapidly. Also, the mode of slope failure was rotational. Meanwhile, the slope failure was occurred when the matric suction in the slope was reached to the air entry value (AEV) estimated in soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC).

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.208-213
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• 2007

When overland flow water is small and slow, it moves down a stream slowly and we use it as available resource. However, it could not only be good for nothing but arouse an inundation if a lot of runoff pour down to stream at a torrential rain. So it is important to know how much water to flow out and be stored in soil and on land in order to predict a flood and conserve soil and water quality. We intended to develop the prediction model of runoff in upland at a torrential rain and conducted lysimeter study in soybean cultivation and bare soil with 3 slopeness, 3 slope length and 5 soil texture from 1985 to 1991. The data of rainfall and runoff were used when daily rainfall was over 80 mm, the level of torrential rain warning. Minimum rainfall occurring runoff (MROR) was dependent on surface coverage and slope length. However soil texture and slopeness had a little influence on MROR. Runoff after MROR increased in proportion to precipitation which depended on surface coverage, soil texture and slope. Runoff ratio was larger in fine texture and bare soil than coarse soil and soybean coverage. Runoff ratio was in proportion to a square root of slope angle(radian) and reduced with slope length to converge a certain value. From these basis, we developed the prediction model following as $$Runoff(mm)=a(s^{0.5}+l^b)(Rainfall(mm)-80(1-e^{-bl}))$$ where a is a coefficient relevant soil hydraulic properties, b is a surface coverage coefficient, s is a slope angle and l is a slope length. The coefficient a was 0.5 in sandy loam and 0.6 in clay, and b was 0.06 in bare soil and 0.5 in soybean cultivation.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1489-1498
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• 2013

The monolithically coupled finite element analysis for a deformable unsaturated soil slope is performed to investigate the effect of antecedent rainfall which is assumed by initial conditions varying degree of saturation (36, 51, 77%) in finite element analysis. The distributions of matric suction and deformation on slope surface obtained from numerical simulation show the instability of antecedent rainfall-induced unsaturated soil slope. Moreover, the numerical analysis using Drucker-Prager model can be checked if a soil slope has reached failure (trial failure criterion $f^{tr}$ >0, plastic behavior) or not (trial failure criterion $f^{tr}$ < 0, elastic behavior). It is found that displacement of slope surface layer increases and the matric suction on soil slope decreases with an increase of initial degree of saturation by antecedent rainfall. Especially, the matric suction of the soil slope in dry condition (S=36%) rapidly decreases rather than that in wet condition (S=51%) at the same rainfall duration. The results of the trial failure criterion ($f^{tr}$ > 0) show slope instability in the toe region and surface of the slopes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.187-200
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• 2021

The main factor for the amplification of ground motions near the crest or the toe of a slope is the reflection of the incident waves. The effects of the slope topography on the surrounding lands over the crest or at the toe can amplify the seismic responses of buildings. This study investigates the seismic performance of the slope topography and three mid-rise buildings (five, ten, and fifteen-storey) located near the crest and toe of the slope by 3D numerical analysis. The nonlinear model was used to represent the real behavior of building and ground elements. The average results of seven records were used in the investigations. Based on the analysis, the amplification factor of acceleration near the crest and toe of the slope was the most effective at distances of 2.5 and 1.3 times the slope height, respectively. Accordingly, the seismic performance of buildings was studied at a distance equal to the height of the slope from the crest and toe. The seismic response results of buildings showed that the slope topography to have little impact on up to five-storey buildings located near the crest. Taking into account a topography-soil-structure interaction system increases the storey displacement and base shear in the building. Accordingly, in topography-soil-structure interaction analyses, the maximum lateral displacement was increased by 71% and 29% in ten and fifteen-storey buildings, respectively, compare to the soil-structure interaction system. Further, the base shear force was increased by 109% and 78% in these buildings relative to soil-structure interaction analyses.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.23-35
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• 2007

Recently, for places with poor vegetating environment, such as slopes made of weathered soil or rocks, erosion tranquilizers, coverings and composite fertilizers have been mixed with seeds and sprinkled onto soil. Also, these plant revegetations have been mixed with nets and used to strengthen cohesion. However, this technique often obstructed plant growth and caused pollution because of not decomposing nets. This study has tested influence on plant revegetation B for slope of weathered soil and rocks and decomposition of naturally decomposing polyester filament yarn. In result, it was showed that plant revegetation B does not harm environment in case of applying it to soil slope and enhance protection capacity of slopes as time goes by. Also, naturally decomposing polyester filament yam was analyzed its physical properties with the passage of time and was known that naturally decomposing polyester filament yarn transformed into a structure easy to decompose by hardening. Thus it is considered that the revegetation method used this study was very effective method for plant establishment and stability of slope.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.264-274
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• 2015

In this study, the applicability of geotextile mesh soil nails on slopes was evaluated by numerical analysis to reduce environmental problems which a general soil nailing might produce and to improve its economical efficiency and construction convenience. To this end, in situ pull-out tests were conducted for both general soil nail and geotextile mesh soil nail and their pull-out characteristics were analyzed. Also, finite difference method was used to verify the suitability of numerical simulation. Parameters for nail and ground conditions were selected and sensitivity analysis was performed for the evaluation of slope stability. In addition, analysis was performed by limit equilibrium method which is widely used for slope stability analysis in practice. As a result, if the nail diameter was same, there is no big difference between geotextile mesh soil nails and general soil nails in terms of slope stability. Therefore it can be expected that geotextile mesh soil nails could be effective for slope reinforcement since they could keep a slope as stable as general soil nails and give better economical efficiency and construction convenience than general soil nails.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.123-130
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• 2003

The estimation of key soil properties and subsequent quantitative assessment of the associated uncertainties has always been an important issue in geotechnical engineering. It is well recognized that soil properties vary spatially as a result of depositional and post-depositional processes. The stochastic nature of spatially varying soil properties can be treated as a random field. A practical statistical approach that can be used to systematically model various sources of uncertainty is presented in the context of reliability analysis of slope stability Newly developed expressions for probabilistic characterization of soil properties incorporate sampling and measurement errors, as well as spatial variability and its reduced variance due to spatial averaging. Reliability analyses of the probability of slope failure using the different statistical representations of soil properties show that the incorporation of spatial correlation and conditional simulation leads to significantly lower probability of failure than obtained using simple random variable approach.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2022

In Taiwan, an efficient approach for enhancing the stability of colluvium slopes is the drilled shaft method. For slopes with drilled shafts, the soil arching effect is one of the primary factors influencing slope stability and intertwines to the failure mechanism of the pile-soil system. In this study, the contribution of soil arching effect to slope stability is evaluated using the FEM software (Plaxis 3D) with the built-in strength reduction technique. The result indicates the depth of the failure surface is influenced by the S/D ratio (the distance to the diameter of piles), which can reflect the contribution of the soil arching effect to soil stability. When α (rock inclination angles)=β (slope angles) is considered and the S/D ratio=4, the failure surface of the slope is not significantly influenced by the piles. Overall, the soil arching effect is more significant on α=β, especially for the steep slopes. Additionally, the soil arching effect has been included in the proposed stability charts. The proposed charts were validated through two case studies, including that of the well-known Woo-Wan-Chai field in Taiwan. The differences in safety factor (FoS) values between the referenced literature and this study was approximately 4.9%.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.693-697
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• 2009

Physically-based WEPP watershed version was applied to a watershed, located at Jawoon-ri, Gangwon with very detailed rainfall data, rather than daily rainfall data. Then it was validated with measured sediment data collected at the sediment settling ponds and through overland flow. The $R^2$ and the EI for runoff comparisons were 0.88 and 0.91, respectively. For sediment comparisons, the $R^2$ and the EI values were 0.95 and 0.91. Since the WEPP provides higher accuracies in predicting runoff and sediment yield from the study watershed, various slope scenarios (2%, 3%, 5.5%, 8%, 10%, 13%, 15%, 18%, 20%, 23%, 25%, 28%, 30%) were made and simulated sediment yield values were analyzed to develop appropriate soil erosion management practices. It was found that soil erosion increase linearly with increase in slope of the field in the watershed. However, the soil erosion increases dramatically with the slope of 20% or higher. Therefore special care should be taken for the agricultural field with higher slope of 20% or higher. As shown in this study, the WEPP watershed version is suitable model to predict soil erosion where torrential rainfall events are causing significant amount of soil loss from the field and it can also be used to develop site-specific best management practices.