• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2010

Slope stability analysis of the right abutment of a railway bridge proposed at about 350 m above the ground level, crossing a river and connecting two huge hillocks in the Himalayas, India is presented in this paper. The site is located in a highly active seismic zone. The rock slopes are intensely jointed and the joint spacing and orientation are varying at different locations. Static slope stability of the rock slope is studied using equivalent continuum approach through the most commonly used commercial numerical tools like FLAC and SLOPE/W of GEOSTUDIO. The factor of safety for the slope under static conditions was 1.88 and it was reduced by 46% with the application of earthquake loads in pseudo-static analysis. The results obtained from the slope stability analyses confirmed the global stability of the slope. However, it is very likely that there could be possibility of wedge failures at some of the pier locations. This paper also presents the results from kinematics of right abutment slope for the wedge failure analysis based on stereographic projections. Based on the kinematics, it is recommended to flatten the slope from 50o to 43o to avoid wedge failures at all pier locations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2020

This paper presents a kinematic limit analysis for passive earth pressure of rigid retaining structures considering the unsaturation of the backfill. Particular emphasis in the current work is focused on the effects of the spatial change in the degree of saturation on the passive earth pressure under different steady-infiltration/evaporation conditions. The incorporation of change of effective unit weight with degree of saturation is the main contribution of this study. The problem is formulated based on the log-spiral failure model rather than the linear wedge failure model, in which both the spatial variations of suction and soil effective unit weight are taken into account. Parametric studies, which cover a wide range of flow conditions, soil types and properties, wall batter, back slope angle as well as the interface friction angle, are performed to investigate the effects of these factors on the passive pressure and the corresponding shape of potential failure surfaces in the backfill. The results reveal that the flow conditions have significant effects on the suction and unit weight of the clayey backfill, and hence greatly impact the passive earth pressure of retaining structures. It is expected that present study could provide an insight into evaluation of the passive earth pressure of retaining structures with unsaturated backfills.