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Effect of Rainfall Intensity on Infiltration into Partly Saturated Slopes

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Abstract

This paper describes the development of a model to analyse the rate of infiltration and run-off experienced by a partly saturated soil slope during rainfall. The paper first reviews some of the most popular infiltration models used in geotechnical analysis, and highlights some of the problems associated with their application. One particular model, the Horton Equation is extended to include rainfall intensity directly in its formulation. The new model is shown to predict infiltration responses, which agree with field measurements. In the final section the influence of the rainfall intensity and pattern of rainfall (variation of rainfall intensity) on the infiltration response of a soil is investigated using the new model.

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Acknowledgements

This research forms part of a project funded by Iarnród Éireann. The authors wish to thank Mr. Brian Garvey, Chief Civil Engineer with Iarnród Éireann for technical and financial assistance received. The first author was the recipient of a Geotechnical Trust Fund award from the Geotechnical Society of Ireland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering, Earlsfort Terrace, University College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

    Jianfeng Xue & Kenneth Gavin

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  1. Jianfeng Xue
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  2. Kenneth Gavin
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Correspondence to Jianfeng Xue.

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Xue, J., Gavin, K. Effect of Rainfall Intensity on Infiltration into Partly Saturated Slopes. Geotech Geol Eng 26, 199–209 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9157-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9157-0

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