Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stability Analysis of Clastic Rock Slope with Mudstone Interlayer Under Rainfall Infiltration

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The clastic rock slopes with mudstone interlayer are widely distributed in Guangxi, China. The mudstone interlayer is less permeable than the clastic rock, that may cause slope instability during the rainfall condition. In this study, a numerical analysis was conducted to study the effect of mudstone interlayer on clastic rock slope stability. A two-dimensional slope seepage model based on fluid–solid coupling was developed for the stability analysis of clastic rock slope with mudstone interlayer under different rainfall conditions. Rainfall-induced change of soil matrix suction in slope was analyzed by unstable seepage analysis and the effects of matrix suction on the slope stability and slip surface were then considered. Results indicated that the mudstone interlayer in clastic rock slope could develop to be the slip surface easily and made the clastic rock slope easy to fail under rainfall condition. When the soil matrix suction near the mudstone interlayer surface reaches a certain threshold value caused by rainfall intensity and duration, the most dangerous slip surface moves to the superficial layer, and the slope stability has a sudden drawdown.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen SX, Chen SY (2001) Analysis of stability of unsaturated soil slope due to permeation of rainwater. Rock Soil Mech 22(4):447–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan HR (2015) Stability analysis of clastic rock slope with mudstone interlayer under rainfall infiltration in Guangxi. Guangxi University, Nanning

    Google Scholar 

  • Gong YF, Jin FX, Zhang KN et al (2010) Influence on slope stability of physical-mechanical property of clayer thin interlayer in red sandstone. J Chongqing Jiaotong Univ (Nat Sci) 29(2):220–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu CZ, Hu XW, Zhang MC et al (2013) Analysis of flow motion and its effect on the slope stability of plane sliding landslide saturated under heavy-rain—a case study of Ermanshan landslide in Hanyuan county of Sichuan province. Rock Soil Mech 34(4):1075–1081

    Google Scholar 

  • Han TC, Huang FM (2012) Rainfall infiltration process and stability analysis of two-layered slope. J Zhejiang Univ (Eng Sci) 46(1):39–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang MS, Wang HR (2013) Rotation–translation combined mechanism for the stability analysis of slopes with weak interlayer under rainfall condition. In: 5th China–Japan geotechnical symposium, Chengdu, China, pp 180–185

  • Huang MS, Wang HR, Yi LL (2012) Rotation–translation combined mechanism for the stability analysis of slopes with weak interlayer under rainfall condition. Chin J Geotechn Eng 34(9):20–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang MS, Wang HR, Sheng DC et al (2013) Rotational–translational mechanism for the upper bound stability analysis of slopes with weak interlayer. Comput Geotech 53:133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li RC, Wang FM (2008) Effect of rainfall infiltration on stability of mudstone-soil mixture embankment. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 27(11):2260–2266

    Google Scholar 

  • Li R, Yu XM, Wang ZT (2012) Influence of slipped soil on the stability of landslides in eastern Sichuan Province. Soil Eng Found 26(4):94–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Li LQ, Luo SX, Wei WK et al (2013) Model tests of rainfall infiltration effect on bedding rock slope with weak interlayer. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 09:1772–1778

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu JX, Liu YT, Hu QJ (2010) Stability of embankment slope subjected to rainfall infiltration considering both runoff-underground seepage and fluid-solid coupling. Rock Soil Mech 31(3):903–910

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu HF, Liu QS, Chen CX et al (2012) Experimental study on mechanical characteristic of weak interlayer in red-bed soft rock slope. Energy Educ Sci Technol Part A Energy Sci Res 30(1):467–474

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng CWW, Shi Q (1998) A numerical investigation of the stability of unsaturated soil slopes subjected to transient seepage. Comput Geotech 22(1):1–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng CWW, Wang B, Tung YK (2001) Effect of rain infiltration on the stability of slopes. Can Geotech J 12(5):1049–1062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards LA (1931) Capillary conduction of liquids through porous mediums. J Appl Phys 1(5):318–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Sammori T, Tsuboyama Y (1991) Parametric study on slope stability with numerical simulation in consideration of seepage process. In: Bell (ed) Proceedings of the 6th, international symposium on landslide. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 539–544

  • Wu HW, Chen SY, Pang YW (1999) Parametric study of effects of rain infiltration on unsaturated slopes. Rock Soil Mech 20(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu YP, Yin KL, Jian WX (2007) Incompetent beds in Jurassic red clastic rocks and relationship with landslide formation in Chongqing, China. In: Proceedings of the 12th international symposium on water–rock interaction, WRI-12, Kunming, China, vol 2, pp 1427–1430

  • Xu JC, Shang YQ, Chen KF et al (2005) Analysis of shallow landslide stability under intensive rainfall. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 24(18):3246–3251

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Wang Y, Lei FH et al (2012) Research on the residual soil slope stability simulation under rainfall infiltration. Saf Environ Eng 19(3):5–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao HL, Chen SY et al (2002) Parametric study on the effect of rain infiltration on stability of unsaturated expansive soil slope. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 21(7):1034–1039

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Han TC, Dou HQ (2014a) Stability of loess slope considering infiltration zonation. J Cent South Univ (Sci Technol) 45(12):4355–4361

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SJ, Wei FQ, Liu DL et al (2014b) A regional-scale method of forecasting debris flow events based on water–soil coupling mechanism. J Mt Sci 11(6):1531–1542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SJ, Yang HJ, Wei FQ et al (2014c) A model of debris flow forecast based on the water–soil coupling mechanism. J Earth Sci 25(4):757–763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SR, Tan YS, Wang C et al (2014d) Influence of heavy rainfall characteristics on saturated-unsaturated slope failure. Chin J Rock Mech Eng S2:4102–4112

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SJ, Jiang YH, Yang HJ et al (2015) An hydrology-process based method for antecedent effect rainfall determination in debris flow forecasting. Adv Water Sci 26(1):34–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu YB (2014) Research on the unsaturated characteristics of weak intercalation in soft rock of Badong formation in Yichang-Badong highway. China University of Geosciences, Wuhan

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 51178124) and the Project of Department of Land and Resources of Guangxi (No. GXZC2015-G3-4366-KLZB).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China

    Yingzi Xu, Jian Li, Haoran Fan, Lihua Chen & Yanlin Zhao

  2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Engineering Safety, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China

    Yingzi Xu, Lihua Chen & Yanlin Zhao

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, 39217, USA

    Lin Li

Authors
  1. Yingzi Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jian Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haoran Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lihua Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yanlin Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lin Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yingzi Xu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xu, Y., Li, J., Fan, H. et al. Stability Analysis of Clastic Rock Slope with Mudstone Interlayer Under Rainfall Infiltration. Geotech Geol Eng 35, 1871–1883 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-017-0215-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-017-0215-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation