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Comparative study on the performance of different slope protective measures under rainfall conditions: the case study of Qingyang City, China

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Abstract

This study addresses the challenge of deformation and failure on loess slopes, predominantly triggered by rainfall, by evaluating the efficacy of various slope protective measures. Recognizing the escalating preference for ecological protection techniques, this paper focuses on identifying optimal strategies that align with local rainfall patterns. A comprehensive analysis of loess slopes under diverse rainfall conditions was conducted, encompassing scenarios with prime soil, stabilized soil, and no protection. Utilizing the finite element software ABAQUS, a sophisticated rainfall infiltration slope model was developed and validated against experimental data. The investigation reveals that under low rainfall intensities, the choice of protective material—whether stabilized or prime soil—exerts limited influence on slope pore pressure. In contrast, at higher rainfall intensities, the impact of these protective materials on slope stability becomes significantly more pronounced.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Major Special Planning Projects of Qingyang City (CN) (grant number QY-STK-2022A-032), the Industrial Support Planning Projects of Gansu Provincial Department of Education (CN) (grant number 2022CYZC-65), the Doctoral Research Initiation Fund Project of Longdong University (grant number XYBYZK2309), and the Gansu Natural Science Foundation Program (grant no. 23JRRM0753).

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Contributions

Conceptualization: YY. Data curation: YLv and GW. Formal analysis: YY and YLi. Funding acquisition: YLi. Investigation: YD and GW. Methodology: YY and AH. Project administration: YY, YLi, and GW. Resources: YY. Software: YY. Supervision: YY and YLi. Validation: YY, AH, and YLv. Visualization: YD, AH, YLv. Roles/writing-original draft: YY and YLi. Writing-review and editing: YY and YLi.

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Correspondence to Yongdong Yang.

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Yang, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, G. et al. Comparative study on the performance of different slope protective measures under rainfall conditions: the case study of Qingyang City, China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 83, 70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03565-5

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