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Analysis of shallow landslide mechanism of expansive soil slope under rainfall: a case study

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Abstract

An expansive soil slope of a high-speed railway under construction in Yunnan suffered a local collapse after a heavy rainfall. The expansive soil on this slope surface is prone to slip and collapse under the action of rainfall. The analysis of water sensitivity reveals the attenuation law of the shear strength of the expansive soil. With the increase in the water content, the shear strength of the expansive soil decreases significantly. Wet–dry cycles also significantly lower the shear strength of the expansive soil. In addition, a high-density electrical method test is performed on the expansive soil slope to determine the structural characteristics of the internal soil. The test results indicate that the internal soil of the slope exhibits poor mechanical properties and contains fissures and cracks, which are also the factors that caused the landslide. The finite element software, ABAQUS, is used to analyze the impact of rainfall on the expansive soil slope. The results reveal that the soil at a depth of approximately 2 m below the surface reaches complete saturation after 24 h of rainfall, and the plastic failure zone is mainly distributed on the surface and toe of the slope. Based on the electrical test results, the slope soil material is classified into saturated, fissured, and non-fissured soil zones. The stability analysis results reveal that the sliding surface is circular and in the shallow layer of the slope, and the sliding depth is 2–3 m. Although the depth of the landslide mass is not large, almost the entire slope surface soil undergoes plastic failure, resulting in a large area of ​slippage.

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Funding

This study is financial supported by the National Earthquake Science Joint Foundation of China (No. U1939209), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) Program (Grant No. 2019QZKK0905), the Key Project of Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41630636), and the Scientific Research Foundation for Introducing Talent of Nanjing Tech University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Transportation Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China

    Chao Liang & Zhijian Wu

  2. China Railway 17th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., Xi’an, 710000, China

    Xinfu Liu

  3. The 2nd Engineering Co., Ltd. of China Railway 17 Bureau Group Corporation, Xi’an, 710000, China

    Zhaomei Xiong & Tao Li

Authors
  1. Chao Liang
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  2. Zhijian Wu
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  3. Xinfu Liu
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  4. Zhaomei Xiong
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  5. Tao Li
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Correspondence to Zhijian Wu.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Editorial Responsibility: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Liang, C., Wu, Z., Liu, X. et al. Analysis of shallow landslide mechanism of expansive soil slope under rainfall: a case study. Arab J Geosci 14, 584 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06829-6

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