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Experimental study on the dynamic response and stability of bedding rock slopes with weak interlayers under heavy rainfall

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Abstract

Rainfall-induced landslides are notable geological hazards that occur frequently in the mountainous areas of Southwest China. Heavy rainfall in the wet season often causes landslides in mountainous areas, posing a threat to the infrastructure and human safety. For rock slopes, the sliding surface often occurs along a weak interlayer which plays a key role in controlling the mechanism of slope failure during the wet season. Typical bedding rock slope in the Maoergai reservoir was taken as the prototype to determine the physical modeling test materials and parameters, and a three-layered slope model was used to simulate a rock slope with a weak interlayer. A series of laboratory tests were carried out to study the dynamic response and stability of the bedding rock slope with a weak interlayer under heavy rainfall. The experimental results showed that the shear strength of the weak interlayer decreased due to a water softening effect. The changes of pore water pressure and rainfall erosion were the two dominant dynamic factors inducing the gradual decrease of shear resistance of the weak interlayer. In addition, the limit equilibrium method (Janbu’s method) was used to analyze the stability of the slope model and investigate the relationship between shear strength and slope stability. The obtained correlation between shear parameters and the safety factor indicated that the safety factor of the slope model decreased with the softening of the weak interlayer, and its internal friction angle was the key parameter influencing slope stability.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1501102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51209156) and the Youth Science and Technology Fund of Sichuan Province (2016JQ0011). Critical comments from the anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Yu-chuan Yang & Jia-wen Zhou

  2. Power China Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, Chengdu, 610072, China

    Yu-chuan Yang

  3. College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Hui-ge Xing

  4. College of Water Resources and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Xing-guo Yang & Ming-liang Chen

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  1. Yu-chuan Yang
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  2. Hui-ge Xing
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  3. Xing-guo Yang
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  4. Ming-liang Chen
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  5. Jia-wen Zhou
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Correspondence to Jia-wen Zhou.

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Yang, Yc., Xing, Hg., Yang, Xg. et al. Experimental study on the dynamic response and stability of bedding rock slopes with weak interlayers under heavy rainfall. Environ Earth Sci 77, 433 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7624-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7624-y

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