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Investigation of the strength recovery characteristics of a red-bed landslide soil by SHS and ultrasonic experiments

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Abstract

The strength recovery (healing) of the shear zone soil of a landslide during the dormant phase after the sliding affects the reactivation of the landslide, and may play a key role in determining the stability of the landslide. In this paper, we report the laboratory measurements of frictional strengthening characteristics of a red-bed landslide soil. Slide-hold-slide (SHS) experiments and ultrasonic tests are performed on soil samples under natural moisture content and saturated conditions. The roles of holding time, normal stress, and drainage conditions in friction enhancement are evaluated. All the experiments are performed under room temperature. The saturated soil samples show the lowest recovery value of shear strength. It is found that red-bed landslides have obvious healing properties. The recovery value log-linear depends on the holding time and proportional to the normal stress, and the better the drainage condition is, the more obvious the recovery. Ultrasonic tests show that the wave speed difference of soil sample before and after holding is proportional to the holding time.

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Acknowledgements

The work in this paper was performed while the authors were supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFC1512005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China through grant (41877291, 41672356, 41772386), and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 2021YFSY0036). These supports are greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China

    Qiwei Yan, Xinpo Li, Xiong Tang, Yong Wu & Siming He

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qiwei Yan, Xinpo Li, Xiong Tang & Yong Wu

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  1. Qiwei Yan
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  2. Xinpo Li
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  3. Xiong Tang
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  4. Yong Wu
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  5. Siming He
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Correspondence to Xinpo Li or Yong Wu.

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Yan, Q., Li, X., Tang, X. et al. Investigation of the strength recovery characteristics of a red-bed landslide soil by SHS and ultrasonic experiments. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 5271–5278 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-021-02263-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-021-02263-w

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