Abstract
A large-scale test bed (LWH=6 m×3 m×2.8 m) instrumented with various sensors is used to examine the effects of rainfall infiltration and evaporation on the deformation and failure of cracked soil slopes, taking the Anhui area along the Yangtze River as a field example. The results indicate that (1) during rainfall, the soil around the shallow shrinkage fissures attains transient saturation, and the attendant decrease of matric suction is the primary cause of the shallow slope failure; (2) slope deformation continues during post-rainfall evaporation; (3) if a period of evaporation is followed by heavy rainfall, soil creep is concentrated near the deepest cracks, and two zones of steep gradients in pore pressure form at the crest and toe of the slope. Finally, a saturated zone forms near each crack base and gradually enlarges, eventually forming a continuous saturated layer that induces the slope instability or failure.
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Acknowledgments
This study was developed within the scope of the project of Anhui Province Transport Technology Progress Plan (Nos. 2018030, JKKJ-2020), and funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (Nos. 1810491A24, CUG160203), and the Opening Fund of the Key Laboratory of Geological Survey and Evaluation of Ministry of Education of China (No. GLAB2019 ZR05). The authors would like to thank Mr. Yang Zhou and Mr. Min Mi for assisting in the mechanical tests. We are sincerely grateful for the insightful reviews by the anonymous reviewers and the editors which significantly improved the manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1342-6.
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Zhou, Z., Zhang, J., Ning, F. et al. Large-Scale Test Model of the Progressive Deformation and Failure of Cracked Soil Slopes. J. Earth Sci. 31, 1097–1108 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1342-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1342-6