Soil-Rock Slope Stability Analysis under Top Loading considering the Nonuniformity of Rocks

Soil-rock slopes are widely distributed in central or western China. With the development of transportation, many subgrades are being built on mountainsides and therefore, slope stability has to be estimated under high loadings. To obtain better estimation results, a new rock contour establishing algorithm was developed, capable of considering interlock effect between rocks. Then, computed tomography (CT) and unconfined triaxial tests with ring top loadings were conducted. Based on rock distribution characteristics (obtained by CT photos) and the appearance of shear failure surfaces in slopes under ring top loadings, four rock skeleton status and five shear failure surface developing models were introduced. Based on the developed rock contour establishing algorithm, ten groups (twelve models per group) were established and calculated by finite element method (FEM). After this, normalized ultimate loading increasing multiple N, which was the ultimate loading ratio of rock-containing slope to uniform soil slope, was introduced to evaluate the influence of rock distributions on slope stability. The value of N was increased with the increase of rock content due to rock skeleton status. The values of N in slopes with angular rocks were about three times higher than those with round rocks which was due to complex geometric shape and distribution characteristics of angular rocks. Then, considering different slope angles (50°–60°), rock contents (0%–60%), and rock shapes (round and angular), the ultimate loading increasing multiple N of soil-rock slopes under high loadings was calculated and suggested for engineering designs. Finally, based on the failure surfaces of numerical modes, three typical failure modes were developed, which could be reference for designers to deal with slopes.

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