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A field test study on the effect of artificial rainfall on instability characteristics of loess slopes

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Abstract

Landslide instability occurs frequently all over the world. The specific factors affecting the loess slope instability include collapse, landslide, debris flow, etc., among which rainfall is one of the most important factors. In this paper, through field model tests, the displacement changes of soil mass at different depths inside the slope and on the slope surface under different rainfall intensity and rainfall time are studied by means of artificial rainfall and artificial water injection. The results show that under the circumstance of rainfall, the displacement of the shallow soil changes obviously, while the deep soil shows obvious hysteresis; as the rainfall process continues, the displacement of the deep soil increases gradually, but the growth rate is significantly lower than that of the shallow soil. After the rain stopped, the soil displacement continues to increase within 3 to 4 days, the deformation of the shallow soil is relatively stable, and the deformation of the deep soil converge slowly. With the increase of rainfall intensity, the closer the soil mass is to the slope toe within 2.2 m, the greater the horizontal displacement is, but the displacement change of shallow soil mass within 0.8 m is smaller, and the displacement at the slope toe is the most obvious. The closer the soil below 2.2 m to the slope toe, the smaller the horizontal displacement of the slope. The closer to the toe of the slope, the more likely the loess slope to be damaged. The slope shows different effects under the influence of rainfall, water injection, rainfall duration, and influencing region. The research results can provide guidance for loess slope reinforcement and slope restoration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China

    Zhe Li, Jinpeng Zhao, Chenhui Guan, Lulu Liu & Changjun Zhang

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Chenhui Guan

  3. State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Lulu Liu

  4. Machinery Industry Survey, Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd, Xi’an, 710004, China

    Changjun Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhe Li
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  2. Jinpeng Zhao
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  3. Chenhui Guan
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  4. Lulu Liu
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Correspondence to Chenhui Guan.

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Li, Z., Zhao, J., Guan, C. et al. A field test study on the effect of artificial rainfall on instability characteristics of loess slopes. Arab J Geosci 16, 400 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11499-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11499-7

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