Abstract
Red clay is widely distributed in Zhejiang Province, China. Rain-induced shallow landslides easily occur on red clay slopes due to the reduction in shear strength caused by rainwater infiltration. The aim of this paper was to study the soil–water characteristic of red clay and its application on analyzing the stability of red clay slope. A series of field tests at different depths of red clay slope were carried out to monitor the variations of water content and matric suction under typical climate conditions. The results showed that the distribution of water content in red clay slope is complex because of long-term wetting–drying cycles. The water content within shallow layer is sensitive to external environment, and the response time of the water content is related to rainfall intensity. It is also observed that the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) varies at different depths. The SWCCs of red clay can be fitted by linear function. The SWCCs from laboratory tests illustrated that saturated water content is more than 40%. Most of the SWCCs obtained at the depth of 90 cm are within the hysteresis loops of the SWCCs from laboratory test. The short-term rainfall has less effect on the stability of the slope, but the stability continuously decreases after the rain stops. The SWCCs obtained from laboratory were applied to analyze slope stability. Considering the influence of cracks, the computed results are close to field data. The study has a certain directive significance to the design of red clay slopes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Au, S.W.C.: Rain-induced slope instability in Hong Kong. Eng. Geol. 51(1), 1–36 (1998)
Crosta, G.: Regionalization of rainfall thresholds: an aid to landslide hazard evaluation. Environ. Geol. 35(2), 131–145 (1998)
Dai, F.C.; Lee, C.F.: Frequency–volume relation and prediction of rainfall-induced landslides. Eng. Geol. 59(3–4), 253–266 (2001)
Lim, T.T.; Rahardjo, H.; Chang, M.F.; Fredlund, D.G.: Effect of rainfall on matric suctions in a residual soil slope. Can. Geotech. J. 33(4), 618–628 (1996)
Gasmo, J.M.; Rahardjo, H.; Leong, E.C.: Infiltration effects on stability of a residual soil slope. Comput. Geotech. 26(2), 145–165 (2000)
Tsai, T.L.; Yang, J.C.: Modeling of rainfall-triggered shallow landslide. Environ. Geol. 50(4), 525–534 (2006)
Ng, C.W.W.; Shi, Q.: A numerical investigation of the stability of unsaturated soil slopes subjected to transient seepage. Comput. Geotech. 22(1), 1–28 (1998)
Chen, L.; Young, M.H.: Green-Ampt infiltration model for sloping surfaces. Water Resour. Res. 42(7), 887–896 (2006)
Li, J.; Wang, Z.; Liu, C.: A combined rainfall infiltration model based on Green-Ampt and SCS-curve number. Hydrol. Process. 29(11), 2628–2634 (2015)
Zhan, T.L.T.; Jia, G.W.; Chen, Y.M.; Fredlund, D.G.; Li, H.: An analytical solution for rainfall infiltration into an unsaturated infinite slope and its application to slope stability analysis. Int. J. Numer. Anal. Met. 37(12), 1737–1760 (2013)
Leung, A.K.L.K.; et al.: Field monitoring of an unsaturated saprolitic hillslope. Can. Geotech. J. 48(3), 339–353 (2011)
Li, A.G.; Yue, Z.Q.; Tham, L.G.; Lee, C.F.; Law, K.T.: Field-monitored variations of soil moisture and matric suction in a saprolite slope. Can. Geotech. J. 42(1), 13–26 (2005)
Trandafir, A.C.; Sidle, R.C.; Gomi, T.; Kamai, T.: Monitored and simulated variations in matric suction during rainfall in a residual soil slope. Environ. Geol. 55(5), 951–961 (2008)
Tu, X.B.; Kwong, A.K.L.; Dai, F.C.; Tham, L.G.; Min, H.: Field monitoring of rainfall infiltration in a loess slope and analysis of failure mechanism of rainfall-induced landslides. Eng. Geol. 105(12), 134–150 (2009)
Pradel, D.; Raad, G.: Effect of permeability on surficial stability of homogeneous slopes. J. Geotech. Eng. 119(2), 315–332 (1993)
Beldjelili, Y.; Tounsi, A.; Mahmoud, S.R.: Hygro-thermo-mechanical bending of S-FGM plates resting on variable elastic foundations using a four-variable trigonometric plate theory. Smart Struct. Syst. 18(4), 755–786 (2016)
Attia, A.; Bousahla, A.A.; Tounsi, A.; Mahmoud, S.R.; Alwabli, A.S.: A refined four variable plate theory for thermoelastic analysis of FGM plates resting on variable elastic foundations. Struct. Eng. Mech. 65(4), 453–464 (2018)
Song, Y.; Chae, B.; Lee, J.: A method for evaluating the stability of an unsaturated slope in natural terrain during rainfall. Eng. Geol. 210, 84–92 (2016)
Zhang, J.; Jiao, J.J.; Yang, J.: In situ rainfall infiltration studies at a hillside in Hubei Province, China. Eng. Geol. 57(1–2), 31–38 (2000)
Derbyshire, E.: Geological hazards in loess terrain, with particular reference to the loess regions of China. Earth Sci. Rev. 54(1–3), 231–260 (2001)
Wu, L.Z.; Zhou, Y.; Sun, P.; Shi, J.S.; Liu, G.G.; Bai, L.Y.: Laboratory characterization of rainfall-induced loess slope failure. Catena 150, 1–8 (2017)
Ng, C.W.W.; Pang, Y.W.: Influence of stress state on soil-water characteristics and slope stability. J. Geotech. Geonviron. 126(2), 157–166 (2003)
Zhan, T.L.; Ng, C.W.; Fredlund, D.G.: Field study of rainfall infiltration into a grassed unsaturated expansive soil slope. Can. Geotech. J. 44(44), 392–408 (2007)
Lemly, A.D.: Erosion control at construction sites on red clay soils. Environ. Manag. 6(4), 343–352 (1982)
Xue, K.; Ajmera, B.; Tiwari, B.; Hu, Y.: Effect of long duration rainstorm on stability of Red-clay slopes. Geoenviron. Dis. 3, 12 (2016)
Yuan, J.; He, Y.; Liu, J.: Construction of weak expansive red clay on Dongxin Expressway in Hunan Province, China. J. Perform. Constr. Fac. 30(1), C4015001 (2015)
Meziane, M.A.A.; Abdelaziz, H.H.; Tounsi, A.: An efficient and simple refined theory for buckling and free vibration of exponentially graded sandwich plates under various boundary conditions. J. Sandw. Struct. Mater. 16(3), 293–318 (2014)
Comegna, L.; Rianna, G.; Lee, S.; Picarelli, L.: Influence of the wetting path on the mechanical response of shallow unsaturated sloping covers. Comput. Geotech. 73, 164–169 (2016)
Mukhlisin, M.; Baidillah, M.R.; Taha, M.R.; El-Shafie, A.: Effect of soil water retention model on slope stability analysis. Int. J. Phys. Sci. 6(19), 4629–4635 (2011)
Antinoro, C.; Arnone, E.; Noto, L.V.: The use of soil water retention curve models in analyzing slope stability in differently structured soils. Catena 150, 133–145 (2017)
Lumb, P.: Slope failures in Hong Kong. Q. J. Eng. Geol. Hydrog. 8, 31–65 (1975)
Ng, C.W.W.; Pang, Y.W.: Influence of stress state on soil-water characteristics and slope stability. J. Geotech. Geoenviron. 126(2), 157–166 (2000)
Liu, J.; Skoczylas, F.; Liu, J.: Experimental research on water retention and gas permeability of compacted bentonite/sand mixtures. Soil Found. 54(5), 1027–1038 (2014)
Liu, J.; Ni, H.; Chen, Y.: Research on water retention and microstructure characteristics of compacted GMZ bentonite under free swelling conditions. Environ. Earth Sci. 7(16), 583 (2018)
Liu, J.; Wu, Y.; Cai, C.; Ni, H.; Cao, X.; Pu, H.; Song, S.; Pu, S.; Skoczylas, F.: Investigation into water retention and gas permeability of Opalinus clay. Environ. Earth Sci. 77(5), 213 (2018)
Van Genuchten, M.T.: A closed-form equation forpredicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892–898 (1980)
Liu, L.L.; Yin, K.L.: Analysis of rainfall infiltration mechanism of rainstorm landslide. Rock Soil Mech. 46(4), 1061–1066 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, Y., Li, B., Xu, Y. et al. Field Study on the Soil Water Characteristics of Shallow Layers on Red Clay Slopes and Its Application in Stability Analysis. Arab J Sci Eng 44, 5107–5116 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-03716-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-03716-3