A Review on Analysis of Unsaturated Soil Slope Stability

Pranjyoti Prodhani M.Tech 2nd semester

Department of Civil Engineering, Tezpur University, Napam 784001, Assam

E-mail: pranjyoti1414@gmail.com

Abstract
The analysis of slope stability has received widely attention now a day because of its
practical importance. Stability is determined by the balance of shear stress and shear
strength. A factor of safety is calculated by dividing the forces resisting movement by the
forces driving movement. Various methods are available for analysis of slope stability. This
paper gives an overview on how unsaturated soil is different from our well known saturated
soil and different methods of analysis of unsaturated soil slope because the principles of
unsaturated soil mechanics are also important in designing other slope preventive measures
such as horizontal drains and vegetative cover.

Keywords: Slope stability, saturated soil, unsaturated soil, Stress state variable, suction,
moisture content, SWCC, hydraulic conductivity, Shear stress, Factor of safety, Limit
equilibrium method, Finite element method, Numerical model, CBS, earthquake, rainfall
infiltration.

Introduction
A slope is defined as a surface on which one end or side is at higher level than another. An
earth slope is an unsupported, inclined surface of a soil mass. The failure of a mass of soil
located beneath a slope is called slide. It involves a downward and outward movement of the
entire mass of soil that participates in the failure. The failure of slopes takes place mainly due
to action of gravitational forces and seepage force within the soil. They may also fail due to
excavation or undercutting of its foot or due to gradual disintegration of the soil.( et al. 2017)
Slope stability analysis is performed to assess the safe design of human made or natural
slopes. If the forces available to resist movement are greater than the forces driving moment,
the slope is considered stable. The key indicator in slope stability analysis is the ratio of the
resisting shear force to shear force along a failure surface.

A. The main types of slope are:

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1. Infinite slope: if a slope represents boundary surface of a semi infinite soil mass and the
soil properties for all identical depths below the surface are constant is called as infinite
slope.

2. Finite slope: if the slope is of limited extent it is called as finite slope.

B. Application:

1. It is used to road cuts, open-pit mining, excavations, and landfills.

2. It is used to earthen dam.

3. It is also used to railway formation, highway embankment, canal bank, levees etc.

4. It is used to deep-seated failure of foundations and retaining walls.

Literature review

Seboong Oh & Ning Lu (2014) was published “Slope Stability under unsaturated condition:
case studies of rainfall induced failure of cut slopes”. They concluded that the traditional
limit equilibrium analysis with finite element scheme is expanded to unsaturated conditions
using a generalized effective stress framework which can be used to accurately analyze and
predict the failure of the unsaturated slopes under transient rainfall conditions. Traditional
slope failure design methodology provides the worst case scenario that employs the saturated
shear strength and the conservative ground water. If engineers determine the stability of
slope and design base on effective stress principle for unsaturated soil it will more accurate.

Jian Zhang, David Zhu, Shihua Zhang (2020) was published “Shallow slope stability
evolution during rainwater infiltration considering soil cracking state” where they
concluded that under unsaturated infiltration both an increase in soil infiltration capacity
caused by cracking and the gradually increasing rainfall pattern will make the slope evolve
towards an unstable state. The FOS gradually approaches a boundary value. For the
pounding infiltration scenario, the more fully developed cracks in the soil are, the larger the
PWP is at the same depth, the smaller the FOS is at the corresponding depth, and the deeper
is the depth affected by the rainwater infiltration is.

Harianto Rahardjo, Yongmin Kim and Alfrendo Satyanag (2019) was published “Role
of unsaturated soil mechanics in geotechnical engineering”. They concluded that assessment
of environment changes on geotechnical structures such as slopes should be incorporating

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the mechanics and properties of unsaturated soil in the numerical analysis. The Capillary
Barrier System using the principles of unsaturated soil changes has effective in minimizing
rain water infiltration into slopes and preventing slope failures.

You-Liang Chen, Geng-Yun Liu, Ning Li, Xi Du, Su-Ran Wang, Rafig Azzam (2019) was
published “Stability evaluation of slope subjected to seismic effect combined with consequent
rainfall”. They consider a southwest slope of china as an example to analyze the stability of
slope and failure mechanism under continuous rainfall after an earthquake. i.e., unsaturated
infiltration and improved plant reinforcement technology using Geo Studio software. They
concluded that existence of cracks contributes to post earthquake rainwater infiltration which
slows down the dissipitation of excess pore water pressure. Slope instability ultimately
caused by soil weakening due to seismic load and reduction in dissipation rate of pore water
pressure and plant reinforcement technology can significantly improve the stability of the
slope and is proved effective by selectively planting in weak or damaged areas.

How unsaturated soil mechanics is different from saturated soil mechanics

The term unsaturated soil mechanics has been used when addressing a wide range of
geotechnical engineering problems where the pore water pressure is negative (or soil suction
is positive). The first unsaturated soil mechanics problem attract attention involved swelling
or expansive soil (Fredlund 2013). Theoretical developments followed the classic areas
common to saturated soils were extended over time to embrace the behavior of unsaturated
soils. The development of unsaturated soil mechanics has in general, adhered to the
principles laid down in the time tested science of continuum mechanics. It is of interest, how
the saturated soil mechanics is differ from unsaturated soil mechanics.

The basic building block for development of a behavior science for any material lies in the
assessment of the stress state variable, which form the basic building blocks for development
of science. State variables needs to be independent of the physical material properties, but
can be used in describe in physical behavior of material. In 1930 Terzaghi defined effective
stress as the variable that could be used to describe the stress state of unsaturated soil.
Effective stress was describes as (𝜎 − 𝑢𝑤 ), where 𝜎 is the total stress and 𝑢𝑤 is the pore
pressure. Several decade later Fredlund and Morgenstern introduces fourth phase of
unsaturated soil mechanics. So to describe the physical process we need another two stress
variable (𝜎 − 𝑢𝑎 ) and (𝑢𝑎 − 𝑢𝑤 ). In 2013, Morgenstern stated the following in the foreword
to the book Unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice “A fundamental distinction
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between saturated and unsaturated soil behavior is the need to express the relationship in the
latter between water content and soil suction, i.e., the soil-water characteristiccurve.
Since1993, there has been an explosion of studies into the measurement of soil suction and
the development of soil-water characteristic curves. A particular effort has been made here to
synthesize these developments in a manner that facilitates applications” (Fredlund 2013).

Fig (a) Visualization of the stress state descriptions for saturated and unsaturated soils

Table I. EQUATION FOR SATURATED AND UNSATURATED SOIL MECHANICS

SUMMARIZED FROM FREDLUND AND RAHARDJO (Rahardjo et al. 2019)

Where, N = normal force at the bottom of the slice, τ = shear stress, hw = hydraulic head,

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c′ = effective cohesion, g = gravitational force, c = cohesion, y = elevation, φ′ = effective
friction angle, β = the slope length at the bottom of the slice, ρw= density of water, t = time,
φb = angle indicating the increase in shear strength due to matric suction, ks = saturated
permeability, vw = water flow velocity, kw= water permeability function, ∂hw/∂y = gradient
of hydraulic head in y-direction, m2w = ratio of water volume change against changes in
matric suction, W = total weight of the slice, α = the angle between horizontal and tangent to
the midpoint of the bottom of each slice.

Measurement of unsaturated soil properties

Unsaturated soil properties play important roles in affecting the rate of rainwater infiltration
and factor of safety variations with time. Therefore, it is important to characterize the
hydraulic and mechanical properties of unsaturated soil with the appropriate apparatuses.
The hydraulic properties, i.e., a soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) and a permeability
function are required for seepage analyses or analyses of water flow throughout soil pores
with respect to variations in matric suctions. The mechanical properties, i.e. unsaturated
shear strength are required for stability analyses of soil slope varying matric suctions
(Rahardjo et al. 2019).

Fig.(b) Extended Mohr–Coulomb failure envelope

Methods of Analysis

The methods of analysis are broadly classified in Limit equilibrium method, finite element
method and numerical modeling. But on slope stability analysis the limit equilibrium and
finite element methods are two basic approaches of analysis ( et al. 2017).

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The limit equilibrium method is the most common approach for analyzing slope stability in
both 2D and 3D. This method investigates the equilibrium of a soil mass tending to slide
down under the influence of gravity. Transitional or rotational movement is considered on an
assumed or known potential slip surface below the soil or rock mass. This method is usually
used to calculate the factor of safety of slope based on Mohr-coulomb criterion. Therefore
the solution to the problem is the analysis of equilibrium of forces, moments or stresses
resisting movement of the mass with those that can cause unstable motion (disturbing force).
The output of the analysis is a factor of safety, defined as the ration of resisting shear stress
to causing shear stress.

As computer performance has improved, the application of finite element in geotechnical

analysis has become increasing now a days. This finite element method represents a
powerful alternative approach for slope stability analysis which is accurate, versatile and
requires a fewer assumptions, especially, regarding the failure mechanism. Slope failure in
the finite element model occurs ‘naturally’ through the zones through which shear strength
of the soil is insufficient to resist the shear stress. However it is critical to understand the
analysis output due to larger numbers of variables offered to the engineers. An initialization
run for a given slope model was carried out and the strains and displacements obtained in
that run set to zero for the subsequent FOS assessment.

Numerical modeling techniques provide an approximate solution to problems which

otherwise cannot be solved by conventional methods, e.g. complex geometry, material
anisotropy, non linear behaviour, in situ stresses. Numerical analysis allows for material
deformation and failure; modeling of pore pressure, creep deformation, dynamic loading,
assessing effects of parameter variations etc. however numerical modeling is restricted by
some limitations. For example, input parameters are not usually measured and availability of
these data is generally poor. Analysis must be executed by well trained user effects Meshing
errors, hardware memory and time restrictions.

Table II. COMPARISON OF LIMIT EQUILIBRAM METHOD AND FINITE ELEMENT

METHOD ( et al. 2017)

Sl.
Limit Equilibrium Method Finite Element Method
No
1. In limit equilibrium method currently In finite element analysis method based on

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 most stability analysis it involves due computer performance has improved
to most simplicity and accuracy. application of finite element in geotechnical
analysis.
It must search for critical surface by Here critical surface is automatically find out
2.
using geometry. by various software’s.
It required only simple Mohr- It must have complete stress strain model for
3.
coulomb soil model. soil.
4. It can’t compute displacement. It can compute displacement.
5. It can’t be model progressive failure. It can model progressive failure.

Fig (b) Flow chart for stability analysis based on limits equilibrium and stress strain analysis
(Rahardjo et al. 2019)

Conclusion

The following remarks can be concluded from this paper

1. The principles and theories of the unsaturated soil mechanics are required for describing
the behaviour of natural soils which are commonly observed in unsaturated conditions.
2. Like saturated soil mechanics here we need three additional hydrodynamic parameter
such as residual moisture (𝜃𝑟 ), air entry pressure (ub) and pore size parameter (n) to
analyze unsaturated soil slope stability.
3. The primary causes of unsaturated slope failure are rainfall, different rainfall pattern,
infiltration, earthquake etc.
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4. The Capillary Barrier System using the principles of unsaturated soil changes has
effective in minimizing rain water infiltration into slopes and preventing slope failures.
5. The methodology to analyze the stability of unsaturated soil slope is quite similar to that
of saturated soil slope except some extra hydrodynamic parameter.

Reference

Chen, Y. L., Liu, G. Y., Li, N., Du, X., Wang, S. R., and Azzam, R. (2020). “Stability
evaluation of slope subjected to seismic effect combined with consequent rainfall.”
Engineering Geology, 266.

Fredlund, D. G. (2013). “The emergence of unsaturated soil mechanics.” Canadian

Geotechnical Journal, 51(12), ix–x.

Mr. Digvijay P. Salunkhe, Assist. Prof. Guruprasd Chvan, Ms. Rupa N. Bartakke, and Ms.
Pooja R Kothavale. (2017). “An Overview on Methods for Slope Stability Analysis.”
International Journal of Engineering Research and, V6(03), 528–535.

Oh, S., and Lu, N. (2015). “Slope stability analysis under unsaturated conditions: Case studies
of rainfall-induced failure of cut slopes.” Engineering Geology, Elsevier B.V., 184, 96–
103.

Rahardjo, H., Kim, Y., and Satyanaga, A. (2019). “Role of unsaturated soil mechanics in
geotechnical engineering.” International Journal of Geo-Engineering, Springer
Singapore, 10(1), 1–23.

Zhang, J., Zhu, D., and Zhang, S. (2020). “Shallow slope stability evolution during rainwater
infiltration considering soil cracking state.” Computers and Geotechnics, Elsevier,
117(September 2019), 103285.