• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.191-198
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• 2009

It has been reported in Korea that surface slope failures in weathered soil are mainly caused by downward infiltration due to rainfall. These failures are triggered by the deepening of the wetting band in soils accompanied by a decrease in matric suction induced by the water infiltration. So, a need exists that these trends of wetting path in gneiss weathered soils, which is commonly found in Korea, are assessed by phenomenological approach. In this paper, numerical analyses of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall conditions are presented based on the wetting path soil-water characteristic curve in the laboratory. As the field SWCC matches well with the wetting path of the laboratory SWCC from the literatures, it seems reasonable to adopt the laboratory wetting SWCC as an upper boundary condition in the assessment of unsaturated slope instability.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.318-328
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• 2015

Effective urban flood reduction and restoration of natural water cycle at present include the application of permeable pavements. The application of permeable pavement addresses urban water cycle and disaster related events which gained attention internationally. However, few researches have been conducted to investigate unsaturated behavior and evaluate the water characteristics curves of these type of pavement materials most especially in the unsaturated state. In this study, first the saturated permeability and the soil-water characteristics curve of a pervious concrete are evaluated based on laboratory tests, and, based on experimental results, the infiltration of permeable pavement system is numerically modelled. In the soil-water characteristics curve of a pervious concrete, the volumetric water content drops very steeply after the air entry value with increasing matric suction. From the finite element analyses, the performance of the permeable pavement when compared to impermeable pavement, confirmed that the whole system effectively delayed and reduced runoff.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2007

Many studies for slope stability studies have indicated that the infiltration of rainwater into a slope decrease the slope stability. In order to minimize damage caused by slope failure, most design codes suggest that the slope stability be analyzed by saturated condition during rainy season. However it would be excessively conservative condition that every soil slope is saturated in rainy season irrespective of rainfall intensity, soil type and slope geometry. In addition, because most soil slopes are in an unsaturated state, it is necessary to consider the unsaturated characteristics of slope. This paper suggests a prediction method of saturation time for the weathered granite soil slopes due to rainfalls. The finite element analysis of transient water flow through unsaturated slope was used to investigate effects of soil-water characteristics, permeability at saturation, slope geometry, and rainfall intensity. From the result of these analyses, the prediction charts considering soil-water characteristics, permeability at saturation, and slope height were proposed in this study. It is possible to the time required to be saturated slope after rainfall.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.5-18
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• 2014

Many regions around the world are vulnerable to rainfall-induced slope failures. A variety of methods have been proposed for revealing the mechanism of slope failure initiation. Current analysis methods, however, do not consider the effects of non-homogeneous soil profiles and variable hydraulic responses on rainfall-induced slope failures. In this study, probabilistic stability analyses were conducted for weathered residual soil slopes with different soil thickness overlying impermeable bedrock to study the rainfall-induced failure mechanisms depending on the soil thickness. A series of seepage and stability analyses of an infinite slope based on one-dimensional random fields were performed to consider the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity on the failure of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration. The results showed that a probabilistic framework can be used to efficiently consider various failure patterns caused by spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in rainfall infiltration assessment for a infinite slope.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.1017-1025
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• 2013

The monolithically coupled finite element analysis for a deformable unsaturated soil slope is performed to investigate matric suction distribution on a soil slope subjected to rainfall infiltration, which can consider the hydraulic-mechanical characteristics for the analysis. The soil-water characteristic curves (SWCC) are experimentally determined to estimate three types of hydraulic properties of domestic areas. Based on the physical properties, the distribution of matric suction is investigated by considering the major factors, such as soil conditions, rainfall intensities, and slope angles. It is found from the results of this study that the matric suction rapidly decreases with an increase in rainfall intensity, regardless a slope angle. The slope surface is more easily saturated when its saturated hydraulic conductivity is smaller than rainfall intensity, and for the case of multi-layered soil slope, hydraulic characteristics of slope surface has a significant influence on matric suction distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2012

Rainfall infiltration test under one dimensional condition is conducted to evaluate the effect of rainfall intensity on seepage velocity and infiltration characteristics for initial unsaturated sediment. Experimental results are compared with those numerical simulations with respect to variations of pore water pressure, degree of saturation and discharge velocity with time, and both results give good agreement. High rainfall intensity tends to increase seepage velocity almost linearly. But it shows rapid increase as rainfall intensity approaches saturated hydraulic conductivity of the sediment. In addition, the upper part of wetting front depth is partially saturated, not fully. Therefore, actual wetting front depth is considered to advance faster than theoretical prediction, which leads to slope instability of unsaturated slope due to surface rainfall.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2017

Variations in matric suction were compared between field measurements and numerical analysis for a tailings dump slope. We performed an analysis of slope stability using precipitation records measured in the field, selecting the period (72 hours) of highest rainfall intensity during the field monitoring, for which the matric suction and rainfall records measured in the field were analyzed. In addition, we applied the precipitation records of this period to the numerical analysis. SEEP/W and SLOPE/W were used to analyze the seepage flow in the slope due to rainfall and to investigate the slope stability considering the wetting front depth from the ground surface, respectively. The seepage analysis, using SEEP/W, was carried out on the rainfall data obtained in the field. Comparisons between the field monitoring data and simulation results for matric suction show some quantitative difference but similar patterns of temporal variation. According to the results of slope stability analysis using SLOPE/W and the results of seepage analysis, the safety factor of the slope showed a sudden increase at the point of rapid increase in rainfall intensity. It then recovered because subsequent rainfall was scarce. Therefore, the stability of the tailings dump slope can be reasonably estimated if seepage and slope stability analyses, based on precipitation records, have been carried out.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1C
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

In this study, the influence of wetting band depth by continuous rainfall and the magnitude of wetting front suction on the stability of slopes in weathered soils were investigated by using finite element programs SEEP/W and SLOPE/W. Three different intensities of rainfall (10mm/hr, 30mm/hr, 50mm/hr) were chosen, and the total duration of rainfall was 96 hours. Three infinite slopes with the inclination of 1:1.5 and 1:1.8, 1:2.0 were considered and the typical properties and the shear strength parameters of the weathered soil were applied. It is shown that rainfall duration plays an important role in slope stability. Based on the analytical results, it is found that as the rainfall duration increases, the wetting band depth also increases. Also, the increasing rate of the wetting band depth was decreased as the soil density was increased. These results come from the decrease of the coefficient of permeability and the increase of the soil suction. Finally, it is also shown that the safety factors of slopes by unsaturated analysis are mostly larger than those by saturated analysis. Therefore, commonly used saturated analysis may substantially underestimate the degree of safety factor in realistic situations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.55-65
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• 2009

It has been well known that the infiltration of rainfall causes major surfacial slope failures in Korea. However, the hydrological and mechanical behaviors in unsaturated slopes are somewhat complex. When an analysis on unsaturated slope problems is performed, soil-water characteristics curves (SWCC) are considered as major parameters to apply. Since the weathered soil slopes are layered and stressed by overburden pressures, the response of SWCCs should account for its overburden pressure. To deal with this situation, in this study, laboratory testings were conducted to evaluate the SWCC under various overburden stress. In addition, the unsaturated shear strength was estimated using SWCC. Then the performance of unsaturated weathered soil slopes was evaluated under various conditions after applying the effect of overburden pressure on SWCCs. The results demonstrated that the effect of overburden pressure on SWCC could be substantial and the proper application to analysis is very important to enhance the prediction of slope stability.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 1984

The main part of this thesis deals with a three-dimensional transient seepage flow, discussing its fundamental conception into Which the mathematical analysis was introduced based upon the finite element method, propriety of geometrical analysis and flow movement of seepage water. As is commented in the body of the report, the saturated-unsaturated method with respect to the free water surface method is revealed to have the relative merits and demerits. Generally, the unknown sections in the form of free water surface matters in case that tunnels or pores appear. On the other hand, the applicable range is quite large and variable to the methods accordingly. Also, an example as to the seepage analysis in the rock bed section is described. An unfavorable time-consuming problem is inevitale because the complicated and widely multifarious joints and faults are responsible for the intensity of seepage flow.