• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2005

A set of soil samples were picked up from a failed slope formed by rainfall in limestone zone in Jangseong-gun, Jeonnam, Korea, to find out its physical and mechanical characteristics for this study, and variation of safety factor depending on slope inclination was defined by analysing slope stability affected by rainfall. Decomposed limestone soil in the research area is composed of quartz, orthoclase, gibbsite, geothite, etc., with specific gravity of 2.73, and this soil is included in SC by unified soil classification system. Calcium ingredient decreased remarkably during weathering at its mother rock. Coefficient of permeability is 2.56×10/sup -4/ cm/ sec, similar to its value of silty clay. Cohesion decreases remarkably from 3.0 t/ ㎡ to 0.72 t/ ㎡, and Φ value of internal friction angle tends to decrease as it turns to be saturated soil from partial saturated soil in the shear test. To analyze slope stability affected by rainfall, it is reasonable to seek seepage depth with reference to rainfall＊ intensity. In the slope stability analysis, when the seepage depth is the larger, its safety factor is the less, which makes the slope unstable. Comparing with minimum safety factor, 1.5 of cut slope in consideration of the seep-age line, safety factor is found to be satisfactory only when inclination of cut slope of decomposed limestone soil is more than 1：1.2 slope at least considering rainfall. It is also found that decrease of cohesion has great effect on decline of safety factor of slope while partial saturated soil turns to be saturated soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.55-66
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• 2009

At the mudstone slope located on the roadside of the Seokri area in Donghae-myeon, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, this study was performed to analyze the effects of rainfall on the stability of slope through seepage analysis according to the precipitation type of the mudstone slope, referring to the actual case of slope failure. For this, precise geological survey, geophysical exploration and drilling survey for the slope where the failure occurred were performed and followed by analysis of detailed soil layer. For the section where failure surface located, the durability reduction of rocks was measured through slaking/swelling tests and the permeability was measured through in-situ permeability tests for each soil layer. In addition, the change of strength parameter and process of instability were analyzed by back analysis, using Talren 97 and Slope/W programs, in the slope. By applying different precipitation conditions to the geographical conditions of the slope that had actual failure records, the slope stability was analyzed by seepage analysis according to duration of rainfall and rise of groundwater level resulting from the flow of rainfall caused by development of geological structures and the slope surface condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.28-33
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• 2006

Shallow failures of slopes in weathered soils are caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in suction induced by the water infiltration. In this paper, hysteresis on soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) of granite and gneiss weathered soils are investigated using transient flow analysis respectively. Each case was subjected to artificial rainfall intensities and time duration depending on the laboratory-based drying and wetting processes. The results show that the unsaturated seepage on weathered slopes are very much affected by the initial suction of soils and unsaturated permeability of the soils. In addition, a granite weathered soil has a lower air-entry value, residual matric suction, and wetting front suction and less hysteresis loop than a gneiss weathered soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.69-78
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• 2012

Conventional numerical analysis for rainfall-induced slope stability has been estimated by separating seepage and stress-strain behavior, respectively. Many researchers' models from commercial softwares and literatures define that partially saturated permeability is the only function of degree of saturation (or matrix suction) and then they do not consider hydraulic-mechanical characteristics for the analysis. However, in practice, the water flow processes in a deformable soil are influenced by soil skeleton movement and the pore water pressure changed due to seepage will lead to changes in stress and to deformation of a soil. The relationship between seepage and soil behavior causes a change of partially saturated permeability as well as saturated permeability with the lapse of time. Instability of partially saturated soil slopes due to infiltration would be analyzed from reduction of negative pore water pressure calculating the process of water flow based on predicted partially saturated permeability. Therefore, partially saturated permeability should be defined by the function of degree of saturation (or matric suction) and porosity. The paper presents the comparison between staggered and monolithic coupled analysis regarding seepage and stress deformation problems. As a result, the decrease in matric suction on soil slope from monolithic analysis is slower than that from staggered analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.23-30
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• 2012

This paper is research results of slope stability analysis associated with seepage infiltration for unsaturated soil in debris-flow occurrence slopes. Site investigations were carried out in two slopes, located at Inje in Kangwon province where debris flow occurred in 2006 and at Yangpyung in Kyeunggi province where it occurred in 2010. For unsaturated soil sampled at the zone of debris-flow initiation, soil water characteristic curves with tempe pressure cells and shear strength parameters with newly designed shear strength apparatus were obtained respectively. The commertially available software SEEP/W was used to analyze seepage infiltration in unsaturated soil, based on their properties obtained from test results and the actual rainfall data at the moment of debris flow occurrence, and slope stability analysis with the program of SLOPE/W, associated with results of seepage analysis, was performed to simulate slope failure. As results of this research, seepage infiltration to unsaturated soil due to intensive rainfall was found to cause increase of ground water table as well as degree of saturation. Through this research slope stability analysis for unsaturated soil, considering the actual rainfall characteristic, might be a reasonable method of investigating characteristics of debris flow behavior, in particular, the moment of debris flow occurrence.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.2 s.48
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• pp.135-143
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• 2006

This study presents the results of a series of laboratory scale slope failure experiments aimed at clarifying the process and the condition leading to the initiation of rainfall-induced slope failures. For the evaluation of hydrologic response of the model slopes in relation the process of failure initiation, measurements were focused on the changes in volumetric water content during the initiation process. The process leading to failure initiation commences by the development of a seepage face. It appears reasonable to conclude that slope failures are a consequence of the instability of seepage area formed at the slope surface during rainfall period. Therefore, this demonstrates the importance of monitoring the development seepage area for useful prediction about the timing of a particular failure event. The hydrologic response of soil slopes leading to failure initiation is characterized by three phases (phase I, II and III) of significant increase in volumetric water content in association with the ingress of wetting front and the rise of groundwater level within the slope. The period of phase III increase in volumetric water content can be used to initiate advance warning towards a failure initiation event. Therefore, for the concept outlined above, direct and continuous monitoring of the change in volumetric water content is likely to provide the possibility for the development of a reliable and effective means of predicting the occurrence of rainfall-induced slope failures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.5-16
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• 2002

A hydrogeomechanical numerical model is presented to evaluate rainfall impacts on groundwater flow in slopes and slope stability. This numerical model is developed based on the fully coupled poroelastic governing equations for groundwater flow in deforming variably saturated geologic media and the Galerkin finite element method. A series of numerical experiments using the model developed are then applied to an unsaturated slope under various rainfall rates. The numerical simulation results show that the overall hydromechanical slope stability deteriorates, and the potential failure nay initiate from the slope toe and propagate toward the slope crest as the rainfall rate increases. From the viewpoint of hydrogeology, the pressure head and hence the total hydraulic head increase as the rainfall rate increases. As a result, the groundwater table rises, the unsaturated zone reduces, the seepage face expands from the slope toe toward the slope crest, and the groundwater flow velocity increases along the seepage face. From the viewpoint of geomechanics, the horizontal displacement increases, and the vertical displacement decreases toward the slope toe as the rainfall rate increases. This may result from the buoyancy effect associated with the groundwater table rise as the rainfall rate increases. As a result, the overall deformation intensifies toward the slope toe, and the unstable zone, in which the factor of safety against shear failure is less than 1, becomes thicker near the slope toe and propagates from the slope toe toward the slope crest. The numerical simulation results also suggest that the potential tension failure is likely to occur within the slope between the potential shear failure surface and the ground surface.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.45-49
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• 2015

Using 2D numerical analysis that covers the largest section of the dam body, a process is generally performed when evaluating its stability against seepage. The quantity of seepage is first obtained by assuming that its bottom topography is in the simple form of a rectangle, it is then calculated by reflecting its sectional shape during this process of analyzing the seepage quantity. Considering that various forms of dams are being constructed on various types of ground, thanks to more recent technological advances, it is judged more appropriate to draw a conclusion by means of the results on reflecting the realistic shape and topographical conditions of the dam body through 3D numerical analysis. Therefore, this study intends to present a method designed to carry out safety management by evaluating the correct quantity of water leakage that passes only through the dam body, having excluded other factors that include the amount of rainfall through the 3D FEM analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.481-501
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• 2007

Excessive rainfalls due to climatic changes can trigger an increase in rainfall-induced slope failures that pose real threats to both lives and properties. Many high slopes in residual soils could stand at a steep angle, but failed during or after rainfall. Commonly, these slopes have a deep groundwater table and negative pore-water pressures in the unsaturated zone above the groundwater table contribute to the shear strength of soil and consequently to factor of safety of the slope. Stability assessment of slope under rainfall requires information on rate of rainwater infiltration in the unsaturated zone and the resulting changes in pore-water pressure and shear strength of soil. This paper describes the application of unsaturated soil mechanics principles and theories in the assessment of rainfall effect on stability of slope through proper characterization of soil properties, measurement of negative pore-water pressures, seepage and slope stability analyses involving unsaturated and saturated soils. Factors controlling the rate of changes in factor of safety during rainfall and a preventive method to minimize infiltration are highlighted in this paper.