• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2016

The time distribution of rainfall is one of the most important considerations for evaluating soil slope stability. In order to study the rainfall-induced slope failure, the rainfall pattern has generally been assumed as uniform rainfall intensity for rainfall duration. However, it should be noted that the time distribution of the design rainfall method has a significant effect on the soil slope instability. The study implemented Mononobe, Huff, and uniform method as three types of time distribution method of the design rainfall to estimate the factor of safety of soil slopes by rainfall duration. As a result, the difference of soil suction and unsaturated hydraulic properties in a soil by rainfall pattern was found through the application of an appropriate time distribution method to numerical simulation for rainfall-induced slope stability.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1489-1498
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• 2013

The monolithically coupled finite element analysis for a deformable unsaturated soil slope is performed to investigate the effect of antecedent rainfall which is assumed by initial conditions varying degree of saturation (36, 51, 77%) in finite element analysis. The distributions of matric suction and deformation on slope surface obtained from numerical simulation show the instability of antecedent rainfall-induced unsaturated soil slope. Moreover, the numerical analysis using Drucker-Prager model can be checked if a soil slope has reached failure (trial failure criterion $f^{tr}$ >0, plastic behavior) or not (trial failure criterion $f^{tr}$ < 0, elastic behavior). It is found that displacement of slope surface layer increases and the matric suction on soil slope decreases with an increase of initial degree of saturation by antecedent rainfall. Especially, the matric suction of the soil slope in dry condition (S=36%) rapidly decreases rather than that in wet condition (S=51%) at the same rainfall duration. The results of the trial failure criterion ($f^{tr}$ > 0) show slope instability in the toe region and surface of the slopes.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.53-68
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• 1991

This paper aims at the investigation of various seepage behavior when rainfall infiltarates into unsaturated ground and understanding of the mechanism for slope instability due to rainfall. For this purpose an experimental study is carried out for model slopes using the test equipment which can simulate various rainfall intensity. In addition, a numerical study is performed for the same dimension and boundary condition as the experimental model. From both the experimental test and numerical analysis the progress of wetting front with time, critical amounts of rainfall, and pore-water pressure development with time are know in detail and their effects on slope stability are described.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.375-380
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• 2005

In Korea, most landslides are occurred during the rainy season from June to September and have a shallow failure plane parallel to the slope. For these types of rainfall-induced failures, the most important factors triggering slope unstability is not the increase of pore water pressure but the decrease of the matric suction of unsaturated soils by rainfall infiltration. So it is essential to landslide hazard assessment that defines the characteristics of infiltration in natural slopes. In this study, field measurements have been carried out in order to monitor in-situ volumetric water contents and ground water table, at several depths and locations on a natural slope. The results show that rainfall infiltration is correlated with antecedent water contents, rainfall intensity and total rainfall. The ground water table was varied sensitively by every rainfall event.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2014

Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (HC) is integrated theoretically from soil water retention curves (SWRC) by Mualem capillary model, but the prediction of HC is extremely sensitive to small variation of matric suction near saturation. Near saturation, the Mualem HC based on smooth SWRC decreases abruptly and has problems in the reliability of hydraulic behavior and the stability of numerical solutions. To improve van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) HC, the van Genuchten SWRC model is modified within range of low matric suction (arbitrary air entry pressure). At an arbitrary air entry pressure, the VG SWRC is linearized in log scale until full saturation. The modified VG SWRC does not affect the fit of actual retention behavior and either the parameters of original VG SWRC fit. Using the modified VG SWRC, the VGM HC is modified to integrate for each interval decomposed by arbitrary air entry pressure. An analytical solution on modified VGM HC is proposed each interval, to protect the rapid change in HC near saturation. For silty soils, VGM models of HC function underestimate the unsaturated permeability characteristics and especially show rapid reduction near saturation. The modified VGM model predicts more accurate HC functions for Korean weathered soils. Furthermore, near saturation, the saturated HC is conserved by the modified VGM model. After 2-D infiltration analysis of an actual slope, the hydraulic behaviors are compared for VGM and the modified models. The prediction by the proposed model conserved the convergence of solutions on various rainfall conditions. However, the solution by VGM model did not converge since the conductivity near saturation reduced abruptly for heavy rainfall condition. Using VGM model, the factor of safety is overestimated in both initial and final stage during heavy rainfall. Stability analysis based on infiltration analysis could simulate the actual slope failure by the proposed model on HC.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2015

This study has obtained Soil Water Retention Curve (SWRC) of the unsaturated soil from the volumetric pressure plate extractor test and the triaxial compression tests was also conducted. By using the rainfall data measured in the site the seepage analysis of unsteady flow was performed with the program of SEEP/W in Geostudio 2007 and stability of the slope was analyzed with SLOPE/W program. Results of analyses show that shear strength of the unsaturated soil increases with the increase of matric suction. And it was also found that the net volumetric stress and the apparent cohesion increased with the matric suction. The seepage analysis of rainfall represents that the increasing rate of negative pore pressure at the zone of large negative pore pressure is appeared to be high even though lower rainfall intensity, but this tendency declines with ground depth. The stability analysis of slope was carried out for the actual plane of failure with the data representing the field condition. The factor of safety thus calculated was about unity (1.0) or just below, which means that the adopted method of analysis is in good agreement with the field condition.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.34-34
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• 2012

Heavy storms rainfall has caused many landslides and slope failures especially in the mountainous area of the world. Landslides and slope failures are common geologic hazards and posed serious threats and globally cause billions in monetary losses and thousands of casualies each year so that studies on slope stability and its failure mechanism under rainfall are being increasing attention of these days. Rainfall-induced slope failures are generally caused by the rise in ground water level, and increase in pore water pressures and seepage forces during periods of intense rainfall. The effective stress in the soil will be decreased due to the increased pore pressure, which thus reduces the soil shear strength, eventually resulting in slope failure. During the rainfall, a wetting front goes downward into the slope, resulting in a gradual increase of the water content and a decrease of the negative pore-water pressure. This negative pore-water pressure is referred to as matric suction when referenced to the pore air pressure that contributes to the stability of unsaturated soil slopes. Therefore, the importance is the study of saturated unsaturated soil behaviors in evaluation of slope stability under heavy rainfall condition. In an actual field, a series of failures may occur in a slope due to a rainfall event. So, this study attempts to develop a numerical model to investigate this failure mechanism. A two-dimensional seepage flow model coupled with a one-dimensional surface flow and erosion/deposition model is used for seepage analysis. It is necessary to identify either there is surface runoff produced or not in a soil slope during a rainfall event, while analyzing the seepage and stability of such slopes. Runoff produced by rainfall may result erosion/deposition process on the surface of the slope. The depth of runoff has vital role in the seepage process within the soil domain so that surface flow and erosion/deposition model computes the surface water head of the runoff produced by the rainfall, and erosion/deposition on the surface of the model slope. Pore water pressure and moisture content data obtained by the seepage flow model are then used to analyze the stability of the slope. Spencer method of slope stability analysis is incorporated into dynamic programming to locate the critical slip surface of a general slope.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.39-47
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• 2022

This study aims at evaluating the stability of disaster risks, such as schools, apartments, and geotechnical structures located around slopes in urban areas. The research conducted an aerial photography analysis on where the slope of the retaining wall behind 𐩒𐩒 High School in Gwangju collapsed in August 2018 due to heavy rain. In general, the overflow of rainwater has been managed through drainage channels around slopes during the rainy season, and the surface flow of rainfall was limited due to the presence of dense forests in the area. However, when the slope collapsed, a lot of water flowed out of the ground, and the saturated surface layer ground was destroyed. To analyze the cause, the changed terrain of the upper slope area, which could not be directly identified, was photographed using unmanned aerial vehicles. Digital Elevation Model by unmanned aerial vehicle shooting was performed by analyzing the slope map, calculating the direction of rainfall and the length and width of water-logged areas. The change in the instability of the slope over time due to a 10-day rainfall was also analyzed through numerical analysis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.299-304
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• 2015

Slope stability analysis of unsaturated soil slopes due to rainfall infiltration is an important issue in evaluating landslide analysis and stability assessment. The purpose of this study is to establish the critical depth considering weathered soil of parent rock and rainfall intensity at main scarp in national landslide. Based on the analytical results, it is found that as rainfall duration and Slope angle increased, the critical depth of gneiss-weathered soil increased from 3.00 m to 3.77 m, the critical depth of granite weathered-soil increased from 1.75 m to 2.40 m, and the critical depth of mudstone-weathered soil increased from 3.00 m to 4.15 m, respectively. The critical depth of granite-weathered soil with low cohesion and high internal friction angle is much lower than those of other soils. It is interestingly shown that a decrease in the safety factor is highly significant, much affected by the slope increase rather than the rainfall intensity.