• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.175-189
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• 2020

A set of relatively simple five local shear and tension failure variables is presented and then implemented into a generalized poroelastic hydromechanical numerical model to analyze failure potential and stability of variably saturated geologic media. These five local shear and tension failure variables are formulated from geometrical relationships between the Mohr circle and the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion superimposed with the tension cutoff, which approximate together the Mohr effective stress failure envelope. Finally, fully coupled groundwater flow and land deformation in two variably saturated geologic media, which are associated with a slope (Case 1) and a tunnel (Case 2), respectively, and their failure potential and stability are simulated using the resultant hydromechanical numerical model. The numerical simulation results of both cases show that shear and tension failure potential and stability of variably saturated geologic media can be analyzed numerically simply and efficiently and even better by using the five local shear and tension failure variables as a set than by using the conventional factors of safety against shear and tension failures only.

• 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.