Abstract:

To improve the stability of three-dimensional water-rich reinforced slopes, a three-dimensional slope computational model was constructed. A block of width b was inserted into the bullhorn failure body to characterize the three-dimensional effects along the slope's longitudinal direction. Seismic horizontal dynamic amplification effects, pore water effects, and reinforcement effects were considered simultaneously. The upper bound theorem was employed to solve for the external force power and internal energy dissipation rate at the ultimate failure state. A stability coefficient was introduced to evaluate the stability of the three-dimensional slope. Results indicate that after simplifying the computational model, the findings in this paper are highly aligned with existing research, validating the effectiveness of the presented results. The prerequisite for simplifying the seismic stability problem of a three-dimensional slope into a two-dimensional plane strain problem is a width-to-height ratio B/H ≥ 10. The stability of three-dimensional slopes is significantly reduced and their failure zones are expanded by earthquakes and pore water effects. The location of potential slip planes within the slope is primarily influenced by the intensity level of seismic activity and the magnitude of pore water pressure. The width and depth of the rear edge at the crest are mainly affected by the horizontal dynamic amplification effect of earthquakes. Uniformly distributed reinforcement is outperforms by a reinforcement pattern with sparse reinforcement at the top and dense reinforcement at the bottom. The seismic resistance of three-dimensional slopes can be enhanced by adopting this sparse-top/dense-bottom reinforcement configuration and increasing reinforcement density.

Key words: seismic horizontal dynamic amplification effect, 3D reinforced slope, slope stability, pore water, reinforcement pattern