Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Engineering Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 April 2013
Received in revised form 30 November 2013
Accepted 16 December 2013
Available online 24 December 2013
Keywords:
Rainfall-induced landslide
Stressstrain relation
Unsaturated soil
Suction
Pore pressure
a b s t r a c t
To examine the relationship between the increase of the shear strain and the volumetric water content, the suction, and the pore pressure in a slope under rainfall, an analysis of the measurement of the soilwater and the
deformation of the sandy model slope due to rainfall inltration is conducted. At rst, the surface displacement
of the slope mostly occurs due to the increase of the pore pressure. The surface displacement increases slightly
under unsaturated conditions at rst and later increases signicantly with the increase of the pore pressure.
The surface displacement increases slightly immediately after the generation of the pore pressure at rst, and
the ratio of the increase of the surface displacement to the increase of the pore pressure subsequently grows
larger. The shear strain in the soil layer of the model slope also increases to a small amount with the increase
of the volumetric water content or the decrease of the suction in unsaturated conditions at rst and later increases signicantly with the increment of the positive pore pressure. The relationship between the shear strain
and the positive pore pressure is hyperbolic, and the maximum pore pressure is greater at a deeper layer.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Many studies on time prediction methods for the occurrence of
landslides based on the measurement of the slope deformation have
been reported. The methods are a combination of the measurement of
the surface displacement by extensometers (e.g., Saito and Yamada,
1973), geodetic surveys, GPS (e.g., Crosta and Agliardi, 2003) and empirical formulas based on the creep theory of soil. Several of the methods
have often been adopted successfully for practical early warnings
of landslides. Moreover, a conventional tilt meter with microelectromechanical system (MEMS) (Ito and Toyosawa, 2009; Uchimura et al.,
2009; Dasenbrock et al., 2012) has recently been used to measure the
slope deformation because it is notably easy to install on the surface of
a landslide. It is expected that a combination of the measurements by
conventional tilt meters and the creep theory can be more widely used
for early warnings of landslides.
The creep theory of soil describes the timedisplacement relationship before the failure of the soil. In particular, this theory can describe
accelerative surface displacement immediately before the upset of the
slope failure such that certain formulae for predicting the time of
upset of a landslide have been established based on this theory (Saito,
1965; Saito and Yamada, 1973; Varns, 1982; Fukuzono, 1985; Voight,
1988, 1989; Crosta and Agliardi, 2003; Xiao et al., 2009; Bozzano and
Mazzanti, 2012). While these formulae could successfully predict the
44
600
Boundary conditions
500
400
300
200
100
0
57.7
B
D
Table 1
Physical and mechanical properties of the soil in the model slope.
50
C
Inclination 30
Horizontal section
Slope section
300
Unit: m
Fig. 1. Geometry of the model slope and the arrangement of the measurement devices.
0.947
0.619
0.6520.678
82.189.9
3.74.4
0.0368
0.0
34.9
45
100
80
60
40
20
0
0.001
0.01
0.1
10
upper boundary of the ume and the moving pole at the surface of the
slope was measured by an extensometer. The moving pole moves in
the downward direction of the slope with the surface displacement
due to shear deformation of the model slope. Moving poles were set
at the surface of the slope at distances of 150 cm, 300 cm, and 450 cm
from the toe of the slope. The surface displacement was measured by
an angle sensor xed at the upper boundary of the ume, CPP-60,
MIDORI PRECISIONS with a non-linearity of approximately 0.1 mm.
The vertical displacement at the surface was measured by the same
gauge as the compression strain, which is composed of a steel plate
and a linear displacement gauge. The suction in the slope was measured
by a tensiometer, DIK-3023, DAIKI RIKA, Inc. with an accuracy of 1 kPa,
and the V.W.C. was measured by a soil moisture gauge, EC-10, Decagon
Devices, Inc. with an accuracy of 0.02 m3/m3. The principal of the sensor
is to measure the dielectric constant of the soil, however calibrations for
the granite soil used for the model were performed and the relations between output (mV) and V.W.C. were derived for each sensor. Tensiometers and soil moisture sensors are located every 10 cm in depth to
measure the vertical distribution of the suction and V.W.C.. The groundwater level (hereafter, G.W.L.) at the base of the slope was measured by
a water level gauge, which is TD4310, Toyota Koki, Inc. with an accuracy
of 1 cm. The water level gauges were set at the base of the model slope
at distances of 0 cm, 150 cm, 300 cm, 450 cm, and 525 cm from the toe
of the slope. Because steel wall at upstream boundary of the ume intercepts rainfall between 550 cm and 600 cm from the foot of the slope,
Depth X 1 cm
Subsidence
Depth X 2 cm
Subsidence
Compression strain
Photo 2. The shear strain gauge.
comp.
46
the highest location of the water level gauge is 525 cm from the foot of
the slope.
Fig. 5. Time variation of the surface displacement, the surface vertical displacement and
the groundwater level at different distances from the toe of the model slope.
3. Experimental results
3.1. Movement of the surface and the groundwater level
Table 2
Articial rainfall conditions.
Number
Intensity (mm/h)
PPRE-1
PRE-2
PRE-3
RAIN
30
30
15
30
Duration
Oct.20
Oct.23
Oct.26
Nov.4
11:00:3614:00:00
9:34:2511:15:00
9:45:0012:42:43
11:00:0015:00:00
47
4. Discussion
4.1. Relation between the surface and vertical displacements and the G.W.L.
Fig. 6. Time variation of the V.W.C., the suction, the compression strain and the shear strain
in the slope. V.W.C.: volumetric water content.
48
the experiment
the experiment
Fig. 7. Relation between the surface displacement and the groundwater level. (a) Whole
duration of the experiment. (b) Duration just after the start of the experiment.
Fig. 8. Relation between the surface vertical displacement and the groundwater level. (a)
Whole duration of the experiment. (b) Duration just after the start of the experiment.
4.2. Deformation due to the variation of the pore pressure in the slope
To examine the stressstrain relation in the slope, the relation between the shear strain and the V.W.C., the shear strain and the suction,
the shear strain and the pore pressure, and the shear strain and the
Fig. 9. Relation between the shear strain and the V.W.C. V.W.C.: volumetric water content.
49
Fig. 10. Relation between the shear strain and the suction.
stress ratio in the model slope are shown in Figs. 9, 10, 11 and
12, respectively.
The relationships between the shear strain and the V.W.C. at each
depth in the slope are shown in Fig. 9. The shear strain shows a slight
increase with a large increase of the V.W.C. at rst, and the ratio of the
shear strain increment to the V.W.C. increment later becomes large at
a certain value of the V.W.C.. For example, the critical value of the
V.W.C. at the depth of 4.6 cm is 36%. Although the critical value of
V.W.C. below 23 cm exceeds the V.W.C. at saturation, the difference between the former and the latter might be almost same with the accuracy
of the soil moisture sensor (0.02 m3/m3) thus the critical value of V.W.C.
below 23 cm can be recognized to be same with the V.W.C. at saturation. The shear strain proceeds under almost constant V.W.C. after the
critical value of the V.W.C. The arrows in the gure suggest the shear
strains at the generation of the relative pore pressure head at the depths
of 23, 32.2, and 41.4 cm. The relative pore pressure head is dened as
the difference between the G.W.L. and the vertical distance between
the depth of the tilt meter and the base of the slope and indicates the
Fig. 12. Relation between the shear strain and the stress ratio.
pore pressure head at each depth of the slope (Fig. 13). It is understood
that the shear strain at the generation of a relative pore pressure is almost same as that at the start of the large increase of the shear strain
under a constant V.W.C. for the depth of 41.4 cm. However, the shear
strain at the generation of the pore pressure at the depth of 23 cm
and 32.2 cm does not coincide with the shear strain at the start of the
remarkable increase of the shear strain under a constant V.W.C. It
might due to the deformation with the decrease of saturation in the unsaturated condition. The relation between the shear strain and the suction is shown in Fig. 10. The shear strain proceeds with the decrease of
the suction at layers deeper than 23 cm. The ratio of the increase of
the shear strain to the decrease of the suction becomes larger with the
increase of the shear strain, and shear strain nally increases under almost constant suction, even in the deep layers. However, the shear
strain increases with a small rate from the start until 3 kPa, and the
shear strain increases remarkably with the decrease of the suction
from 3 kPa in layers shallower than 23 cm. The arrows show the shear
strain at the generation of the relative pore pressure at the depths of
23, 32.2, and 41.4 cm. The shear strains coincide with shear strains at
the start of the large increase. It is understood that shear strain increases
with a positive value of the suction, even after the generation of the relative pore pressure, and that the value of the suction after the generation of the relative pore pressure at shallower layers is slightly larger.
It suggests that the pore pressure is generated under quasi-saturated
conditions, which means that air bubbles are still included in the voids
of the soil such that the value of the suction is still positive. These examinations indicate that the shear strain increases at a small rate with the
increase of the V.W.C. or the decrease of the suction under unsaturated
conditions, while it increases at a large rate with the generation of the
pore pressure.
Because a large increase of the shear strain is suggested to be caused
by the pore pressure according to the examination above, the relationship between the shear strain and the relative pore pressure in the
slope is shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 11 (a) shows the relationship until a
large shear strain of 0.4. The shear strain at the depths of 4.6 cm and
13.8 cm is not shown in the gure because it increases without the
generation of a relative pore pressure in the unsaturated condition.
Groundwater level
Relative pore pressure
head at Depth z
Depth z
Soil layer
depth
the experiment
Fig. 11. Relation between the shear strain and the relative pore pressure head. (a) Whole
duration of the experiment. (b) Duration just after the start of the experiment.
50
The shear strain at the depths of 23 cm, 32.2 cm, and 41.4 cm increases
without the generation of a relative pore pressure at rst and later increases with the increase of the relative pore pressure in the saturated
condition. In the saturated condition, the ratio of the shear strain increment to the relative pressure increment becomes larger as the shear
strain increases up to the maximum pore pressure. The relationship between the shear strain and the pore pressure up to the maximum pore
pressure can be modied by a hyperbolic relationship which might be
just like to the stressstrain relation of the soil (Lamb and Whitman,
1969). It is recognized that the amount of shear strain without the
generation of the relative pore pressure is larger at shallower layers
according to Fig. 11 (b), even though the maximum pore pressure in
deeper layers is larger. Thus, the shear deformation at deeper layers
depends more on the pore pressure under saturated conditions, while
that at shallower layers depend more on the increase of the V.W.C. or
the decrease of the suction under unsaturated conditions. Not only the
relation between the shear strain and the pore pressure but also the
relation between the shear strain and the suction in the slope should
be necessary to explain the fact that shear deformation of the slope
proceeds not only with the increase of pore pressure but also without
the generation of pore pressure.
Fig. 12 shows the relationship between the shear strain and the
stress ratio in the model slope. The stress ratio is dened as the ratio
of the shear stress to the effective normal stress at some depth in the
slope under direct shear conditions. The normal stress at some depth
(x) is derived from the equation below.
Z
x
x
0
d w dx:
In this equation, x is the depth in the slope, d is the dry unit weight
of the soil derived from the void ratio, w is the unit weight of water, and
is the V.W.C. measured in the slope. The shear stress at some depth
(x) is derived as
x x sin :
x xpx:
the increase of the compression strain to the increase of the pore pressure becomes larger with increasing compression strain. The maximum
pore pressure at a deeper layer is larger than that at a shallower layer.
Thus, the compression at a deeper layer depends more on the increase
of the pore pressure.
From the examination above, it is made clear that shear and
compression deformation of the model slope proceeds not only with
the increase of pore pressure in the model slope but also without the
generation of the pore pressure in the model slope. The deformation
without the generation of pore pressure might be due to the decrease
of suction or the increase of V.W.C. in the model slope and relatively
smaller than the deformation with the increase of pore pressure. The
modeling of the deformation of the slope due to the rainfall inltration
needs not only the relation between the strain and the pore pressure in
the slope but also the relation between the strain and the suction, the
V.W.C. in the slope. The modeling can be applied to the time prediction
of the upset of rainfall-induced landslide with the monitoring of the
deformation and soilwater in the slope.
5. Conclusions
Monitoring of the soilwater, the shear and the compression deformation in a sandy model slope under constant rainfall intensity was
performed to examine stressstrain relation in the slope. An analysis
of the measured data led to the following conclusions.
Fig. 14. Relation between the compression strain and the related pore pressure head.
Fig. 12 shows that relation between the shear strain and the stress
ratio can also be modied by a hyperbolic curve while the maximum
stress ratio at deeper layers is larger than that at shallower layers. The
latter fact is counter to the general theory that the ultimate stress ratio
of the same soil is unique. Now the reason for the fact cannot be identied. More detailed examination should be necessary. The deformation
in the unsaturated condition might give some inuence to the fact.
The relation between the shear strain and the suction, the V.W.C. should
be necessary to make the reason clear of the difference of stress ratio at
each depth.
Fig. 14 shows the relation between the compression strain and the
relative pore pressure head at some depth in the slope. The compression
strains at the depths of 4.6 cm and 13.8 cm increase without the generation of a positive pore pressure; thus, they are not shown in the gure.
The compression strain at the depth of 23 cm increases to 0.07 without
the generation of pore pressure at rst and later decreases until 0.08
with the increase of the pore pressure. The compression strain at other
depths increases with the increase of the pore pressure, and the ratio of
pressure and the stress ratio are larger in deeper soil layers. The
relation between the compression strain and the pore pressure
is almost same as the relation between the shear strain and the
pore pressure.
(5) The modeling of the deformation of the slope due to rainfall
inltration needs not only the relation between the strain and
the pore pressure in the slope but also the relation between the
strain and the suction, the V.W.C. in the slope. The modeling
can be applied to time prediction of the upset of rainfallinduced landslide.
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