A case study on soil slope landslide failure and parameter analysis of influencing factors for safety factor based on strength reduction method and orthogonal experimental design

PLoS One. 2024 May 15;19(5):e0300586. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300586. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

In civil engineering, stability analysis of slope is one of the main content of design. By using the finite element limit analysis software OptumG2, a landslide geological model is established to simulate the failure process of the landslide in Huadu District, Guangzhou City, China. The analysis focused on the deformation and failure characteristics, as well as the mechanical mechanism of landslide; the landslide mode of homogeneous soil is circular sliding. Additionally, investigating the influencing factors affecting slope stability is crucial in engineering implementation; in which the five influencing factors are considered as follow: slope height, slope gradient, soil cohesion, soil internal friction angle, and soil unit weight, respectively. A stability calculation model for a soil slope is established under 25 working conditions based on strength reduction method and orthogonal experimental design, in which the relationship between the safety factor and slope height, slope gradient, soil cohesion, soil internal friction angle, and soil unit weight is obtained. As the slope height increases from 5m to 45m, the safety factor of soil slope gradually decreases from 2.21 to 0.94; As the slope gradient increases from 20° to 60°, the safety factor of soil slope decreases approximately linearly from 1.80 to 0.95; As the cohesion of soil increases from 10kpa to 30kpa, the safety factor of soil slope increases approximately linearly from 1.04 to 1.60; As the internal friction angle of soil increases from 10° to 30°, the safety factor of soil slope increases approximately linearly from 1.00 to 1.81; As the unit weight of soil increases from 13kN/m3 to 21kN/m3, the safety factor of soil slope decreases approximately linearly from 1.50 to 1.21. The influencing factors affecting the safety factor of soil slope in descending order are slope height, slope angle, soil internal friction angle, soil cohesion, and soil unit weight. The research has reference significance for studying the stability and failure laws of soil slopes and conducting landslide control on soil slopes.

MeSH terms

  • China
  • Landslides*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Research Design
  • Soil* / chemistry

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (Grant No. 2017JJ2110 and Grant No. 2022JJ40160), the Key Scientific Program of Hunan Education Department, China (Grant No. 20A228 and Grant No. 22A0472), and the Innovation Project of Hunan Undergraduate Students (Grant No. S202312658030).