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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Interdisciplinary Physics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1526223
This article is part of the Research Topic Understanding Geomaterial Instability: Physics and Mechanics of Landslides and Seismic Events View all 10 articles

Evaluating Seismic Stability of Reinforced Soil Slopes Using the Limit Equilibrium Method: Influence of Geosynthetic Strength Indicators

Provisionally accepted
Xin Chen Xin Chen 1Zheng Zhou Zheng Zhou 2*Yuming Zhu Yuming Zhu 3Shikun Pu Shikun Pu 2Dengke Zhang Dengke Zhang 2Erbing Li Erbing Li 2
  • 1 School of Civil Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Explosion & Impact, Chinese People's Liberation Army Engineering University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Seismic stability of soil slopes is a critical issue within engineering geology, with a particular emphasis on understanding how geosynthetic strength indicators influence the stability of reinforced slopes. This paper employs the limit equilibrium method, in conjunction with the log spiral curve model, to evaluate the seismic stability of reinforced soil slopes considering varying pullout strength indicators. The proposed method is verified by comparing with a same case in the corresponding reference. Then, effects of the non-uniform pullout strength distribution on the seismic reinforcement of slopes is revealed theoretically by changing parameters such as slope angles, friction angles of fill soils, and design length of geosynthetics. The results indicated that when lengths of the geosynthetics are reduced, the seismic yield accelerations calculated using the ultimate bearing capacity is significantly smaller than that obtained using the ultimate pullout strength. It is suggested that the nonuniform pullout strength distribution should be taken into consideration to ensure the stability of slopes under seismic actions. Additionally, this study provides new perspectives and methods for the theoretical study and engineering application of geosynthetic reinforcement techniques.

    Keywords: Soil slopes, Seismic stability, limit equilibrium Method, pullout strength of geosynthetics, log spiral curve model

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 27 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhou, Zhu, Pu, Zhang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zheng Zhou, State Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Explosion & Impact, Chinese People's Liberation Army Engineering University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.