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Flume experiments to study fine-grain migration and its impact on slope stability

  • Original Article
  • Published: 05 October 2024
  • Volume 21 , pages 3552–3566, ( 2024 )

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experiment slope stability

  • Baoliang Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8049-0534 1 , 2 ,
  • Quanwei Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0007-3465-794X 1 , 2 ,
  • Yong Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5680-3131 3 , 4 ,
  • Zhenguo Yao   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0007-9460-3791 1 , 2 &
  • Hongfei Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-5575 1 , 2  

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Fine grains migration is a primary cause of landslides and debris flows. This study investigates the effect of fine-grain migration on slope failure through flume experiments, focusing on the spatiotemporal characteristics and mechanisms of slope stability. A series of artificial rainfall flume experiments with varying rainfall intensities and slopes were conducted using soil samples collected from Wei Jia Gully. The experiments monitored pore-water pressure, grain migration, and failure sequences. Grain-size distribution parameters ( μ and D c) were analyzed to understand the migration path and accumulation of fine grains. The experiments reveal that fine-grain migration significantly alters soil structure, leading to random blockage and interconnection of internal pore channels. These changes result in fluctuating pore-water pressure distributions and uneven fine-grain accumulation, critical factors in slope stability. Slope failures occur randomly and intermittently, influenced by fine-grain content in runoff and resulting pore-water pressure variations. This study highlights that fine-grain migration plays a vital role in slope stability, with significant implications for predicting and mitigating slope failures. The stochastic nature of fine-grain migration and its impact on soil properties should be incorporated into predictive models to enhance their accuracy and reliability.

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experiment slope stability

Experimental study on the moving characteristics of fine grains in wide grading unconsolidated soil under heavy rainfall

Discontinuous slope failures and pore-water pressure variation, commentary on “experimental study on the moving characteristics of fine grains in wide grading unconsolidated soil under heavy rainfall” by cui yi-fei, zhou xiao-jun and guo chao-xu.

Availability of Data/Materials: The datasets generated during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA23090202), the Key Science and Technology Projects of Transportation Industry (Grant No. 2021-MS4-104), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFC1509900).

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Yellow River Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd., Zhengzhou, 450003, China

Baoliang Wang, Quanwei Wang, Zhenguo Yao & Hongfei Wang

Key Laboratory of Water Management and Water Security for Yellow River Basin, Ministry of Water Resources (under construction), Zhengzhou, 450003, China

Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

Key Laboratory of mountain Hazards and Surface Process, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

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Contributions

Wang Baoliang: Data curation, Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Methodology, Writing-original draft and editing. Wang Quanwei: Methodology, supervision, writing-review. Li Yong: Supervision, Project administration, writing-review and editing. Yao Zhenguo: Software, Validation. Wang Hongfei: Data curation, formal analysis.

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Correspondence to Baoliang Wang .

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Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Wang, B., Wang, Q., Li, Y. et al. Flume experiments to study fine-grain migration and its impact on slope stability. J. Mt. Sci. 21 , 3552–3566 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-024-8833-3

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Received : 16 April 2024

Revised : 24 May 2024

Accepted : 28 July 2024

Published : 05 October 2024

Issue Date : October 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-024-8833-3

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