Rainfall-induced slope instability is a critical challenge in geotechnical engineering. This study investigates the reinforcement effect of anti-slide piles on slope stability under rainfall conditions using finite element numerical simulations, based on a slope reinforcement project in Youxi County, Fujian Province. The MIDAS GTS NX 2019(v1.2) software was employed to analyze the effects of anti-slide pile arrangements on slope safety factors, pore water pressure, displacement fields, and reinforcement effectiveness. The results showed that anti-slide piles significantly enhanced slope stability by mitigating the adverse effects of rainfall, such as an increased pore water pressure and reduced soil strength. The optimal stability was achieved when anti-slide piles were positioned in the middle sections of the slope, and the horizontal displacement in the x-direction was reduced from 74.49 mm (without reinforcement) to 7.42 mm, achieving a reduction of 90.0%, effectively reducing horizontal displacement and plastic strain zones. This study provides valuable insights into the interaction mechanisms between anti-slide piles and soil, offering practical guidance for slope reinforcement design and strategies to mitigate rainfall-induced slope failures.

Climate change is becoming a greater global challenge, leading to more frequent and intense extreme weather events, which in turn increase mountain hazards like shallow landslides and soil erosion. Ecological slope protection using vegetation has gained increasing attention to mitigate natural disasters in recent years. While numerous studies have demonstrated the contribution of root systems to soil reinforcement, the comprehensive impact of roots on soil mechanical response under rainfall scenarios remains elusive. This study investigates the instability and deformation behaviors of root-reinforced soil through constant shear drained (CSD) tests. The role of root characteristics, including biomass, diameter, and length, in modulating the shear strength, instability and deformation behaviors of soils is investigated. The results indicate that the shear strength and stability of rootreinforced soil, as well as the inhibition effect of root on contractive deformation after the initiation of instability, increasing with greater root biomass and length and smaller root diameter. Moreover, due to the potential weak interfaces, fine or stiff long roots appear to increase the likelihood of volumetric dilation in root-reinforced soil at the later stage of unstable deformation. However, this dilatancy can be effectively resisted by increasing root planting density to form the root network. Furthermore, our experiments suggest that herbaceous vegetation with finer and longer roots is more effective in mitigating static liquefaction of soils induced by rainfall infiltration. This study helps develop a predictive constitutive model for root-reinforced soils and supports future bioengineering slope design.

In evaluating the safety of rock slopes engineering, it is imperative to account for rheological effects. These effects can lead to significant deformations that may adversely impact the overall structural integrity. Consequently, accurate determination of the rheological mechanical parameters of slope rocks is essential. However, the application of rheological parameters obtained from laboratory tests encounters limitations due to the rock's inherent heterogeneity, scale effects, and inevitable sample dispersion. By contrast, on-site monitoring data serve as critical assets for real-time calibration and risk assessment in the evaluation of rheological parameters and prediction of slope deformation. To integrate on-site monitoring data with rheological mechanical mechanisms, this study introduces a probabilistic inverse model for evaluating rock slope rheological parameters, grounded in Bayesian theory, and incorporating a No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling algorithm. In terms of methodological efficiency, we compared the NUTS method with the traditional Metropolis-Hastings (M-H) approach, demonstrating the superior efficiency of the former. Additionally, sensitivity analysis of rheological parameters was conducted using the Burgers constitutive model. By combining the NUTS-based MCMC method with this model, the uncertainty of creep parameters was successfully evaluated. Utilizing these updated posterior parameters, up to 3-year deformation forecast for the slope was executed, the findings demonstrate that the deformation on the left bank slope is slight, indicating a state of safety. This study integrates monitoring data with rheological mechanics to establish a physical-data-driven rheological safety assessment mechanism. It offers a scientifically robust and effective approach for the uncertainty evaluation of rheological parameters and deformation prediction, providing significant support for the safety assessment of the left bank slope of the Baihetan hydropower station, China.

Despite the widespread application of data-centric techniques in Geotechnical Engineering, there is a rising need for building trust in the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven safety assessment of road embankments due to its so-called black-boxnature. In addition, from the lens of limit equilibrium approaches, e.g., Bishop, Fellenius, Janbu and Morgenstern-Price, and finite element method, it is essential to carefully examine the interplay of both topological and physical/mechanical properties during the safety factor (FoS) predictions. First, aside from having conventional geotechnical inputs for soil in core and foundation and the height of embankments, this paper codifies geometric features innovatively. The number of slope types with different ratios including 1:1, 1.5:1 and 2:1 as well as the number of berms is introduced. Second, a pool of 19 machine learning (ML) techniques is effortlessly trained on the dataset using an automated ML (AutoML) pipeline to identify the most optimized ML algorithm. Finally, to achieve post-hoc interpretability for the internal mechanism of the input- output relationship unbiasedly, a game-theory-based explainable AI (XAI) method called Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) values is applied. SHAP-aided importance analysis provides human-interpretable insights and indicates height, California bearing ratio, slope type 2:1 and cohesion as the most influential parameters. Exclusively, analyzing hazardous embankments by classifying main and joint contributors exhibits a complex and highly variable influence on the FoS. This paper harnesses the power of XAI tools to enhance reliability and transparency for the rapid FoS prediction of slopes. It targets geotechnical researchers, practitioners, decision-makers, and the general public for the first time.

Shallow slope instability poses a significant ecological threat, often leading to severe environmental degradation. While vegetation, particularly woody plants, is commonly employed in slope stabilization, herbaceous vegetation offers distinct and underexplored advantages. This paper reviews the role of herbaceous plants in enhancing slope stability, analyzing their mechanical and ecological mechanisms. Through an extensive review of the literature, this review challenges the prevailing view that woody vegetation is superior for slope stabilization, finding that herbaceous plants can be equally or more effective under certain conditions. The key findings include the identification of specific root parameters and species that contribute to soil reinforcement and erosion control. The review highlights the need for further research on optimizing plant species selection and management practices to maximize the slope stabilization effects. These insights have practical implications for ecological slope engineering, offering guidance on integrating herbaceous vegetation into sustainable land management strategies.

To address the limited comprehension of the dynamic response characteristics of soil-rock mixture (SRM) slopes, three sets of large-scale shaking table model tests of SRM slope with different rock contents were designed and conducted based on the similarity principle. The differences in dynamic response of SRM slope with different rock contents were systematically compared and analyzed. The research results indicate that the acceleration response of SRM slopes under earthquake action conforms to the free surface effect, that is, the acceleration amplification effect of the slope is significantly stronger near the top of the slope than within the slope. However, the dynamic response of SRM slopes with different rock contents under sine wave excitation of different frequencies is significantly different, this is due to the differences in the dynamic properties of slope structures with different rock contents. Under seismic action, the dynamic earth pressure of SRM slopes with different rock contents increases continuously from the shallow surface to the interior of the slope, but due to the different degrees of deformation and damage of the slope body, the overall dynamic soil pressure response of slopes with different rock contents is different. Moreover, during the entire seismic wave grading loading process, the sudden changes in dynamic soil pressure at different parts of the slope can serve as the basis for dynamic failure of the slope. As the rock content rises, the overall deformation of the slope under seismic action decreases gradually. For instance, a slope with 20% rock content exhibits continuous sliding from shallow to deep layers, while slopes with 40% and 60% rock content have relatively small deformation. A slope with 40% rock content only experience sliding of surface rock and soil, and a slope with 60% rock content only experience peeling of shallow surface soil. This indicates that higher rock content reinforces the stability of the SRM slopes.

The construction of fill slopes becomes a critical aspect when there is a need to change the terrain or create new terrain. However, due to the poor engineering properties of the fill material, especially when red sandstone with notable disintegration properties is used, the risk of slippage or collapse may occur. This material is prone to erosion and disintegration under the action of natural factors such as heavy rainfall, leading to severe soil erosion and slope instability. In addition, the construction of fill slopes inevitably causes the destruction of native vegetation, exacerbating environmental problems. To address these problems, an novel ecological approach for preventing water damage to red sandstone fill slopes was developed using the vegetation-high-performance turf reinforcement mat -anchor-drainage pipe-synergistic slope protection system. Three test red sandstone slopes with different protection methods (unprotected, three-dimensional (3D) protection mesh, and vegetation ecological protection system slopes) were constructed, and the feasibility and reliability of ecological protection against water damage to red sandstone fill slopes were analysed via the field test method. The results showed that the vegetation ecological protection system can effectively inhibit soil erosion and increase the survival rate of vegetation roots. Moreover, the the high-performance turf reinforcement mat provides a strong protective complex through interactions with vegetation roots, anchors, and drains, which significantly enhances slope stability. Under heavy rainfall conditions, the vegetation ecological protection system can effectively limit slope erosion due to water scour, thus maintaining the structural integrity of the slope.

The construction of the 'Dayangyun' Expressway has generated a large number of engineering landslide disaster chains, mainly due to the lack of consideration of the influence of soil sediment anisotropy and slope geometric characteristics on slope stability, instability risk, and failure characteristics. It is urgent to propose a reasonable geometric optimization design method for slopes to prevent the occurrence of such disasters. This study established a random field model that incorporates rotational anisotropy-related structures of strength parameters. Subsequently, the slope reliability index(beta) was computed to evaluate slope stability. Additionally, failure modes were classified, introducing the shallow failure probability (PL) to assess failure risk. Finally, a comprehensive probability analysis framework with two indexes(the beta and PL) was designed to determine the optimal platform width of the slope(Lopt), and two slope cases were utilized for research and application purposes. The results indicate that rotation angles(theta) and platform width (L) significantly impact slope stability and instability risk. As the theta increases, the beta and PL exhibit S and M shaped trends, respectively. Specifically, the beta and PL display a logarithmic and exponential increasing trend with the increase of the L, respectively, this trend determines the Lopt. The dual-index comprehensive probability analysis framework can be employed to assess slope excavation stability and risk, as well as optimize slope geometry design. The research results can be used to prevent the occurrence of excavation slope disasters.

Prestress loss of anchor cables can cause a change in the internal force for the support structure of a foundation pit or slope, which may cause engineering accidents. The coupling effect between an anchor cable and the creep of rock and soil is the main factor that leads to the loss of prestress of the anchor cables. However, the traditional Hooke-Kelvin (H-K) viscoelastic model could not accurately predict the long-term loss of prestress. To solve this problem, based on the H-K viscoelastic model, a new H-3K viscoelastic model was proposed, consisting of two generalized Kelvin bodies connected in parallel, and its creep equation and relaxation equation were also derived. Focusing on slope engineering in Longnan City, Gansu Province, China, the prestress of anchor cables calculated by the proposed model were compared with the monitoring data. The result that the H-K creep coupling model is more accurate in predicting prestress loss of anchor cables in the initial stage, but from a long-term perspective, the H-3K creep coupling model provided a more accurate prediction. By connecting more generalized Kelvin bodies in parallel, stress shared by the elastic body can be reduced and stress loss due to anchor cable relaxation can be approximately compensated for to make the prediction results closer to the monitored values. However, when there are more than three Kelvin bodies in parallel, the model prediction results will change only slightly. Therefore, the H-3K creep coupling model is sufficient for practical engineering.