doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7619-7_P033

ABSTRACT

Research in the area of slope stability has brought about the realization that the infiltration of rainwater into a slope decreases the stability of the slope. The rainwater infiltration process results in a wetting zone at shallow depth near the slope surface and may lead to a slope failure during a prolonged or heavy rainfall period. The Mein & Larson (1973) infiltration model is adopted here to study the effect of rainwater infiltration on slopes. However, there are many uncertainties associated with the choice of variables to use in the analysis of slope stability. The depth of wetting front which represents the depth from ground surface to the slip surface depends on many parameters. In order to identify the effects of these uncertainties on searching a critical slip surface, probabilistic approaches were employed in a rational engineering manner. Finally, the probability of a slope failure could then be accurately predicted by Monte Carlo simulation method.

Keywords: Infiltration, Rainfall, Wetting front, Probability of failure, Slope stability, Uncertainties.

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