Surficial stability analysis of soil slope under seepage based on a novel failure mode

Normally, the edge effects of surficial landslides are not considered in the infinite slope method for surficial stability analysis of soil slopes. In this study, the limit stress state and discrimination equation of an infinite slope under saturated seepage flow were analyzed based on the Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion. Therefore, a novel failure mode involving three sliding zones (upper tension zone, middle shear sliding zone, and lower compression zone) was proposed. Accordingly, based on the limit equilibrium analysis, a semi-analytical framework considering the edge effect for the surficial stability of a soil slope under downslope seepage was established. Subsequently, the new failure mode was verified via a numerical finite element analysis based on the reduced strength theory with ABAQUS and some simplified methods using SLIDE software. The results obtained by the new failure mode agree well with those obtained by the numerical analysis and traditional simplified methods, and can be efficiently used to assess the surficial stability of soil slopes under rainwater seepage. Finally, an evaluation of the infinite slope method was performed using the semi-analytical method proposed in this study. The results show that the infinite slope tends to be conservative because the edge effect is neglected, particularly when the ratio of surficial slope length to depth is relatively small.