Internal Force Analysis of Buried-boring Piles in the Yuanzishan Landslide

Abstract

The Yuanzishan landslide is an unstable slope in Langzhong County, located in northeast Sichuan province, China. The Guangyuan-Nanchong expressway passes through the front edge of the unstable slope, and subgrade excavation has resulted in slope deformation, which threatens the safety of the highway construction. Emergency landslide control requires reduction of the slope disturbance. This study aims to investigate the use of buried-boring piles as a potential method for emergency landslide control. A simplified calculation method was used for the design of the buried-boring piles, according to the limit equilibrium of the soil and the elastic foundation coefficient method. The measured internal force changes of the pile were compared, in order to determine the distribution coefficients of the driving force. A relationship between the driving force of the shared pile ratio and the buried depth ratios was then established. Furthermore, a variety of factors affecting the internal forces of the buried-boring pile and the lateral reaction of the soil were also studied. The results revealed that (1) there was a quadratic relationship between the driving force of the pile-shared ratio and the sliding depth ratios; (2) the maximum bending moment of the pile increased with an increase in the sliding depth ratio of the pile, following a power law relationship; (3) increasing the buried depth of the pile head reduced the influence of the pile diameter on the maximum internal forces; (4) increasing the pile diameter decreased the maximum lateral reaction of the soil. The buried-boring piles can be used in similarly unstable regions for emergency control of deforming slopes.