Anti-sliding mechanism of soil–rock slope in transparent soil and discrete-element method

Abstract

Double-row piles are an effective means to control landslides. The purpose of this research study was to explore internal deformation of the anti-sliding mechanism of double-row piles by using a transparent soil model test. Furthermore, the influence of the section shape, the space between the front and rear rows and the layout of piles on the formation, development and failure process of the soil-arching effect were also studied. The PFC2D numerical simulation method is used to simulate the model tests. The results show that the deformation process of a soil–rock composite slope with double-row piles can be divided into the following three stages: the initial stage, the uniform stage and the acceleration stage. The soil-arching effect would be obvious when the space between the front and back piles is four times the diameter of the pile. The spacing between the front and rear piles is four times the diameter of the pile, and the quincunx arrangement is more advantageous to delay a landslide of the soil–rock composite slope than is a rectangular section pile arrangement. This finding is a significant contribution to reveal the anti-slide mechanism of the double-row piles from the visualisation of the internal slipping.