Limit equilibrium slope stability analysis of column-supported embankment on weak ground
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to analyse the stability of embankments over the improved ground with stone column (SC) and pervious concrete column (PCC) inclusions using limit equilibrium method. The short-term stability of PCC-supported embankment system is rarely addressed. Therefore, the factor of safety (FOS) of column-supported embankment system is calculated using individual column and equivalent area models.
Design/methodology/approach
The stability analysis of column-supported embankment system is conducted using PLAXIS LE 2D. The various geometrical and shear strength parameters influencing the FOS of these embankment systems such as diameter of columns, spacing between columns, embankment height, friction angle of column material, undrained cohesion of weak ground and cohesion of PCC are considered.
Findings
The critical failure envelope of PCC-supported embankment system is observed to be of toe failure, whereas the failure envelope of stone column-supported embankment system is generally of deep-seated nature.
Originality/value
It is found that for PCC embankment system, FOS and failure envelope are not influenced by the geometrical/shear strength parameters other than height of embankment. However, for stone column-supported embankment system, FOS and failure envelope are dependent on all the shear strength and geometrical parameters considered in this study.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor and reviewers for their consideration, valuable comments and suggestions that greatly helped to enhance the manuscript in the current version.
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by the first author. The first draft of the manuscript was written by the first author and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict of interest: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no known conflict of interest.
Funding: No funding was received for conducting this research.
Data availability: The data sets generated during and/or analysed during the current research are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Citation
R.S.V., R., B.R., J. and R., S. (2023), "Limit equilibrium slope stability analysis of column-supported embankment on weak ground", World Journal of Engineering, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-11-2022-0458
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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