Stability of slope under rainfall effect

It is known that the properties of embankment soils used in the construction of slopes have the properties of unsaturated soils. A slope may lose its current stability as a result of the decrease in matric suction due to the increase in groundwater level. One of the reasons that can cause an increase in groundwater level is precipitation, which is an environmental issue. This study covers the stability analysis of slopes under the influence of precipitation. During the analysis, a numerical analysis program was used which utilizes finite difference formulations. The models used in the study were designed to have slopes as 45°,40°, 35° and 30° and the soil was selected to be a silty soil with low plasticity. Two types of rainfall have been selected to affect the slopes. The first is a long-term precipitation with low intensity, and the second is a short-term intensive precipitation following the first rainfall. These rainfalls were subjected to four types of different slopes having the same type of soil mechanical properties. As a result of the analysis, it has been seen that slope stability analysis on the soils with same mechanical properties do not exhibit similar behavior under the same rain density when they have different slopes. It is understood that the angles of the slopes have an important effect on stability when the mechanical properties of the soil were identical. Finally, it is concluded that critical slope was found to be 35° for selected soil under the effect of the successive rainfalls.