Integrated analysis of a coupled mechanism for the failure processes of pile-reinforced slopes

A series of centrifuge model tests was conducted to investigate the failure mechanism of pile-reinforced slopes under self-weight loading and vertical loading conditions. An integrated analysis method was proposed based on the image-based measurement results of the displacement of the slope in the tests. The failure process of a pile-reinforced slope was quantified based on the measured deformation process over the entire slope, which was shown to depend primarily on the loading conditions. The deformation localisation was discovered in the slope during loading and was effectively described using a newly introduced index, the Diversity Factor of Displacement (DFD). The deformation localisation of the slope developed and caused the progressive formation of the slip surface. At the same time, a local failure at a point on the slip surface resulted in new deformation localisation, and the influence expanded with the centre of the failure point and waned with increasing distance from the failure point. The deformation localisation process and the deformation-failure process of the piles interacted as both cause and effect and developed alternately. The failure mechanism of the pile-reinforced slopes was used to explain the effects of several influencing factors on the bearing capacity of the reinforced slope, such as the pile spacing, pile location, and gradient of the slope.