Continuum deformation and stability analyses of a steep hillside slope under rainfall infiltration

Rainfall weakens an earth slope in a number of ways. It increases the degree of saturation of the soil, thereby breaking the bonds created by surface tension between the soil particles. When the volume of infiltrating water is large enough to mobilize fluid flow inside the soil matrix, the fluid exerts a downhill frictional drag on the slope, creating a destabilizing effect. When excess fluid can no longer infiltrate the slope due to increased saturation in the soil, it is discharged as a surface runoff and erodes the slope. In this paper, we present a physics-based framework for continuum modeling of a hydrologically driven slope failure similar to what occurred in a steep experimental catchment CB1 near Coos Bay, Oregon. We quantify the rainfall-induced slope deformation and assess the failure potential of the slope using finite element modeling that couples solid deformation with fluid pressure in an unsaturated soil. Results of the studies suggest that for a steep hillside slope underlain by a shallow bedrock similar to the CB1 site, failure would occur by multiple slide blocks with the failure surfaces emerging on the slope face. These results suggest that an infinite slope mechanism would be insufficient to represent the failure kinematics for a slope similar to CB1.