Case study: 3D mobilized strength of compacted fill

Abedalqader Idries, Timothy D. Stark, Lucia Moya, Jiale Lin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Water infiltration can cause softening of compacted structural fill and a reduction of the shear strength from the peak compacted strength to the fully softened strength (FSS) with an accompanying reduction in drained factor of safety (FoS). This study presents two-dimensional (2D) and 3D stability analyses of a compacted fill slope failure that occurred 6 years after construction due to water leaking from a connection between the main and lateral water pipes in the water supply system. The compacted fill material primarily consists of high plasticity fine-grained soil. The 3D FoS at the end of construction is 2.44 using the peak compacted strength envelope. However, the 3D FoS is close to unity (1.0) when the FSS is assigned to the compacted fill material with the appropriate piezometric surface, which means the 2 H:1 V compacted fill slope softened to the FSS within 6 years. This is an interesting FSS case because the failure surface is 4 m deep and semi-circular, which differs from infiltration cases that exhibit a shallower and more planar surface.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1177-1188
Number of pages12
JournalCanadian Geotechnical Journal
Volume61
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2024

Keywords

  • factor of safety
  • fully softened shear strength
  • peak compacted strength
  • slope failure
  • softening
  • unsaturated compacted fill

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering

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