Study on the Influence of Groundwater on Landslide Stability in the Three Gorges Reservoir

• Published in: Arabian journal for science and engineering (2011) Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 4211 - 4223
• Main Authors: Dapeng, Zhu, Lei, He
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Coefficients; Engineering; Groundwater; Humanities and Social Sciences; Landslides; Landslides & mudslides; Mathematical models; multidisciplinary; Permeability; Research Article-Civil Engineering; Reservoirs; Safety factors; Science; Soil permeability; Soil water; Stability; Water level fluctuations; Groundwater effect; Reservoir landslide; Permeability coefficients; Three Gorges Reservoir; Factor of safety
• ISSN: 2193-567X; 1319-8025; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-021-05995-9

In the Three Gorges Reservoir area, the water level changes periodically, and the stability of landslides is closely related to changes in the water level. Under conditions of different permeability coefficients and stages of water level change, research on landslide stability is insufficient. Therefore, based on the Hefeng Landslide, first, the differences were analyzed, regardless of the calculation assessing only water or both soil and water. Second, the formulas for calculating the factor of safety under different water levels were derived. Third, according to different permeability coefficients, the landslide stability calculation was divided into three models, and the factor of safety of landslides in each model was calculated. Finally, the whole process of the factor of safety under different permeability coefficients was analyzed and summarized. It can be concluded that regardless of how the research objective is chosen, the effects of groundwater on landslides are the same. For landslides with strong ( k  ≥ 1.0 × 10 –4  m/s) and moderate permeabilities (1.0 × 10 –5  m/s ≤  k  < 1.0 × 10 –4  m/s), the change in the landslide stability is inversely correlated with the change in the water level. Landslides with weak permeabilities ( k  < 1.0 × 10 –5  m/s) are positively correlated. With different permeability coefficients, the whole process of the change in the landslide stability during water level fluctuations can provide a reference for the prediction of reservoir landslides.