Geotech Geol Eng

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-018-0631-7

ORIGINAL PAPER

Influence of Rainfall Intensity and Its Pattern

on the Stability of Unsaturated Soil Slope
Hang Lin . Wenwen Zhong

Received: 22 May 2018 / Accepted: 10 July 2018

Ó Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

Abstract Rainfall infiltration is an important factor Keywords Numerical analysis  Safety factor 
that leads to slope instability. In this study, a numerical Rainfall intensity  Rainfall duration  Effective
model for slope is built to investigate the effects of rainfall days
rainfall intensity and its pattern on slope stability.
Results show that rainfall intensity and its pattern
significantly influence slope stability due the follow-
ing instances: (1) the safety factor of slope initially 1 Introduction
decreases and then stabilizes during rainfall, which is
defined as the effective rainfall days; moreover, when Rainfall infiltration is the main inducing factor that
the rainfall intensity is less than the saturated perme- leads to slope failure, mountain landslide, debris flow,
ability coefficient of soil, the effective rainfall days and other accidents, which has caused serious threats
decreases with the increase of rainfall intensity. (2) to human being’s life and engineering safety through-
Under the same rainfall intensity, the ultimate safety out the world (Steinberg 1998; Cai et al. 1998; Cheuk
factor of sand slope when the effective rainfall days is et al. 2005; Wang et al. 2016, 2017; Lang et al. 2018).
reached is greater than that of the clay slope. (3) When In China, more than 1000 deaths are reported due to
the rainfall intensity is less than the saturated perme- geological hazards, such as collapse, landslide, and
ability coefficient of soil with the same total precip- debris flow (Wang et al. 2018). Therefore, studying the
itation, a longer rainfall duration indicates a larger effects of rainfall infiltration on slope stability is of
slope safety factor; conversely, when the rainfall great importance on geotechnical engineering. Several
intensity is greater than the saturated permeability scholars have conducted related research. Rahimi et al.
coefficient of soil, a longer rainfall duration indicates a (2010) conducted a sensitivity analysis of hydraulic
smaller slope safety factor. parameters over rainfall infiltration and found that the
influence of the fitting parameters of soil–water
characteristic curves (SWCCs) is significant on soil
with low permeability. Cho and Lee (2001) analyzed
slope stability according to the calculation results of
H. Lin (&)  W. Zhong
School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central
saturated–unsaturated infiltration stress. Cai and Ugai
South University, Changsha 410083, Hunan, China (2004) concluded that the influence of hydraulic
e-mail: [email protected] characteristics, boundary condition, rainfall intensity,
W. Zhong and rainfall duration on slope stability under rainfall is
e-mail: [email protected]

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significant. Ng and Lai (2005) found that the distri- the slope is 10 m, the slope ratio is 1.0 (1:1.0), the
butions of pore-water pressure of slopes through using distance (de) from the toe of the slope to the right
the measured stress-dependent SWCCs are different boundary is 30 m, the distance (bc) from the top of the
from those using the conventional drying SWCC; slope to the left boundary is 30 m, and the height (ef)
moreover, the former analysis predicted a consider- from the toe of the slope to the lower boundary of the
ably lower safety factor than the latter analysis. The model is 20 m. The boundary conditions in the
studies mentioned above have mainly focused on the seepage analysis are as follows. (1) The bottom of
change of seepage field of slope resulting from the model (af) is the impervious boundary. (2) The
rainfall, thereby affecting the stress field of the soil. height from the surface to the groundwater line on the
However, few studies have been conducted on the left side of the model (bg) is 10 m, whereas that from
effects of rainfall patterns on slope stability (Ng et al. the surface to the groundwater line on the right side of
2001; Zhang et al. 2015). Tsaparas et al. (2002) the model (eh) is 9 m. ag and fh, which are below the
studied the variation law of slope stability under the groundwater line, are the fixed water head boundaries;
same average rainfall intensity each day. Ng et al. the total head is equal to the height of g and h; bg and
(2001) investigated groundwater responses in an eh, which are above the groundwater line, are the
initially unsaturated cut slope at Lai Ping Road in impervious boundaries. (3) The slope surface (bcde) is
Hong Kong subjected to rainfalls with various pat- the infiltration boundary, which can also be the
terns, durations, and return periods. In this paper, the impulse boundary or the fixed water head boundary.
numerical method (Ataei and Bodaghabadi 2008; Thus, when the rainfall intensity is less than the
Belytschko et al. 1994; Styles et al. 2011; Xie et al. permeability of soil mass, the infiltration boundary is
2017; Mukhlisin and Taha 2012; Lin and Cao 2014) the impulse boundary, and the value equals to the
was adopted to build a typical model of the sand and rainfall intensity. Conversely, when the rainfall inten-
clay slopes. The influence of rainfall infiltration on sity is more than the permeability of soil mass, the
slope stability under different rainfall intensities and infiltration boundary was the fixed water head bound-
patterns were studied. ary, and the head value equaled to the ground
elevation. After practical calculation, selecting 2 h
as the time steps was found to be suitable.
2 Calculation Model and Methods
2.2 Volumetric Water Content
2.1 Numerical Model and Boundary Conditions
SWCC should be defined before analyzing rainfall
The present study adopted the slope model in the infiltration. Considering the typical homogeneous
research of Rahardjo et al. (2007) and Lin et al. (2017) sand and clay slopes as examples to analyze the
as in conducting the calculation analysis. The geom- saturated–unsaturated seepage flow and adopting the
etry size of the slope is shown in Fig. 1. The height of

Fig. 1 Slope geometry and

boundary conditions

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model of Fredlund and Xing (1994), the equations are 0.5

as follows: clay
n .h  u  u n im o sand

volumetric water content

0.4
a w
hw ¼ hs CðwÞ 1 ln e þ ; ð1Þ
a
h i 0.3

ln 1 þ ððuuaau
uw Þ
Þ
w r
C ðwÞ ¼ 1  h i ; ð2Þ 0.2
106
1 þ ðua uw Þ
r

0.1
where hw is volumetric water content, hs is saturated
volumetric water content, a is the fitting parameter
related to the air-entry value of soil (kPa), m is the 0.0
10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
fitting parameter related to residual water content, n is
matrix suction/kPa
the fitting parameter controlling the SWCC slope, e is
the natural number; ua is the pore-air pressure (kPa), Fig. 2 SWCCs of sand and clay slopes
uw is the pore-water pressure (kPa), ua  uw is the
matrix suction (kPa), ðua  uw Þr is the residual matrix
suction corresponding to the residual water content
slope can be automatically searched from the SLOPE/
(kPa), and C ðwÞ is the correction coefficient, in which
W program. The main calculation steps are as follows.
C ðwÞ ¼ 1 according to the recommendation of Leong
(1) The pore water pressure distribution of the slope at
and Rahardjo (1997).
different times is obtained by the seepage analysis of
The unsaturated seepage flow of sand and clay
the slope in the SEEP/W module. (2) The correspond-
slopes is analyzed, and 10-4 and 10-6 m/s are selected
ing safety factors are then calculated using the
as the value of the saturated permeability coefficient
SLOPE/W module to call the seepage field at any time.
(ks ) of sand and clay, respectively. The calculation
Matrix suction can improve the strength of soil and
parameters are shown in Table 1. SWCCs can be
thus improve the slope stability (Shi et al. 2016; Oh
obtained by substituting the parameters (shown in
and Lu 2015; Kim et al. 2004). Therefore, the Mohr–
Table 1) in Eq. 1, as shown in Fig. 2.
Coulomb criterion should be modified in the analysis
of slope stability to describe the shear strength of
2.3 Analysis of Slope Stability
unsaturated soil. The following shear strength formula
introduced by Fredlund and Rahardjo (1993) is
SEEP/W and SLOPE/W modules in GeoStudio are
adopted:
adopted for seepage analysis and slope stability
analysis, respectively, to study the influence of rainfall s ¼ c0 þ ðrn  ua Þ tan u0 þ ðua  uw Þ tan ub ; ð3Þ
infiltration on slope stability. Different safety factors
where s is the shear strength of unsaturated soil, c0 is
of slope at different times are obtained. The method of
the effective cohesion, ðrn  ua Þ is the net normal
Morgenstern and Price (1965) is used to calculate the
stress, ðua  uw Þ is the negative pore water pressure or
safety factor because it satisfies the force and moment
matrix suction, u0 is the effective angle of internal
equilibrium conditions and can provide a precise value
friction, and ub is the contribution from the matrix
(Bai et al. 2013; Kondo and Hayashi 2010; Lin and
suction to shear strength, which can be called the
Chen 2017). The most dangerous slip surface of the
suction friction angle. The corresponding values for
the various parameters are as follows: c0 ¼ 10 kPa,
Table 1 Parameters of two types of unsaturated soil u0 ¼ 26 , ub ¼ 26 , and c ¼ 20 kN/m3 (Fredlund and
Types a (kPa) m n hs (%) ks (m/days) ks (m/s) Rahardjo 1993).

Sand 10 1 1 45 8.64 10-4

Clay 100 1 1 45 0.0864 10-6

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3 Analysis of the Influence of Rainfall on Slope when the continuous rainfall reaches the effective
Stability rainfall days. This phenomenon occurs because when
the continuous raining days reach the effective rainfall
3.1 Influence of Rainfall Intensity on Slope days, the rainwater infiltrates into the soil slope and
Stability flows out of the soil slope, reaching equilibrium; the
slope is the final stable infiltration state. Therefore,
The selected values of rainfall intensity are 20, 40, 60, continuous rainfall has a minimal influence on slope
80, 100, 120, 140 mm/days to study the influence of stability. Before reaching the effective rainfall days,
different rainfall intensity on soil slope stability using the descending speed of the safety factor of the slope is
sand and clay slopes. The rainfall pattern is that under faster with the increase of rainfall intensity over time
different rainfall intensity and 30 days of continuous (Fig. 3). Reaching the effective rainfall days becomes
rainfall; thus, pore water pressure distribution and easy, and the corresponding ultimate safety factor
corresponding safety factors at different times are becomes smaller.
obtained. With 30 days of continuous rainfall, the relation-
With 30 days of continuous rainfall, the relation- ship between rainfall duration and safety factor under
ship between rainfall duration and safety factor under different rainfall intensities of the clay slope is shown
different rainfall intensities of sand slope is shown in in Fig. 4. The safety factor of the slope initially
Fig. 3. The safety factor of the slope initially decreases decreases rapidly and then remains the same over the
rapidly and then remains the same during the rainfall. rainfall time. This result indicates that rainfall signif-
Hence, the safety factor during this time is defined as icantly influences the slope stability at earlier stage,
the ultimate safety factor, and the corresponding and the safety factor of the slope decreases rapidly.
rainfall duration is the effective rainfall days. When However, the influence becomes less significant when
rainfall intensity is small, such as 20 mm/days, at the the rainfall time is longer and the effect of rainfall on
beginning of a period, rainfall caused little change in slope stability can be neglected when the continuous
slope water content, the matrix suction effect and rainfall time reaches the effective rainfall days, which
moisture content effect interact with each other, is the same with the sand slope. Figure 4 shows that
resulting in fluctuation of safety factor. Moreover, when the rainfall intensity is less than 80 mm/days and
rainfall significantly influences slope stability at the before the continuous rainfall of the slope reaches the
earlier stage, and the safety factor of the slope rapidly effective rainfall days, the descending speed of the
decreases. However, the influence becomes less safety factor is faster over the rainfall time with the
significant when the rainfall time is longer, and the increase of rainfall intensity. Furthermore, reaching
influence of rainfall on slope stability can be neglected the effective rainfall days becomes easier, and the

2.0
rainfall intensity mm/d
20 2.0
1.9 40
rainfall intensity mm/d
20
60
1.8 40
1.8 80
60
100
80
120
1.7 1.6 100
safety factor
safety factor

140
120
140
1.6
1.4
1.5
1.2
1.4
1.0
1.3

1.2 0.8

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
rainfall duration/d rainfall duration/d

Fig. 3 Relationship between rainfall duration and safety factor Fig. 4 Relationship between rainfall duration and safety factor
under different rainfall intensities of sand slope under different rainfall intensities of clay slope

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corresponding ultimate safety factor becomes smaller. that the effective rainfall duration decreases gradually
However, when the rainfall intensity is between 80 and with the increase of rainfall intensity. The comparison
140 mm/days, the curves almost coincided, the slope of the curves of the sand and clay slopes reveals that
reaches its effective rainfall duration almost at the when the rainfall intensity is less than 80 mm/days, the
same time, and the corresponding ultimate safety sand slope initially reaches the effective duration
factors are also the same. This result is because the earlier and the clay slope reaches the effective
saturated permeability coefficient of clay is duration earlier, as well. However, when the rainfall
86.4 mm/days. Moreover, when the rainfall intensity intensity is greater than 80 mm/days, the sand slope
is greater than the saturated permeability coefficient of reaches the effective rainfall days earlier.
soil, the boundary condition of the slope is the fixed The results of studying the relationship between
water head boundary, Therefore, when the rainfall rainfall intensity and ultimate safety factor and the
intensity is close, greater, or equal to the saturated comparison of the numerical analysis results of sand
permeability coefficient of soil, the rainfall boundary and clay slopes are shown in Fig. 6. The ultimate
conditions are almost the same and the four curves safety of the sand slope decreases gradually with the
almost coincide. increase of rainfall intensity, the descending speed
The analysis results of the relationship between becomes slower, and the curve becomes flatter.
rainfall intensity and effective rainfall duration are Meanwhile, the ultimate safety factor of the clay
shown in Fig. 5. When the rainfall intensity is less than slope initially decreases and then remains stable with
the saturated permeability coefficient of soil, the the increase of rainfall intensity. The comparison of
corresponding effective rainfall duration gradually the curves of sand and clay slopes reveal that the
decreases with the increase of rainfall intensity. corresponding ultimate safety factor of the clay slope
However, when the rainfall intensity is greater than is considerably smaller than that of the sand slope.
the saturated permeability coefficient of soil, the
corresponding effective rainfall duration almost 3.2 Influence of Rainfall Duration on Slope
remains the same with the increase of rainfall inten- Stability in the Same Total Precipitation
sity. The curve of the clay slope indicates that when
the rainfall intensity is less than 80 mm/days, the To study the influence of rainfall duration on slope
rainfall intensity is less than the saturated permeability stability, the rainfall intensity is kept constant each
coefficient of soil, and the descending speed of day, as well as the total precipitation. The five rainfall
effective rainfall days is faster with the increase of patterns are designed for the sand slope, as shown in
rainfall intensity and becomes stable afterward. How- Table 2. The total precipitation of the five patterns is
ever, analyzing the curve of the sand slope indicates 720 mm. The safety factors of the slope at the moment

1.5
sand
30 sand clay
clay 1.4
effective rainfall duration/d

25
ultimate safety factor

1.3

20 1.2

15 1.1

10 1.0

0.9
5
0.8
0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
rainfall intensity/ mm/d rainfall intensity/(mm/d)

Fig. 5 Relationship between rainfall intensity and effective Fig. 6 Relationship between rainfall intensity and ultimate
rainfall days safety factor

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Table 2 Five rainfall Types Rainfall intensity (mm/days) Rainfall duration (days) Total precipitation (mm)
patterns of sand slope
1 20 36 720
2 60 12 720
3 120 6 720
4 240 3 720
5 720 1 720

when rainfall stops are calculated separately, as shown gradually, whereas the rainfall pattern varies from 1
in Fig. 8. The abscissa (0–5) is the condition before the to 5; thus, under the same total precipitation, the effect
rainfall and the five rainfall patterns. The safety factor of rainfall on clay slope stability is greater, and the
of the slope is the largest before the rainfall and safety factor is smaller when the rainfall duration is
decreases gradually when the rainfall pattern varies longer. Conversely, the effect of a shorter period of
from 1 to 5 (Fig. 7). This condition indicates that rainfall on clay slope stability is insignificant, and the
under the same total precipitation, the effect of rainfall safety factor is larger. These findings are contrary to
on sand slope stability is greater, and the safety factor those of the sand slope. This phenomenon is caused by
is smaller when the rainfall duration is shorter. the increase of pore water pressure of saturated–
Conversely, the effect of a longer period of rainfall unsaturated slope with the rainfall infiltration and the
on sand slope stability is insignificant, and the safety decrease of matrix suction of the unsaturated area.
factor of the slope is larger. Therefore, the soil strength of slope decreases over
Similar to sand slope, the other five rainfall patterns rainfall and results in poor slope stability. In sand
are designed for clay slope, as shown in Table 3. The slope, the saturated permeability coefficient of the soil
total precipitation of the five rainfall patterns is (8640 mm/days) is considerably higher than the
720 mm; however, 90 mm/days is selected as the maximum rainfall intensity. Thus, rainwater can
minimum rainfall intensity to ensure that the minimum timely infiltrate into the soil. Conversely, when the
rainfall intensity is greater than the saturated perme- total precipitation is constant and the rainfall time is
ability coefficient of the clay (86.4 mm/days). The longer, the water flowing out the soil increases and the
safety factors of the slope at the moment when rainfall slope is more stable. However, in clay slope, the
stops are calculated separately, as shown in Fig. 8. The saturated permeability coefficient of clay
abscissa (1–5) is the five rainfall patterns. As shown in (86.4 mm/days) is less than the minimum rainfall
Fig. 8, the safety factor of the slope increases intensity (90 mm/days). Thus, the rainwater cannot
timely infiltrate into the soil, and part of the water runs
along the slope surface. Therefore, when the total
2.0
precipitation is kept constant and the rainfall time is
longer, the rainwater that infiltrates into the soil
1.8
increases. This scenario has greater effect on slope
stability, and the safety factor decreases.
safety factor

1.6

3.3 Influence of Rainfall Pattern on Slope Stability

1.4 Under the Same Total Precipitation
and Rainfall Duration
1.2
The five rainfall patterns are designed for sand slope,
1.0
as shown in Table 4. The total precipitation and
0 1 2 3 4 5 rainfall duration are kept constant. The rainfall
rainfall pattern intensity is changed every day, and the safety factors
under these five rainfall patterns are calculated after
Fig. 7 Relationship between rainfall pattern and safety factor
6 days of continuous rainfall. The calculation results
of sand slopes

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Table 3 Five rainfall Types Rainfall intensity (mm/days) Rainfall duration (days) Total precipitation (mm)
patterns of clay slope
1 90 8 720
2 120 6 720
3 180 4 720
4 360 2 720
5 720 1 720

2.0
1.45

1.40
1.8
1.35
safety factor

safety factor
1.6
1.30

1.4 1.25

1.20
1.2
1.15

1.0 1.10

1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
rainfall pattern
rainfall pattern
Fig. 9 Relationship between rainfall pattern and safety factor
Fig. 8 Relationship between rainfall pattern and safety factor of sand slope
of clay slope

Table 4 Five rainfall patterns of sand slope

Types Rainfall intensity (mm/days) Total precipitation (mm) Safety factor
1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 6 days

1 1 1 1 1 1 715 720 1.12

2 60 60 60 60 240 240 720 1.18
3 120 120 120 120 120 120 720 1.23
4 240 240 60 60 60 60 720 1.29
5 715 1 1 1 1 1 720 1.44

are shown in Fig. 9. With the increase of rainfall effect on slope stability and the safety factor of the
intensity at the earlier stage, the safety factor of the slope is smaller. Conversely, when the rainfall inten-
sand slope increases gradually. When the rainfall sity is kept greater at the earlier stage and then kept
mainly concentrates on the first day, the effect on slope smaller at the latter stage, the effect on slope stability
stability is minimum and the safety factor of the slope is less significant and the safety factor of the slope is
is the largest. However, when the rainfall mainly larger. Specifically, when the rainfall concentrates on
concentrates on the last day, the effect on slope the earlier stage, its effect on slope stability is not
stability is maximum and the safety factor of the slope evident; however, when it concentrates on the latter
is the smallest. Moreover, the comparison of the stage, it leads to poor slope stability. This phenomenon
second and fourth rainfall patterns reveals that when is caused by the larger saturated permeability coeffi-
the rainfall intensity is kept smaller at the earlier stage cient of the sand compared with the selected maximum
and then kept greater at the latter stage, it has greater rainfall intensity (715 mm/days); thus, all the

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rainwater can infiltrate into the soil. Moreover, when 2.0

the rainfall concentrates on the earlier stage, the
amount of water flowing out the slope increases over 1.8

the rainfall time and leads to the increase of the matrix

safety factor
suction of the unsaturated area. Thus, the effect of 1.6

rainfall on slope stability becomes less significant and

the safety factor increases. 1.4

Meanwhile, five rainfall patterns of clay slope are

designed to study the difference of the influence of 1.2

rainfall on slope stability under different saturated

1.0
permeability coefficients of soil and same rainfall
conditions, as shown in Table 5 and Fig. 10. When the
1 2 3 4 5
rainfall mainly concentrates on a certain day, the rainfall pattern
influence of rainfall on slope stability is insignificant,
and the safety factor of the slope is greater. However, Fig. 10 Relationship between rainfall pattern and safety factor
when everyday rainfall intensity is the same or differs of clay slope
insignificantly, the effect of rainfall on slope stability
is greater, and the safety factor of the slope is smaller. slope can be neglected. Moreover, the effective
These findings are considerably different with that of rainfall days decreases with the increase of rainfall
the sand slope, because the saturated permeability intensity, and the ultimate safety factor of the slope
coefficient of clay is lower. Moreover, when the also decreases when the rainfall intensity is less than
rainfall concentrates on a certain day and the rainfall the saturated permeability coefficient of soil. When
intensity on that day is remarkably greater than the the rainfall intensity is greater than the saturated
saturated permeability coefficient of the clay, part of permeability coefficient of soil, the effective rainfall
the rainwater cannot infiltrate but runs along the slope days is almost the same with the increase of rainfall
surface. Therefore, the influence of rainfall on slope intensity. The ultimate safety factor of the slope also
stability is not evident. remains the same.
(2) When the rainfall intensity is less than the
saturated permeability coefficient of the soil and the
4 Conclusions rainfall time is longer, the influence of rainfall on slope
stability is less significant and the safety factor of the
(1) Within a certain range of continuous rainfall days, slope is greater. However, when the rainfall intensity
the safety factor of slope decreases gradually over a is greater than the saturated permeability coefficient of
longer rainfall time and results in poor slope stability. the soil and the rainfall time is longer, the effect of
However, after the rainfall days reach a certain time, rainfall on slope stability is greater and the safety of
the effects of rainfall duration on the safety factor of the slope is smaller.

Table 5 Five rainfall patterns of clay slope

Types Rainfall intensity (mm/days) Total precipitation (mm) Safety factor
1 days 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 6 days

1 1 1 1 1 1 715 720 1.84

2 60 60 60 60 240 240 720 1.03
3 120 120 120 120 120 120 720 1.02
4 240 240 60 60 60 60 720 1.02
5 715 1 1 1 1 1 720 1.84

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(51474249, 51774322) supported by National Natural Science Ng CWW, Lai JCH (2005) Effects of stress-dependent soil-
Foundation of China; Project (2018JJ2500) supported by Hunan water characteristic and damming on slope stability.
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