Stability Analysis of Soil Slopes Subject to Action of Rainfall-Induced Wetting Front

The stability of shallow soil slope was analyzed considering the wetting front within the slope during rainfall. The slope failure model (composed of an upper arc, a straight part in the middle, and a lower arc) was determined according to the unsaturated soil mechanics and Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The drag force due to slope runoff was embedded in the calculation of safety factor. The failure mode in this paper can be degraded to the classical circular failure mode and infinitely long slope failure mode. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical values. The investigations show that the safety factor of slope decreases with increase in soil saturation and runoff depth.