Reliability analysis of unsaturated soil slope stability under infiltration considering hydraulic and shear strength parameters

In general, soil properties, including shear strength and hydraulic parameters, are characterised as a spatial variability. This paper aims to investigate the effect of spatial variability of the soil properties on slope stability during rainfall infiltration. The effective friction angle, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and soil water characteristic curve parameters of sand are simulated using random field theory. A seepage analysis is conducted using the random finite element method to obtain pore water pressure distribution. A stability analysis is performed to show the variation of safety factors and failure probability. The results show that the random field of the soil-water characteristic curve produces a significant variation of pore water pressure, while the random field of the effective friction angle is the most important parameter for probabilistic stability analysis.