Faculty Publications

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Slope stabilization of coal mine overburden dumps: life cycle environmental sustainability assessment of alternatives
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2024) Kumar, A.; Nainegali, L.; Das, S.K.; Reddy, K.R.; Mishra, A.
The stability of coalmine overburden dumps is a crucial aspect and often requires a slope stabilization method in place to prevent slope failures. Mechanical methods like benching, gabion wall construction, geogrid reinforcement, and biological methods like the use of vegetation can suffice the need for slope stabilization. In this study, a life cycle assessment of the above-mentioned methods was performed to obtain the environmental impacts through various midpoint impact categories considering a “cradle-to-site” assessment. The system boundary for each method was created using the involved activities and associated equipment and energy needs. The Ecoinvent 3.0 database and TRACI assessment method were used to perform the life cycle impact assessment using SimaPro software. The results show that the use of vegetation caused the least impact. The highest impact under the majority midpoint categories was caused by geogrid reinforcement followed by benching, which was mostly attributed to the geogrid production and OB handling activities, respectively. The carcinogenic, followed by ecotoxicity and fossil fuel depletions, were the most impacted categories for the mechanical methods, which may be due to the release of chemical pollutants during material production or handling. Adherence to the overburden dump management guidelines and the use of renewable sources of energy are the two major aspects that can drastically curb the emission load on the environment, thus inching towards the goal of sustainability while adopting slope stabilization measures for overburden dumps. Besides imparting stability, plants provide a diverse solution to the other ills associated with the overburden storage and management. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.
A Three-Dimensional Investigation on the Efficacy of Different Configuration Settings of Micropiles in Enhancement of Seismic Slope Stability
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Kumar, S.; Anand, A.; Sarkar, R.; Nainegali, L.
Micropiles have emerged as an effective measure to strengthen the stability of slopes. However, its efficacy in improving the stability of slopes under seismic loading conditions has not been fully established. This paper intends to investigate the performance of micropiles with different configurations to improve the stability of a slope under static and seismic loading conditions. A clayey slope of height 10 m underlain by a sandy soil layer was adopted for the investigation. Three-dimensional nonlinear finite element models were developed for the slope-micropile systems. Five different configurations of micropiles, considering a single micropile on two faces of the slope, were adopted for investigation. Further, a study was carried out with eight different combinations of these configurations of micropiles for strengthening the slope. Initially, static analyses were carried out for the different configurations of micropiles. Next, for seismic loading, pseudo-static analyses were carried out for all the configurations. The efficacy of different configurations of micropiles was compared through the factor of safety obtained. Analyses were also carried out considering the water table, and the efficacy of micropiles was established in the same way. Finally, nonlinear dynamic analyses were carried out for different configurations of micropiles with real earthquake time history, and the improvement in seismic performance of the micropile-strengthened slope was reported. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
Root reinforcement of herbaceous vegetation for stabilization of coal mine overburden dump slopes
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Kumar, A.; Nainegali, L.; Das, S.K.; Reddy, K.R.
Slope instability of coal mine overburden dumps poses significant challenges to mining safety and environmental sustainability. This study investigates the potential for root reinforcement offered by herbaceous vegetation (Dendrocalamus strictus and Cymbopogon citratus) for enhanced slope stability. A series of pot experiments were conducted to grow grasses with the coal mine overburden material. The survival and growth of grasses in the nutrient-devoid overburden are critical because they directly impact the effectiveness of root reinforcement. Therefore, the effect of amendment quantity on plant growth was assessed. A direct shear box test was conducted on the bare and rooted samples using a fabricated internal shear test assembly to determine the strength. The higher peak shear stress and dilatancy angle observed for the rooted specimens were due to the high root tensile strength mobilizing the shear stresses. The results of shear tests were subsequently employed in limit equilibrium slope stability analyses where material heterogeneity was considered to account for uncertainties linked to material properties. The deterministic analysis provided insights into the expected improvements in slope stability due to root reinforcement, offering a baseline for comparison. Meanwhile, the probabilistic analysis considered the variability in material properties, thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of the uncertainty associated with the slope stability assessment regarding the reliability index and probability of failure. By combining experimental investigations with rigorous analytical approaches, this study enhances our understanding of how grassroots reinforcement can enhance the stability of coal mine overburden dumps. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025.

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