An Analysis of Piled Slope with Single Row of Piles Using 2D Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

The increased frequency of landslides and the associated damages emphasize the need to develop novel techniques for landslide mitigation. Among numerous methods developed till today, an anti-slide pile is an effective tool for controlling slides in landslide-prone areas. The present study assesses the suitability of 2-D FE analysis using the strength reduction method for analyzing a slope stabilized with anti-slide piles. A detailed parametric study was carried out to explore the influence of the position and length of the pile on the factor of safety of pile-reinforced slopes, and the failure mechanism was studied in detail. Fixed head piles improved the safety factor compared to free head piles, and an improvement of 1.5 times was obtained compared with unreinforced slope. Piles located at the crest and toe of the slope were not significantly improving compared to other locations. For fixed head piles, the length of the pile does not affect the factor of safety, and for free head piles, the factor of safety improves with an increase in the length of the pile. For the slope considered in the study, the optimum position of the pile is between the crest and middle portion of the slope, and the optimum length is found to be 20 m for free head piles and 10 m for fixed head piles. The failure mechanism of the piled slope is also explained in detail for each case. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.