A Three-Dimensional Investigation on the Efficacy of Different Configuration Settings of Micropiles in Enhancement of Seismic Slope Stability

Abstract

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.