Reinforcement effects of optimal strategy of anti-slide piles on irregular slopes with bedding rock slopes under near-fault ground motions

In practical engineering, the surfaces of bedding rock slopes are mostly irregular, and their geometrical concave and convex characteristics and joint characteristics have a significant effect on the slope stability, which leads to the problem of the optimal reinforcement strategy of using anti-slide piles to reinforce the slopes. This problem is more prominent under the near-fault pulse-like ground motions with short term and high energy. Based on this, the upper-bound limit analysis and Newmark permanent displacement method are used to establish an energy analysis model for slopes reinforced by anti-slide piles based on irregular slopes, and the accuracy of the calculated results of the improved method is verified by comparing the theoretical and numerical calculations of the destabilized areas of bedding rock slopes. The results show that: (1) The influences of geometric characteristics of slopes on their stability are more dependent on the magnitude of the partial slope angle β_i, followed by the partial slope height a_i. (2) The effects of β_i on the slope stability become progressively larger with the increasing cohesion c_r and the internal friction angle φ_r. The jointed surface angle has the greatest effects on the stability of the convex slope in the range of 10° to 25°. (3) The optimal reinforcement strategy of anti-slide piles are more sensitive under pulse-like ground motions than under non-pulse-like ones for irregular bedding rock slopes, and the optimal reinforcement strategy of the anti-slide pile for upward-convex and downward-concave bedding rock slope is in the upper middle (x_p/x_l=0.6~0.7). The optimal reinforcement strategy of the anti-slide piles for concave, convex, upward-concave and downward-convex bedding rock slopes are around in the middle (x_p/x_l=0.4~0.6). The research results may provide theoretical support and guidance for the optimal reinforcement strategy of the anti-slide piles for irregular bedding rock slopes under near-fault pulse-like ground motions in similar projects.