Natural Slope Stabilization with Self-Compacting Concrete: Numerical Simulation with the Finite-Element Method

Abstract

A study of slope stability was made using a numerical simulation by the finite-element method at a point of National Road A-348 located in the municipality of Lanjaron (province of Granada, S Spain). The phyllites, schists, and micaschists in contact with carbonates that comprise the Alpujarride complex make this a medium prone to continuous landslides with serious consequences for linear public infrastructures. The variation in the safety factor was used to analyse the failure of the study slope over its service life. Based on this analysis, for slope stability, we propose the construction of a piled slurry wall anchored by reinforced beams, comparing Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) and reference Vibrated Concrete (VC) in which tensor deformation is studied. For this, three formulations of SCC and VC were prepared with water-cement ratio relations and quantities of cement of 0.55, 0.50, 0.45 and 300, 350, and 350 kg/m(3), respectively. Resistance and durability tests were made by studying the porosity and the degradation mechanisms by penetration of aggressive agents (SO42-, CO2, Cl-). It was deduced that the best features in terms of resistance and durability provided by SCC optimises resources in the building of piled walls through reduced dimensioning while guaranteeing a longer service life.