Scientific Reports

2045-2322

(2022) 12:22203

SCIE

[논문]Effect of grain dissolution on sloping ground

Minsu Cha, J. Carlos Santamarina

차민수

The static and dynamic stability of natural or constructed slopes can be afected by dissolution
or dissolution-like phenomena. Their underlying mechanisms, however, remain unclear. New
experimental results and discrete element simulations provide particle-level and macroscale
information on the consequences of mineral dissolution on slope behavior. At the microscale, loadcarrying
grain arches develop around dissolving particles, the porosity increases, and contact force
chains evolve to form a honeycomb topology. At the macroscale, while vertical settlements are the
prevailing deformation pattern, lateral granular movements that create mass wasting are prominent
in sloping ground, even under the quasi-static granular loss. Horizontal grain displacement is
maximum at the surface and decreases linearly with the distance from the slope surface to become
zero at the bottom boundaries, much like vertical granular displacement along the depth. Sediments
with smaller friction angles and steeper slopes experience greater displacement, both vertically
and horizontally. Slopes become fatter after dissolution, with the reduction in slope angle directly
related to the loss in ground elevation, ΔH/Ho. Yet, because of the porous fabric that results from
dissolution, vertical shortening is less than the upper bound, estimated from the loss in the solid mass
fraction, ΔH/Ho≈SF. Under water-saturated conditions, the post-dissolution fabric may lead to sudden
undrained shear and slope slide.

2022.12.23.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26620-1