JIANG Shui-hua, GE Cheng-min, YUAN Zhi-rong, et al. A rainfall infiltration model and reliability analysis for multi-layered soil slopes based on equivalent hydraulic conductivity[J]. 2026, 47(4): 1417-1430.
DOI:
JIANG Shui-hua, GE Cheng-min, YUAN Zhi-rong, et al. A rainfall infiltration model and reliability analysis for multi-layered soil slopes based on equivalent hydraulic conductivity[J]. 2026, 47(4): 1417-1430.DOI: 10.16285/j.rsm.2025.0728.
A rainfall infiltration model and reliability analysis for multi-layered soil slopes based on equivalent hydraulic conductivity
Accurate description of rainfall infiltration is essential for understanding the slope instability mechanism and for preventing and controlling rainfall-induced landslides. Currently
numerical solutions of the Richards equation and the Green-Ampt model are widely used to analyze rainfall infiltration in slopes. Although the Richards equation yields high accuracy
it can suffer from low computational efficiency and convergence issues. Moreover
the classic Green-Ampt model neglects soil stratification and unsaturated-transition layers
and thus cannot accurately represent rainfall infiltration in heterogeneous
multi-layered slopes. To address these limitations
we introduce the concepts of equivalent hydraulic conductivity and elliptical transition layer theory and dynamically simulate rainfall infiltration in heterogeneous
multi-layered slopes. Based on this framework
an improved Green-Ampt model is proposed. The model addresses two key challenges: (1) modifying the calculation formula for the equivalent hydraulic conductivity to describe water migration as the wetting front crosses interfaces between soil layers; (2) deriving a parametric analytical equation for the elliptical transition layer to efficiently compute the spatial distribution of slope volumetric water content for different rainfall durations. Results show that the proposed model yields seepage
stability
and reliability analyses that are highly consistent with Richards equation solutions under both homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions
particularly in the early rainfall stage. Moreover
the model offers high computational efficiency and does not suffer from convergence issues
thereby providing strong theoretical support for reliability analysis of complex slopes and for the prevention and control of rainfall-induced landslides.