Upper bound solutions for the stability of embankment slopes considering the impact of cutoff walls at different water levels

Upper bound solutions for the stability of embankment slopes considering the impact of cutoff walls at different water levels | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Upper bound solutions for the stability of embankment slopes considering the impact of cutoff walls at different water levels Yuchun Gao, Shiyi Peng, Jingwu Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7472665/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Cutoff walls are used to reinforce embankments to prevent instability induced by reservoir seepage during water level fluctuations. This paper analyzes the stability enhancement provided by cutoff walls using the framework of limit analysis upper-bound method combined with a rotational log-spiral failure mechanism. Verification on unreinforced slopes shows that there is a high degree of consistency between the proposed upper bound results and existing analytical and numerical solutions. It was shown that the slope has a higher safety factor as the stabilizing effect of the cut-off wall strengthens. In addition, the critical sliding surface tended to be shallower with an increase in the external water level coupled with a decrease in the internal water level. Due to combined stabilization from soil self-weight and hydrostatic pressure, the stabilizing effect of the cutoff wall is not always necessary under all water level conditions; only when the wall is positioned within a critical normalized distance from the crest could the reinforcing effect of the cutoff wall be fully exerted. Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Embankment slopes Cutoff wall Upper bound theorem Water level Stability analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7472665","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":513153033,"identity":"c769987d-872f-46c1-9ffe-87e9f0113058","order_by":0,"name":"Yuchun Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chuzhou polytechnic","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuchun","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":513153034,"identity":"1aa01be2-69bf-4b6d-9b4f-3981ae53d3d4","order_by":1,"name":"Shiyi Peng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAD9gYgUcDAIEG8Fp4DDAwHDEjSIpFApBZz9t7DL3+2McibSz4+Jv3BwEZOsoH54aMbeLRY9pxLs+ZtYzDcOTstTeKAQZqxNAObsXEOHi0GN3LMjBnbGBIMbueYAbUcTpzHwMMmjVfL/Tdmhj9BWm6eIVbLDR7jB7wgLTd4IFpmE9Ji2ZNjxsxzjsFww5m0ZIszQL9INhPwizn7GeOPP8oY5A2OHz54o6LCRk7iePPDx3gdxsDAJsHI9h9JiBmPcqgW5g8MfwioGgWjYBSMgpENALx9R4wMXwi7AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Tongling University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shiyi","middleName":"","lastName":"Peng","suffix":""},{"id":513153035,"identity":"0b01f6bb-ec1e-493a-b539-e203d74bcfe0","order_by":2,"name":"Jingwu Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tongling University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jingwu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-27 14:38:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7472665/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7472665/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91814488,"identity":"c7b49144-2d13-492b-a238-f18014a396b5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 06:09:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1211730,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Revisedmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7472665/v1_covered_d0e28286-e7cb-4220-a912-64764ddbf6be.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Upper bound solutions for the stability of embankment slopes considering the impact of cutoff walls at different water levels","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Embankment slopes, Cutoff wall, Upper bound theorem, Water level, Stability analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7472665/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7472665/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCutoff walls are used to reinforce embankments to prevent instability induced by reservoir seepage during water level fluctuations. 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