Numerical Investigation of the Formation Mechanism and Mitigation of a Clayey Landslide Under Excavation–Rainfall Coupling

Abstract

An excavation-induced clayey landslide in Jianshui County, Yunnan Province, China, threatens a national refined oil pipeline near the rear slope. Field investigation, borehole logging, laboratory testing, and three-dimensional finite-element analyses were integrated to investigate the excavation–rainstorm instability mechanism and evaluate circular anti-slide piles with toe backfilling. Under natural excavation, the reported factor of safety was 1.39, and the maximum displacement was 2.35 mm. Under a 60 mm/day rainstorm, increased pore-water pressure and saturation in the shallow sliding mass and strongly weathered claystone, together with saturated-state strength parameters, reduced the shear-strength reserve. The deformation and stability analyses yielded a maximum computed displacement of 1.36 m and a factor of safety of 0.95, respectively, indicating pronounced pre-failure deformation and loss of stability. After mitigation, the factor of safety increased to 1.41, while the maximum slope and pile-head displacements were both approximately 6.90 mm. The pile row redistributed nonuniform landslide thrust and reduced deformation transfer toward the pipeline. The results are site-specific engineering estimates for the investigated rainfall and parameter conditions.