Shear creep characteristics and stability of rock slopes with concealed noninterpenetrated weak interlayer

This study aims to address the key scientific problem of the complex slip mechanism of rock slopes with concealed noninterpenetrated weak interlayer. A scaled preparation method for a concealed noninterpenetrated weak interlayer is designed, and the shear creep characteristics of a rock mass under the influences of the burial depth of interlayer, dip angle of rock and water content are tested. The variable of gradual damage of the multiparameter rock mass is introduced, and the constitutive model for shear creep damage is established in stages. The rationality of the model is verified through the similar simulation experiments, and the stability of this kind of slope is analyzed. The research shows that: (1) The stability of the rock mass with a concealed noninterpenetrated weak interlayer increases as the burial depth of the interlayer increases, the dip angle and water content decrease, the stability otherwise decreases, the water content of the interlayer has the greatest influences on the stability of the rock mass, and the burial depth has a relatively small influence. (2) Considering that the multiparameter gradual damage constitutive model can reflect the whole process of the shear creep of rock masses with concealed nonpenetrated weak interlayer, the fitting effects of the accelerated creep stage are better than those of the Nishihara model. (3) The scaled preparation method for the concealed noninterpenetrated weak interlayers is more reasonable. The constitutive model for shear creep can better fit the creep slip of the slope at each stage. The slope slip shows the overall slip of the shear expansion of the slope toe and trailing edge tension, which has reference significance for the creep slip of concealed noninterpenetrated rock masses with weak interlayers. © 2024 Chinese Society of Civil Engineering. All rights reserved.