Numerical Simulation of Capillary Barrier System under Rainfall Infiltration in Singapore

Rainfall-induced slope failures commonly occur within residual soil slopes. One of the possible systems for slope preventive measure is capillary barrier system. A capillary barrier is a two-layer system of distinct hydraulic properties that is used to prevent water infiltration into the soil below the capillary barrier system by utilizing unsaturated soil mechanics principles.  This paper presents the numerical simulation of the capillary barrier system as a slope preventive measure against rainfall-induced slope failures. The capillary barrier was constructed on a slope which experienced several shallow failures due to rainfall. In this study, the capillary barrier system was designed to repair the slope and at the same time to provide preventive measures for further failures due to heavy rainfall conditions of the tropics. The capillary barrier system was constructed using fine sand as the fine-grained layer and granite chips as the coarse-grained layer. Both layers were contained in geocells. The slope was instrumented with tensiometers and piezometers. The tensiometers were installed at different depths from about 0.5 m to 2.0 m below the slope surface. In addition, the adjacent original slope without the capillary barrier system was also instrumented using tensiometers in order to investigate the performance and effectiveness of the capillary barrier system in reducing rainwater infiltration and maintaining negative pore-water pressure in the slope. Results of field measurements from one-year monitoring period and numerical analyses of slope with and without capillary barrier system are presented in the paper. The results of numerical analyses of the slopes with and without capillary barrier system indicated that the capillary barrier system performed well in minimizing rainwater infiltration into the underlying soil layer. In addition, the numerical results showed that the factor of safety of a slope with a capillary barrier system was significantly higher than that of an original slope without the capillary barrier system. The field measurement and numerical analyses results were in good agreement, demonstrating the successful application of unsaturated soil mechanics principles in the design and construction of a capillary barrier system.