Rainfall Runoff Analysis and Sustainable Soil Bed Optimization Engineering Process: Application of an Advanced Decision-Making Technique

Abstract

Sustainable engineering practices always provide an opportunity for engineers to produce long-term solutions. In the fields of construction and irrigation, soil bed formation symmetry is very important, especially in the case of its behavior with reference to water runoff, whether natural or artificial. In this study, different soil bed formations were tested with the help of advanced hydrology apparatus under severe rainfall conditions. A major focus was to observe the water retention and volume discharge with reference to soil combinations and slope level change. Furthermore, an advanced decision-making technique incorporating artificial neural networks (ANNs) was used to predict and explore the interrelationship behavior of different parameters. It was observed that ST-1 (100% clay) performed well as it tried to retain a large quantity of water (7.28 L/min), making it suitable for irrigation, while ST-2 (100% sand) performed better for structures, as sand tries to quickly drain water, thus retaining less water (0.16 L/min). Change of slope was also another factor; at a 3% slope level along with 100% clay, water resistance was higher as compared to sand. Soil type-3 (ST-3) helped in the retention of water even at a 3% soil bed slope. This study will help engineers and designers in the optimization of soil bed formation for construction and irrigation purposes.

A Monte Carlo Approach to Estimate the Stability of Soil–Rock Slopes Considering the Non-Uniformity of Materials

“…In addition to the great progress in soil-rock mixtures, there has been less progress in studies of soil-rock slopes. Huang et al [21] studied the response characteristic of a soil-rock slope under seismic load by FEM and concluded that the maximum horizontal acceleration of the soil-rock slope surface was greater than those slopes without rocks, in other words, the slope was more prone to landslides than a uniform soil slope; Zhou et al [22] measured the response characteristic of a soil- Figure 1. Examples of soil-rock slopes: (a) natural soil-rock slope [12]; (b) manually filled soil-rock slope.…”

“…In addition to the great progress in soil-rock mixtures, there has been less progress in studies of soil-rock slopes. Huang et al [21] studied the response characteristic of a soil-rock slope under seismic load by FEM and concluded that the maximum horizontal acceleration of the soil-rock slope surface was greater than those slopes without rocks, in other words, the slope was more prone to landslides than a uniform soil slope; Zhou et al [22] measured the response characteristic of a soil-rock slope under artificial rainfall and found that the soil-rock slope was more easily affected by rainfall, which was similar to Hao's conclusions. According to the stability of soil-rock slopes in the Three Gorges area under the condition of rainfall and water level changes, Xiong et al [23] points out that the soil-rock slope is more prone to instability under continuous rainfall and low water level.…”