Small-scale modelling of plant root systems using 3D printing, with applications to investigate the role of vegetation on earthquake-induced landslides

作者：Teng Liang, Jonathan Adam Knappett, Anthony Glyn Bengough, Yutian Ke · 发表于：Landslides · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.1007/s10346-017-0802-2 · 被引用次数：84 · 研究领域：Tree Root and Stability Studies、Plant responses to water stress、Plant Molecular Biology Research

Vegetation has been previously proposed as a method for protecting artificial and natural slopes against shallow landslides (e.g. as may be triggered by an earthquake); however, previous research has concentrated on individual root soil interaction during shear deformation rather than the global slope behaviour due to the extreme expense and difficulty involved in conducting full-scale field tests. Geotechnical centrifuge modelling offers an opportunity to investigate in detail the engineering performance of vegetated slopes, but its application has been restricted due to the lack of availability of suitable root analogues that can repeatably replicate appropriate mechanical properties (stiffness and strength) and realistic 3D geometry. This study employed 3D printing to develop a representative and repeatable 1:10 scale model of a tree root cluster (representing roots up to 1.5 m deep at prototype scale) that can be used within a geotechnical centrifuge to investigate the response of a vegetated slope subject to earthquake ground motion. The printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic root model was identified to be highly representative of the geometry and mechanical behaviour (stiffness and strength) of real woody root systems. A programme of large direct shear tests was also performed to evaluate the additional strength provided by the root analogues within soil that is slipping and investigate the influence of various characteristics (including root area ratio ...