Study on the cumulative effect of drip irrigation on the stability of loess slopes

Infiltration of irrigation water is an important factor affecting the stability of loess slopes. In this study, based on the Green-Ampt infiltration model. We analysed the cumulative effect of drip irrigation on the stability of loess slope through an indoor cumulative drip-irrigation infiltration test with a single-point source, which was combined with the Geo-Studio finite-element software. Our results show that: (1) infiltration of drip irrigation in loess slopes has an obvious cumulative phenomenon. The depth of infiltration and volumetric water content of underlying soil increase with increasing cumulative number of drip irrigation; (2) the infiltration time calculated by the classical and improved Green-Ampt infiltration models is more in line with the experimental results, with errors ranging from 4 to 11%. (3) Short-term 3-day drip irrigation creates a layer of infiltration area on the slope surface. The safety coefficient of the slope body is reduced by 0.01, which has less impact on the slope. Long-term 3-year drip irrigation increased the volumetric water content of the entire slope, and decreased the safety coefficient by 0.91, which had a greater impact on the slope. Our results have important scientific significance slope-disaster warnings, and prevention in loess areas.