Lecturer
Anthony Kwan LEUNG
TIME
April 18th, 2024
LOCATION
Room 322, School of Transportation
The use of economically, environmentally friendly, and low-carbon plant slope stabilization techniques to prevent shallow landslides is an innovative practice in disaster prevention and mitigation against the backdrop of intensifying climate change. Plant slope stabilization is also a cutting-edge topic in the fields of ecological geotechnical engineering and engineering geology. Quantifying the hydraulic-mechanical properties of unsaturated root-soil is crucial for accurately assessing the impact of vegetation on the infiltration and stability of green slopes. Understanding the engineering characteristics of root-soil requires an exploration of the mechanical interactions between soil and roots at the pore scale, but relevant research has not yet been conducted. This report focuses on the latest scientific findings on the hydraulic-mechanical properties of unsaturated root-soil and their impact on the design of ecological slopes. The first part of the report will discuss the anisotropic shear behavior of root-soil, define the microstructural tensor, and establish a generalized three-dimensional anisotropic model to characterize the anisotropy of strength and stiffness of root-soil under different stress paths. The second part will discuss the latest progress of artificial intelligence (AI) in studying the interactions between soil, roots, and water at the pore scale, thereby explaining the potential mechanisms by which root growth affects the water retention performance of the soil.