Focus on the semi-arid and denuded loess plateau in Northwest China has resulted in emergence of biotechnical stabilization methods in response to the occurrence of severe soil erosion and numerous shallow slope failures. Green cuttings of easy-to-root species such as willow have been installed across a slope, which play an important role in preventing both surface erosion and shallow mass movements. However, the mechanical behavior of the cuttings in soil is not well understood so far. This paper presents a series of large-scale simple shear tests and finite element simulations of a soil reinforced by willow cuttings. The reinforced soils when subjected to simple shear exhibited strain-hardening behavior and failed along a horizontal plane. The shear strength of the reinforced soil increased with the cutting density and decreased with the soil water content. The finite element analysis, incorporating an elasto-plastic constitutive model for the soil, predicted shear strength parameters for the reinforced soil that agree well with those obtained from the simple shear tests. Significant stress concentrations occurred on the cuttings while the stresses in the soil were reducedhence, the reinforced soil could withstand greater loadings.
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