Abstract: In this article, strength reduction method was employed to investigate the stability of slope reinforced in shallow surface. Moreover, the influences of reinforcement width, cohesion of reinforced soil, reinforcement depth (the depth of reinforcement area penetrating into foundation), and geometric parameters of slope on the stability and slip surface of slope were analyzed in the presence of soil foundation (the same material with slope soil) and rock foundation, respectively. Results showed that in the presence of soil foundation, the safety coefficient declined and then increased with the increasing of cohesion regardless of reinforcement width, and then remained stable once cohesion reached a critical value. With the increase of soil cohesion in the reinforced zone, the failure surface of slope moved from shallow surface to deep layer and then passed beyond the reinforced zone lastly. In this sense, increasing the depth of reinforced zone in the foundation could help enhance the stability. On the other hand, in the presence of rock foundation, the safety coefficient declined and then increased linearly in general with the increase of reinforced soil cohesion. With the same geometric parameters and soil material of slope, the safety coefficient was 0.5-1 times that of slope with soil foundation. As cohesion in reinforced zone increased, which means shear strength increased, the safety coefficient improved correspondingly.

Key words: shallow reinforcement on slope surface, stability analysis, strength reduction method, width of reinforced zone, cohesion of soil, geometric parameters of slope