Thermal effects on creep of sensitive clay slopes

The slopes in soft clays typically exhibit creep movements due to their viscous behavior under gravity. Temperature plays a key role in controlling the creep rate. To date, there are limited studies on the thermal effect on creep movement of sensitive clay slopes. This paper employs a thermal-hydro-mechanical numerical code to investigate the thermal response of a clay slope under yearly thermal cycles ranging from 0.5 °C to 19.1 °C. The thermo-viscoplastic Creep-SCLAY1ST constitutive model is adopted to capture the evolution of preconsolidation pressure with temperature. The results are compared to those under constant temperature conditions, in terms of creep movements and stress paths for soil elements at different locations of the slope. The results of this work aim to draw attention to the role of temperature in the assessment of long-term slope stability, especially for slopes in sensitive clay.