Effects of plant root diameter and length on ecological slope protection

Abstract

In ecological slope protection, plant roots reinforce soil by reinforcing or anchoring, and root size directly affects the soil consolidation efficiency of plants and slope stability. With root diameter and root length as variables, the displacement response of root-soil complex under pull-out and horizontal coupling loads under different root sizes was analyzed by numerical method. By comparing the displacement characteristic curves of root, soil and root-soil complex under pull-out and horizontal loads, the influence of root diameter and root length on the deformation of the complex was analyzed, and the displacement evolution law of the complex under different root sizes was clarified. The result show that the influence of root diameter on the deformation of the root-soil complex is weak under pull-out horizontal load, but the larger the root length, the smaller the deformation of the root-soil complex. When the root length is short, the displacement increment of the root-soil complex is mainly concentrated on the soil on both sides of the root wall. With the increase of root length, the displacement increment of soil on both sides of root wall also increases. Longer roots provide a larger anchoring area and are therefore better able to disperse and carry loads. In the case of short roots, soil deformation mainly occurs at the near end of the root, while long roots can make the deformation pattern more uniform, affect the soil at a longer distance, and improve the stability of the whole system.

Keywords

ecological slope protection / root length / root diameter / metamorphosis / root-soil complex