Slope Stability Analysis of Xanthan Gum Biopolymer Treated Laterite Soil Using Plaxis Limit Equilibrium Method (PLAXIS LE)

The landslides or slope failures are responsible for many fatalities and significant delays in travel by blocking the roads. The soil properties such as cohesiveness, angle of internal friction, and bulk unit weight are the primary parameters responsible for land stability and should be considered for the analysis. In this paper, a Xanthan Gum (XG) biopolymer is applied to the laterite soil to improve its engineering properties. The Plaxis Limit Equilibrium (LE) 2D software is utilized to analyze the slope's stability. Four section/ paths of the Lote Parshuram Ghat in the Ratnagiri area of Maharashtra, India are taken for the analysis. It is observed that the application of the XG to the soil which is exposed to atmosphere (normal condition) and submerged conditions improves the strength of the soil and stability of slopes. When compared to conventional laterite soil in its natural state, the cohesiveness of soil treated with XG at concentrations ranging from 1 to 5% is greatly improved, increasing from 250.51% to 378.64%. XG-treated laterite soil has a maximum dry density of 1.72 gm/cc, 28.36% higher than untreated soil. Submerged XG-treated soil often shows a factor of safety (FOS) improvement of across 57.25%. The slope stability analysis revealed that the optimum percentage of xanthan gum as a stabilizer for the submerged slope condition is 2.7% that increase the factor of safety. In case of normal condition, the factor of safety (FOS) and strength of the laterite soil increases with the reinforced percentage of xanthan gum.